We have a fully-funded, 3-year PhD studentship available at the Department of Computer Science, University of Liverpool, starting from September 2021. We are seeking a highly creative and motivated applicant with a keen interest in doing research in robot perception and manipulation, using machine/deep learning and computer vision techniques.
This project aims to develop techniques for the manipulation of fabrics using robot manipulators embedded with tactile sensing and robot vision. Robot manipulation has been widely applied in industry for tasks such as warehouse operation and assembly. Research on robot manipulation has mainly focused on handling rigid objects so far. However, many important application domains require manipulating non-rigid or flexible objects such as fabrics, hoses and cables. Such objects are far more challenging to handle, as they can exhibit a much greater diversity of behaviours. The challenges involved, such as sensing capabilities (touch sensing and robot vision), perception of object properties and manipulation planning, need to be addressed to unlock the full potential of robot manipulation. This project will directly address these challenges by blending ideas coming from different disciplines including robotics, machine learning and computer vision. It is expected to create a robotic system to manipulate the fabrics autonomously, leveraging perception and learning through interaction.