• Join a world-leading research hub developing intelligent robotic systems for inspection and asset management
• Develop novel imaging technologies to allow robots to see robustly and efficiently in a broad range of challenging conditions
• Full time, 3 year fixed term position, Level A with base Salary $97,043 – $107,516 + 17% superannuation

About the opportunity

We are seeking an ambitious and talented Postdoctoral Research Associate to undertake fundamental and applied research related to the development, design and deployment of novel imaging technologies for an autonomous underwater robot. As part of the Australian Robotic Inspection and Management Research Hub (ARIAM), this position involves working closely with Hub Industry Partner Advanced Navigation on their prototype Hydrus Autonomous Underwater Vehicle platform. The research will focus on the combined design and interpretation of camera and sonar imaging systems using computational imaging techniques to enable greater performance in challenging underwater conditions.

This robotic sensing-focused position will advance the imaging and sensing technologies required for autonomous underwater survey. Challenges arise from environmental conditions including murky water, bubbles, debris, low light, and complex underwater acoustic propagation and interference. Additional constraints arise in power, size, compute, and latency associated with real-time robotic navigation and mapping.

Depending on ability and interest, candidate approaches can include combining inverse rendering and novel representations, physics-based sensor and propagation models, high-fidelity noise and interference models, and computational imaging approaches to adaptive insonification, exposure coding and coded blur. This project will offer dramatic improvements in sensing robustness and performance, and geometric and textural accuracy in autonomous underwater asset inspection.

In this role you will:

• work closely with a team of project academics, engineers, and PhD students
• develop and characterise novel sensing strategies through simulation, lab experiments, and field trials
• develop low-level vision algorithms that best make use of sensing in the context of the full autonomy pipeline
• contribute to the ARIAM Hub’s demonstrator program that will showcase your research and that of other Hub projects
• contribute as a researcher to project report preparation, presentation at internal workshops, and dissemination at top international conferences and journals.

About Us

ARIAM Hub is a collaboration between leading academic researchers and experts from the Australian robotics industry supported by the Australian Research Council to deliver research excellence in robotics for asset management. ARIAM spans 3 leading Australian universities: The University of Sydney, QUT and ANU. This position will be supervised by Dr Donald Dansereau, lead of the Robotic Imaging Lab within the Australian Centre for Robotics (ACFR) at the University of Sydney. The ACFR is one of Australia’s leading robotics research groups, and the Robotic Imaging Lab is focused on endowing machines with new ways of seeing the world. From photons to actions, we employ computational imaging techniques to jointly consider the optics, low-level vision, and high-level semantic understanding that ultimately drive autonomous decision making. In this role you will work as part of the ARIAM team and collaborate across multiple groups across the Hub.

About you

The University values courage and creativity; openness and engagement; inclusion and diversity; and respect and integrity. As such, we see the importance of recruiting talent aligned to these values. We are seeking excellent candidates for a Postdoctoral Research Associate who has:

• a PhD (or near completion) in a relevant field
• knowledge of one or more of optical and acoustic devices and imaging, low-level image processing, and computer vision
• a desire to expand autonomous underwater sensing capabilities using techniques from computational imaging
• experience with one or more programming languages (C, C++, C#, Python, Matlab)
• proven ability to conduct high quality research, evidenced by peer-reviewed publications
• an ability to coordinate multiple project objectives to meet established targets and deadlines
• excellent communication and interpersonal skills.

Desired but not essential:

• hands-on experience with robotic platforms, ROS, and/or deep learning frameworks (Tensorflow and others), OpenCV, and video for linux,
• a history of research excellence evidenced by prizes or awards, relative to experience.

When applying for this role, please include a Google Drive link to a 2 minute selfie video covering the following:

• Your strongest engineering skills
• What you enjoy most about research
• A description of a project that you’re proud of, or plan to be when completed

To keep our community safe, please be aware of our COVID safety precautions which form our conditions of entry for all staff, students and visitors coming to campus.

Pre-employment checks

Your employment is conditional upon the completion of all role required pre-employment or background checks in terms satisfactory to the University. Similarly, your ongoing employment is conditional upon the satisfactory maintenance of all relevant clearances and background check requirements. If you do not meet these conditions, the University may take any necessary step, including the termination of your employment.

EEO statement

At the University of Sydney, our shared values include diversity and inclusion and we strive to be a place where everyone can thrive. We are committed to creating a University community which reflects the wider community that we serve. We deliver on this commitment through our people and culture programs, as well as key strategies to increase participation and support the careers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People, women, people living with a disability, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, and those who identify as LGBTIQ. We welcome applications from candidates from all backgrounds.

How to apply

Applications (including a cover letter, CV, and any additional supporting documentation) can be submitted via the Apply button at the top of the page. Please see additional submission requirements listed above.

If you are a current employee of the University or a contingent worker with access to Workday, please login into your Workday account and navigate to the Career icon on your Dashboard. Click on USYD Find Jobs and apply.

For a confidential discussion about the role, or if you require reasonable adjustment or support filling out this application, se contact Rebecca Astar or Linden Joseph Recruitment Operations, by email to recruitment.sea@sydney.edu.au.

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The University reserves the right not to proceed with any appointment.

Click to view the Position Description for this role.

Applications Close

Tuesday 16 May 2023 11:59 PM