Postdoctoral Position in Robust Control Architecture for Mobile Manipulator Robots University of Burgundy in France

Postdoctoral position at the University of Burgundy Europe, France in the ImViA laboratory (Imaging and Artificial Vision, UR 7535), working on a project titled Robust control architecture for Mobile Manipulator Robots (MMR).

The project is based at the Le Creusot site of the University of Burgundy Europe and is linked to the laboratory’s team working on vision-assisted control of physical systems. The lab combines expertise in computer vision, image processing, robust control, state estimation by vision, visual servoing, and machine learning for cyber-physical systems. Experimental platforms include cameras, mobile robots, and manipulator arms, enabling real-world validation of the developed methods.

The MMR project addresses a major robotics challenge: controlling mobile manipulator robots safely, robustly, and efficiently in dynamic and weakly structured environments. Applications include infrastructure maintenance, intelligent logistics, inspection, disaster rescue, and precision agriculture. The research is centered on the integration of robust/stochastic model predictive control (MPC), adaptive observers, Physics-Informed Neural Networks (PINN), Control Barrier Functions (CBF), and vision-based perception for real-time state estimation and environment understanding.

The selected postdoctoral researcher will develop and validate a control architecture for mobile manipulator robots, implement robust observers combined with PINN for disturbance and uncertainty estimation, and integrate CBF-based constraints to guarantee collision avoidance. Work will include MATLAB/Simulink simulations followed by experimental validation on the laboratory’s robotic platforms. The role also involves scientific dissemination through journal articles and conference presentations, as well as participation in project meetings and occasional supervision of master’s students.

Eligibility highlights: a PhD in automatic control, robotics, image processing, electrical engineering, or a related field is required, and the doctorate must have been obtained less than 3 years before the start date. Strong skills in nonlinear control, robust MPC, constrained optimization, and MATLAB/Simulink are essential. Experience with Control Barrier Functions, PINN, computer vision for robotics, and experimental robotics is highly desirable. French at B2 level and English at C1 level are required.

Funding and terms: this is a temporary full-time postdoctoral contract for 12 months, beginning 2027-01-01, with remuneration from €2,417 gross per month. The call is not funded by an EU programme.

Application deadline: 2026-11-15. Applicants must submit a CV, motivation/application letter, and the thesis defense report via the recruitment website.