PhD Studentship: Advances in swarm robotics and massively distributed systems

This project investigates novel forms of coordination applicable to medium to large scale distributed robotic systems. Current areas of interest include, but are not limited to:

• swarm capabilities (e.g., decision making, division of labour, flocking, and leadership);
• human-robot interfaces (e.g., control of swarms of robots via voice or mobile phone);
• application studies (e.g., decentralised surveillance systems).

Studies can be conducted in computer simulation and with swarms of physical robots [2,3,4]. We are specifically searching for students that wish to study our system of 900 Kilobot robots - currently the 2nd largest swarm of robots in the world.

The project will be carried out in the Natural Robotics Lab [1].

[1] http://naturalrobotics.group.shef.ac.uk
[2] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmyTJSYw77g
[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDdlvZTbOaA
[4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtDPCIicmgo

Funding Notes

Prospective applicants should have a degree in a relevant subject (computer science, physics, biology, artificial intelligence, psychology, mathematics, robotics etc) and be experienced in programming.

Applicants can apply for a Scholarship from the University of Sheffield but should note that competition for these Scholarships is highly competitive. it will be possible to make Scholarship applications from the Autumn with a strict deadline in late January.

https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/acse/research-degrees/scholarships