MSCA-IF computer scientist to implement a Teleo-Reactive approach for autonomous vehicles

Brief description of the Institution and Research Group

SACSIS is selecting a competitive candidate for  the Electronics Engineering and Systems Division (DSIE) at the Technical University of Cartagena. This is a Research Group bringing together more than twenty-five PhD. teachers and researchers from the departments of Electronics Technology, Information and Communication Technologies, and Systems and Automation Engineering. The DSIE has many laboratories located at the "Campus Muralla del Mar" in Cartagena (Spain).

The DSIE has a strong background in smart farming, service robots, autonomous vehicles, wireless sensor networks, and home automation, participating in regional, national and international research funded projects. For these domains, the researchers have contributed with new methods, techniques and tools from a Software Engineering point of view and published in prestigious international indexed journals such as Systems and Software, IEEE Software, Sensors, IEEE TN on Computers, Information and Software Technology, among others. Some results of the DSIE research group can be accessed at www.dsie.upct.es.

In the Intelligent Vehicles Lab at the Technical University of Cartagena we have developed a comprehensible and reliable platform for autonomous driving technology development as well as for testing purposes (see www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/8/2/303/pdf for more details).

Project description:

The project involves the use of the Teleo-Reactive approach for the specification and implementation of the behavior of an autonomous vehicle. The vehicle is a comprehensible and reliable platform for autonomous driving technology development as well as for testing purposes. It has been developed in the Intelligent Vehicles Lab at the Technical University of Cartagena. Driving automation—considered a low-risk activity for humans—is a matter that needs the continuous evaluation of two main factors: (a) the current vehicle state (position, velocity, acceleration, etc.) and (b) the environmental conditions (nearby vehicles, obstacles, pedestrians, etc.). To the extent that these two factors are accurately assessed, appropriate decisions can be taken towards reliable autonomous driving, and we will be closer to a vehicle-centric approach to autonomous driving, where the main goal is the safe movement of the vehicle.

In this context, the Teleo-Reactive approach is a very interesting tool to be explored. The Teleo-Reactive paradigm allows the definition of the behavior of a reactive system as a set of prioritized condition/action rules. The software behavior of the agents is specified in terms of goals, perceptions and actions over the environment, achieving higher abstraction than using general-purpose programming languages and therefore, enhancing the involvement of non-technical users in the specification process. The approach has been already considered for implementing robotic systems but there is no contribution for the definition of missions and the behavior of more complex systems such as autonomous vehicles. The research work includes the definition of languages, the use of model-to-model techniques for obtaining executable code, the implementation of validators and simulators to test the behavior of the vehicle, among others.

Benefits for applying candidates

• Competitive candidates will be selected for applying to a Marie Curie IF grant that covers full salary 4.650€/month) + family allowance (500€/month) + R&D expenses.
• High motivation and ability to be involved in an international multidisciplinary team. Mobility experience, participation in research projects and scientific productivity is appreciated.

Additional benefits

• Selected candidate will be mentored and trained for applying to a Marie Sklodowska Curie IF grant.

Eligibility criteria

• Most fitting profile (expertise) for the described project.
• Mobility rule: Researchers must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, investigation, etc.) in Spain for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to the call deadline (14/09/2018).

Selection process

• Open quest to select the best candidates
• Documents needed to apply: CV + One page motivation letter is positively valued

Required Research Experiences

• Computer Science: 4-10 years

Required education level:

• Computer Science Degree and PhD covering all or a subset of the fields: Software Engineering, Model-driven Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, Multi-agent systems, Software.

Skills/Qualifications

• Exceptional scientific production in this field.
• Fluent English (full skills and B2-C1- Cambridge equivalent level appreciated)