[robocup-worldwide] PhD Scholarship in Lifelong Learning for Service Robots at the University of Leeds, UK
Matteo Leonetti
m.leonetti at leeds.ac.uk
Thu Aug 4 07:28:34 EDT 2016
[apologies for multiple postings]
The School of Computing, at the University of Leeds, has funding for a
scholarship on Lifelong Reinforcement Learning for Autonomous Service
Robots.
Background:
Robots are traditionally designed for specific environments and single
tasks. However, we would like them to be versatile, ubiquitous, and
reliable. In this project, we will study long-term autonomy and
adaptation on a mobile service robot, aiming at achieving lifelong
learning. The robot will constantly monitor the environment and adapt to
it as it changes. Furthermore, it will reason on its goals and
abilities, and autonomously decide what to practice on, assigning tasks
to itself for the purpose of training.
We will start off from the recent work I initiated on Curriculum
Learning (see
http://www.cs.utexas.edu/~pstone/Papers/bib2html/b2hd-AAMAS16-Narvekar.html)
and further it into the realm of autonomous service robots.
There will be opportunities for external collaboration, particularly
with Prof. Peter Stone's group at the University of Texas at Austin,
with which my lab has strong ties.
Our lab is equipped with a number of robots, including a Baxter robot, a
Metralab Scito A5, UR5 arm, and more to come. The University of Leeds
recently made a $6.5M investment in robotics research and in a Robotics
Center (http://robotics.leeds.ac.uk/) with which our lab is affiliated.
The equipment in the Robotics Center will also be available for our use
during the PhD.
Related topics:
- reinforcement learning
- automated reasoning
- knowledge representation
- robot control
Entry Requirements:
You must have achieved a bachelor degree with a 2:1 (hons), or
equivalent, or a good performance in a Masters level course in computer
science, mathematics, electronic engineering, or a related field. We
also recognise relevant industrial and academic experience.
Experience with ROS and a good grasp of C++ is a plus.
More on the project and information on how to apply at:
https://engineering.leeds.ac.uk/research-opportunity/201323/research-degrees/615/life-long-reinforcement-learning-for-autonomous-service-robots-
Please follow the directions on the project's page (above) on how to apply.
Deadline: 26 August 2016
Please also get in contact with me at m.leonetti --at-- leeds.ac.uk,
attaching your CV, and transcript of grades.
Best wishes,
Matteo Leonetti
--
Matteo Leonetti
Lecturer
University of Leeds
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