Novedades

Robotics and Vision Intership
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Summary
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  - *Name of Organization*: iRobot
  - *Position Title*: Junior Robotics and Vision Engineer
  - *Location*: Los Angeles (Pasadena), California
  - *Majors*: Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Applied Mathematics, or related fields.
  - *Level(s)*: Intermediate, Advanced
  - *Students Required*: up to 3 (depending on on qualifications)



The Company
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iRobot designs and builds robots that make a difference. iRobot was founded in 1990 by Massachusetts Institute of Technology roboticists with the vision of making practical robots a reality. In 2012, iRobot generated $436 million in revenue and employed more than 500 of the robot industry's top professionals, including mechanical, electrical and software engineers and related support staff. iRobot stock trades on the NASDAQ stock market under the ticker symbol IRBT. iRobot's corporate headquarters are located in Bedford, Mass. The company also has offices in California, the United Kingdom, China and Hong Kong.

iRobot has made some of the world's most important robots. iRobot's home robots are revolutionizing the way people clean - inside and out. More than 8 million home robots have been sold worldwide. The award-winning iRobot Roomba vacuum cleaning robot is leading the charge. Roomba made practical robots a reality for the first time and showed the world that robots are here to stay. iRobot's acclaimed line of home robots also includes the iRobot Scooba floor washing robot, the iRobot Verro pool cleaning robot and the iRobot Looj gutter cleaning robot.

As a pioneer in the robot industry, iRobot's goal is to drive innovation, serve as an industry catalyst and change the world by fueling the era of robots.

To support and encourage the development of robot technology, iRobot offers comprehensive resources for third-party developers, providing information and products that facilitate the creation and easy integration of new payloads, behaviors and capabilities on iRobot platforms. iRobot collaborates with external developers from government agencies, academic institutions and small and large businesses to create and bring to market innovations that help warfighters and public safety professionals tackle dangerous missions with less risk.

iRobot's Research Group performs cutting-edge research to meet the advanced needs of sponsors with integrated robotic solutions. The Research Group pursues R&D opportunities with leading academic research institutions, businesses and other technology innovators, leveraging experience as a systems integrator and putting together best-in-class teams of partners from a wide range of technology areas.

With more than two decades of leadership in the robot industry, iRobot remains committed to providing platforms for invention and discovery, developing key partnerships to foster technological exploration and building robots that improve the quality of life and safety standards worldwide.


Position Purpose
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The candidate will perform duties in the R&D team of iRobot. The candidate will participate in the optimization, improvement, enhancement, and benchmarking of iRobot technologies. In particular, the focus will be on iRobot's ViPR (Visual Pattern Recognition) and vSLAM (visual Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) systems. Alternative activities will involve the development of novel navigation algorithms based on iRobot's NorthStar sensor. Additionally the candidate will participate in prototyping and evaluating novel sensors and robot assemblies.

The candidate's project would be selected according to skill level and interest of the applicant. The following list presents some of the current projects:

   - Comparison and benchmarking of the state-of-the-art feature detectors and descriptors for object recognition.
   - Enhancement of the current ViPR algorithm by the inclusion of alternative visual cues such as color or shape.
   - Development of clustering techniques for efficient storage and retrieval of feature points.
   - Evaluation and implementation of the state-of-the-art in object class recognition algorithms.
   - Development of fusion algorithms for a variety of sensors (cameras, IMU, odometry)
   - Development of efficient space-coverage approaches using the NorthStart sensor.
   - Development of robot navigation primitives for room-to-room navigation using the NorthStar sensor.
   - Development of robot navigation primitives for path planning, obstacle avoidance, and visual servoing.
   - Prototype, interface, and integrate alternative sensors (e.g., inertial motion sensors, dead-reckoning sensors) into novel robot assemblies.

The typical work cycle involves research and algorithm development (typically in Matlab), algorithm testing, refinement and benchmarking, followed by C/C++ code implementation and integration into the final application.
Alternatively, the development cycle entitles the assembly of an electro-mechanical system, implementation of SW for integration of different components, and evaluation of the desired application.



Internship Details
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The details of the internship are the following:
   - The internship will be available throughout the year for periods of four months at a time (Jan-Apr, May-Aug, Sep-Dec). The current period is a bit out of synchronization, but it is slated for Sept-Dec.
   - The candidates will be interviewed 2 months prior the start of the internship (the interview will be in English and over the phone).
   - The provided compensation will cover living expenses of the intern.
   - iRobot will handle the processing costs of the Visa.
   - iRobot will not cover the costs of the air trip.



Requirements
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   - Advanced BS student (80%+ of the classes approved) or graduate student.
   - Excellent mathematical background, with solid foundation in probability theory, systems theory, multivariate calculus, nonlinear optimization.
   - Excellent GPA.
   - Advanced level of spoken and written English (/sine qua non/ condition).
   - Proficient in Matlab and C/C++, with good documentation and code organization habits.
   - Valid Passport
   - Creative and independent thinker, willing to take on challenges and learn new fields.
   - Work well in a fast-paced, small team environment.
   - Experience with pattern recognition and computer vision a definite plus.
   - Experience with robotics and control systems a definite plus.
   - If you're looking for a job where you can exercise your mathematical and algorithmic skills, and are interested in doing work that can lead to graduate studies in computer vision and/or robotics, this is it!



Required Documentation (in pdf format) before May 22nd.
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  - Curriculum Vitae
  - Transcripts and GPAs (including failed classes)
  - Certification of English level (if English is not the native language of the candidate)