Internship: humanoid robotics / parametric-task solver to connect reinforcement learning and model-based control
Contract type : Internship agreement
Level of qualifications required : Master's or equivalent
Fonction : Internship Research
Context
The HUCEBOT team is a new team of the Center Inria at the University of Lorraine.
The team is dedicated to advancing algorithms for human-centered robots: robots that are not working autonomously in isolation, but that instead react, interact, collaborate, and assist humans. To do so, these robots need to intertwine a multi-contact whole-body controller, a digital simulation of the interacting humans, and machine learning models to predict and respond to human movements and intentions. In a crescendo of complexity, the team will tackle scenarios that involve collaboration with cobots, assistance with exoskeletons, and whole-body teleoperation of humanoid robots. The application domains span from industrial robotics to space teleoperation.
The main robots of the team are the Tiago++ bimanual mobile manipulator, the Unitree G1 humanoid, and the Talos humanoid robot. The team also works with Franka cobots and exoskeletons.
The intern will work with a team of about 25 members, including permanent researchers, PhD students and post-doctoral researchers.
Assignment
The topic of this internship will be to work on bridging the gap between reinforcement learning and model-based approaches for humanoid control. It will be focused on developing a new kind of solver that can solve many similar problems in parallel more efficiently that the current quadratic programming or non-linear programming solver.
The starting point will be the recently introduced Parametric-task MAP-Elites [1], that will need to be connected with modern solvers like ProxQP that can take advantage of warm-starting [2].
[1] Anne T, Mouret JB. Parametric-Task MAP-Elites. In Proceedings of the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference 2024 Jul 14 (pp. 68-77).
[2] Bambade A, El-Kazdadi S, Taylor A, Carpentier J. Prox-qp: Yet another quadratic programming solver for robotics and beyond. InRSS 2022-Robotics: Science and Systems 2022 Jun 27.
Main activities
Main activities (5 maximum):
- programming experiments (most probably in C++, possibly in Python)
- analyze and report results
Skills
Technical skills and level required:
- Python programming
- C++ would be appreciated
Languages: English (French is not required -- the official language of the team is English)
Benefits package
- Subsidized meals
- Partial reimbursement of public transport costs
- Leave: 7 weeks of annual leave + 10 extra days off due to RTT (statutory reduction in working hours) + possibility of exceptional leave (sick children, moving home, etc.)
- Possibility of teleworking (after 6 months of employment) and flexible organization of working hours
- Professional equipment available (videoconferencing, loan of computer equipment, etc.)
- Social, cultural and sports events and activities
- Access to vocational training
- Social security coverage
Remuneration
€4.35/hour
General Information
- Theme/Domain : Robotics and Smart environments
- Town/city : Villers lès Nancy
- Inria Center : Centre Inria de l'Université de Lorraine
- Starting date : 2025-05-01
- Duration of contract : 6 months
- Deadline to apply : 2025-03-17
Warning : you must enter your e-mail address in order to save your application to Inria. Applications must be submitted online on the Inria website. Processing of applications sent from other channels is not guaranteed.
Instruction to apply
Defence Security :
This position is likely to be situated in a restricted area (ZRR), as defined in Decree No. 2011-1425 relating to the protection of national scientific and technical potential (PPST).Authorisation to enter an area is granted by the director of the unit, following a favourable Ministerial decision, as defined in the decree of 3 July 2012 relating to the PPST. An unfavourable Ministerial decision in respect of a position situated in a ZRR would result in the cancellation of the appointment.
Recruitment Policy :
As part of its diversity policy, all Inria positions are accessible to people with disabilities.
Contacts
- Inria Team : LARSEN
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Recruiter :
Mouret Jean-baptiste / jean-baptiste.mouret@inria.fr
The keys to success
The ideal candidate loves mathematics, programming, and robotics. He/She is ready to look at complex open problems.
About Inria
Inria is the French national research institute dedicated to digital science and technology. It employs 2,600 people. Its 200 agile project teams, generally run jointly with academic partners, include more than 3,500 scientists and engineers working to meet the challenges of digital technology, often at the interface with other disciplines. The Institute also employs numerous talents in over forty different professions. 900 research support staff contribute to the preparation and development of scientific and entrepreneurial projects that have a worldwide impact.