Control

MERL is seeking an outstanding intern to collaborate in the development of motion planning and control for autonomous articulated vehicles. The ideal candidate is expected to be working towards a PhD in electrical, mechanical, aerospace engineering, robotics, control or related areas, with a strong emphasis on motion planning and control, possibly with applications to ground vehicles, to have experience in at least some of path/motion planning algorithms (A*, D*, graph-search) and optimization-based control (e.g., model predictive control), to have excellent coding skills in MATLAB/Simulink and a strong publication record. The expected start date is the Spring/Early Summer 2025 and the expected duration is 6-9 months, depending on candidate availability and interests.

Required Specific Experience

• Path/motion planning algorithms (A*, D*, graph-search)
• Nonlinear model predictive control
• Programming in Matlab/Simulink
• Applications to mobile robots or vehicles

Additional Useful Experience

• Nonlinear MPC Design in CasADi
• Code generation tools and dSPACE
• Applications to autonomous vehicles and articulated vehicles

MERL is seeking a motivated graduate student to research methods for state and parameter estimation and optimization of large-scale systems for process applications. Representative applications include large vapor-compression cycles and other multiphysical systems for energy conversion that couple thermodynamic, fluid, and electrical domains. The ideal candidate would have a solid background in control and estimation, numerical methods, and optimization; strong programming skills and experience with Julia/Python/Matlab are also expected. Knowledge of the fundamental physics of thermofluid flows (e.g., thermodynamics, heat transfer, and fluid mechanics), nonlinear dynamics, or equation-oriented languages (Modelica, gPROMS) is a plus. The expected duration of this internship is 3 months.

MERL is looking for a self-motivated graduate student to work on Visual Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (V-SLAM). Based on the candidate’s interests, the intern can work on a variety of topics such as (but not limited to): camera pose estimation, feature detection and matching, visual-LiDAR data fusion, pose-graph optimization, loop closure detection, and image-based camera relocalization. The ideal candidate would be a PhD student with a strong background in 3D computer vision and good programming skills in C/C++ and/or Python. The candidate must have published at least one paper in a top-tier computer vision, machine learning, or robotics venue, such as CVPR, ECCV, ICCV, NeurIPS, ICRA, or IROS. The intern will collaborate with MERL researchers to derive and implement new algorithms for V-SLAM, conduct experiments, and report findings. A submission to a top-tier conference is expected. The duration of the internship and start date are flexible.

Required Specific Experience

• Experience with 3D Computer Vision and Simultaneous Localization & Mapping.