Assignment type: Internship/BEP
Start date: As soon as possible
Assignment duration: ~6 months
Location: Veghel (and Vanderlande Innovation Lab at TU/e)
Educational level: HBO/WO
Desired study: Human-Technology Interaction, Industrial Design, Psychology & Technology, Innovation Sciences, Digital Technology Engineering, Game Design or related
Language: Dutch or English
Context
Have you ever thought about the journey of your package when you order something online?
Inside highly automated distribution centers, packages are stored together inside containers to be transported by aircrafts or trucks. The emergence of robotics and the increasing labor scarcity are driving further automation of this process.
However, current day challenges prove too complex to be solely executed by a robot. A milestone on the journey towards fully autonomous robotics is to have operator assisted robots. These operators (virtually) assist the robot in different tasks, allowing the robots to fulfil tasks at a level full autonomy would not yet have reached.
In the application of container loading a robot aims to pack items densely into a container, such that these items can be shipped in a space efficient manner. While this problem is easy to solve for humans (e.g. packing a car, refilling the storage cabinet or filling the dishwasher), this game of ‘3D Tetris’ is particularly challenging for robots to solve. Therefore, the aim is to use human insights at the moments where the algorithms struggle most: leveraging the complex reasoning of a human and utilizing the strength and endurance of a robot.
Assignment
In this assignment, you will need to create an interface that allows human operators to efficiently provide input to the robot. This interface needs to present the available knowledge of the stacking environment in an easy-to-grasp manner and allow the operator to give high quality feedback quickly. The details of this interface are open to discussion, but could range from a live camera view of the stacking environment to a virtual reality experience wherein the operator gets the full 3D view of the problem.
The final results should be scalable in such a way that one operator can assist multiple robots at the same time, but this is not the expected output of the assignment. Instead, the idea is to work towards a simplified version that can show the (dis)advantages of this methodology.
You will be working part of your time at our HQ in Veghel and the other part of your time at our Innovation Lab at the TU Eindhoven. The Innovation Lab is an inspiring and dynamic environment where you can interact with other students and experiment with physical equipment like robots, a teleoperation system and a Hololens.
Department
In the Innovate department (part of R&D), no two days are the same. Our activities are based all over the world and each project is different. We constantly spot and explore new technologies and applications that enable Vanderlande to create valuable and sustainable systems for our customers in Warehousing, Parcels, and Airports.
Tasks/responsibilities
The goal is to design and create a digital interface for operators, to monitor and assist the robot in determining the right place pose. As part of this:
- Build a digital representation of the robot, the container and the stack of products
- Visualize the place pose that is proposed by an existing algorithm
- Design the interaction- and feedback system between robot and human operator
- End-result is a prototype / proof-of-concept to demonstrate and experience the interaction
Your profile
- You are familiar with 3D visualization programs (e.g. NVIDIA Isaac, Unity, RViz) or motivated to learn
- You have theoretical knowledge about Human-Technology Interaction
- You are practically oriented and want to work towards a tangible result
Contact
Do you recognize yourself in this challenging profile? And are you looking for an internship assignment in an organization that has been elected as “Best Employer” for years in a row? Please fill out the application form and upload your resume and cover letter.
For more information, contact us by e-mail: internship@vanderlande.com or Stef Alferink (Campus Recruiter) by phone: +31 413 755 087.