PhD position OT-28119
PhD on optimization-simulation for planification and supervision of a fleet of autonomous agricultural robots
63170 Aubière et 8200 Aarhus (Danemark)
INRAE presentation
The French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food, and Environment (INRAE) is a major player in research and innovation. It is a community of 12,000 people with 272 research, experimental research, and support units located in 18 regional centres throughout France. Internationally, INRAE is among the top research organisations in the agricultural and food sciences, plant and animal sciences, as well as in ecology and environmental science. It is the world’s leading research organisation specialising in agriculture, food and the environment. INRAE’s goal is to be a key player in the transitions necessary to address major global challenges. Faced with a growing world population, climate change, resource scarcity, and declining biodiversity, the Institute has a major role to play in building solutions and supporting the necessary acceleration of agricultural, food and environmental transitions.
Work environment, missions and activities
The MSCA project GreenField Data (IoRT Data management and analysis for Sustainable Agriculture) will mobilize fourteen doctoral candidates on various themes related to data for agroecology. This job offer is about the PhD N, titled ‘Optimization-simulation coupling for the GHG emission-based supervision and planification of a fleet of autonomous agricultural robots’.
Optimization-simulation coupling is an important technology which revolutionized the supervision of robotic fleets. It consists in the integration of optimization algorithms within simulation models, allowing for a more efficient control of a fleet. It also allows the adjustment of operations thanks to data collected in real-time for improved decision-making.
The thesis is part of the development of a fleet of autonomous robots shared between several sites in an equipment-sharing cooperative. The robots will be stored, configured and maintained in a central warehouse, and will be dispatched on several sites with specific needs. The focus of this thesis is on the central planning, assigning each robot to a site in function of needs and availabilities, the control of a robot within a site being left to a local supervisor. The central supervisor will be informed of the progress of robots in their tasks, allowing the reevaluation of constraints and delays thanks to the reporting of field data and the replanification of the robots’ assignments.
The goal of the thesis is to optimize the deployment under different citeria (greenhouse gaz emission, makespan, equity…).
More precisely, the objectives are:
- proposing a model of representation for the fleet and the sites, taking into account the diversity of constraints and objectives;
- conceiving optimization methods to solve the problem of global planification for the fleet. Exact or heuristic methods can be used, but speed of execution will be an important criterion to allow for quick reevaluation with new data from the field and for human decision-making;
- taking into account field data in real-time, and thus allowing replanification in real-time, taking into account delays, breakdowns or new needs;
- evaluating the developed methods, first in simulation and then in real conditions, with an experimental deployment and field data;
- creating an ergonomic visual interface allowing end-users to manage the fleet.
The supervisors will be Claus Sorensen (Aarhus University) and Sandro Bimonte (INRAE).
The recruited candidate will benefit from the excellency of the scientific environment in the host laboratories, from the expertise of the research teams, and from concrete collaboration with other theses of the GreenField Data program.
Additional information: https://www.eu4greenfielddata.eu/phd-positions-application/list-of-phds (Réf N)
The thesis will encompass two periods. During one year and a half, the recruited candidate will work at Aarhus University, Denmark (including 4 months with the company Conpleks Inc). Then, until the end of the thesis, the candidate will work at TSCF in Clermont-Ferrand, France ( including 2 months with the company Sherpa). Due to the MSCA mobility rule, the candidate must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies) in France for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before the date of recruitment.
Training and skills
Recommended training: masters degree in computer science or applied mathematics
Desired knowledge: optimization, operations research, heuristics, algorithms, programing
Appreciated experience: research internship in academia or industry
Skills: a high level in english is required (equivalent to C1), scientific and academic excellency and interest for the doctoral program and collaboration within GreenField Data are mandatory
INRAE's life quality
By joining our teams, you benefit from (depending on the type of contract and its duration):
- up to 30 days of annual leave + 15 days "Reduction of Working Time" (for a full time);
- parenting support: CESU childcare, leisure services;
- skills development systems: training, career advise;
- social support: advice and listening, social assistance and loans;
- holiday and leisure services: holiday vouchers, accommodation at preferential rates;
- sports and cultural activities;
- collective catering.
Salary: €3.100 in France and 28.800 DKK in Denmark, complemented by a mobility allowance and a family allowance, adjusted by country
How to apply
Additional information: https://www.eu4greenfielddata.eu/phd-positions-application/list-of-phds (Ref N)
All persons employed by or hosted at INRAE, a public research establishment, are subject to the Civil Service Code, particularly with regard to the obligation of neutrality and respect for the principle of secularism. In carrying out their functions, whether or not they are in contact with the public, they must not express their religious, philosophical or political convictions through their behaviour or by what they wear. > Find out more: fonction publique.gouv.fr website (in French)