Temporary position OT-29142
Engineer on drone simulation and experimentation
63170 Aubière
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 research unit Technologies et Systèmes d'Information pour les Agrosystèmes (TSCF) is recruiting an engineer for the exploratory research project ‘Drones Conceived for Collisions’. The engineer will participate in the implementation of planning algorithms and trajectory following methods for drones exploiting collisions to optimize their energy consumption. The goal of the project is to develop methods, to implement them (through a simulation and in practice) and to evaluate their performance in order to empirically verify the following hypothesis: using collisions allows to save energy.
The recruited engineer will develop the simulation environment, implement the methods, install the experimental setup, and conduct experiments. Depending on their interest and the advancement of the project, it will also be possible to take part in the formal conception of the experiments, the data analysis, and the choice of the material (drones).
The project’s planned schedule is the following:
- from September 2026 to February 2027: development of the simulator, simulated experiments, preparation and installation of the experimental setup;
- from March to August 2027: practical experiments within an ad hoc structure, following the drones with a camera setup, note that the preparatory work on experiments will have taken place beforehand.
The missions linked to the simulator are the following:
- development of a simulator (in Python or C++/Rust) which will allow comparing classical approaches and collision-using approaches: simulation of the drone’s physics (in both approaches), of collisions, and evaluation of energy consumption;
- production of datasets to test the simulation (environments with obstacles allowing the comparison of approaches), those sets will be both translatable in future practical expriments within the project (limited number of obstacles) and larger for simulated-only results;
- implementation, in the simulator, of standard trajectory planning methods for a drone avoiding obstacles;
- implementation, in the simulator, of collision-using trajectory planning methods developed within the project;
- evaluation of the approaches by running the methods on the datasets, and extraction of the results.
The missions linked to the practical experiments are the following:
- integration of the trajectory following of the drone (through a Vicon-type system);
- if necessary, 3D printing and installation of a cage for the drone, protecting them from collisions;
- implementation of methods allowing the drone to stabilize after a collision;
- implementation, for the drone itself (remotely controlled), of collision-using trajectory planning methods developed within the project;
- participation in the experimental setup: preparation, installation, running the experiment, data collection, tidying.
Training and skills
Recommended training: Masters in robotics, computer science or similar domains (electronics...).
Desired knowledge: Programing (Python, C++/Rust, ROS2, Docker). Knowledge of physics (for collision simulation) will be useful.
Appreciated experience: Drone or robot deployment.
Skills: Scientific curiosity, teamwork.
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.
The Cézeaux site is served by subway line A, and is also equipped with parking facilities and services dedicated to cycling.
How to apply
I send my CV and my motivation letter
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)