[Closed](The field of Robotics) Call for Unit Leaders (Principal Investigators, PIs)

1. Description

F-REI (hereinafter referred to as “the Institute”) aims to be a world-premiere "center of excellence of creative reconstruction" that will serve as a hope for realizing the future and dream of Fukushima district as well as the other part of Tohoku region. We also expect this institute to lead the Japan's scientific and technological innovation as well as strengthen the industrial capabilities, therefore to contribute to the growth of economy and the human well-being.

To this end, the Institute prioritizes recruitment and infrastructure development for research and development activities led by Principal Investigators (PIs). The Institute also plans to step up in stages its industrialization function, such as support for creation of businesses and joint research with companies, as well as its human resource development function for partner graduate schools and the younger generation. Regarding the recruitment of research and development personnel, the Institute will move in phases to recruitment through direct employment and cross appointment, shifting from research using outsourcing etc., the approach taken initially, as shown in the attached “F-REI Roadmap (for illustrative purposes).”

The Institute invites applications for unit leaders (PIs) to carry out the following research and development projects in the field of Robotics:

• Research Policy
  We will develop high mobility robots with radiation resistance, water resistance, heat resistance, explosion proof; conduct research on intelligence to realize autonomous control and swarm control; and conduct research on expanding the functions to enhance the sensory functions of living organisms, etc. We will leverage the achievements of these R&Ds to promote the development of high mobility robots that can operate in harsh environments such as decommissioning, disasters, and outer space, the development of high-function drones that achieve high payloads and long flight, the development of autonomous mobile robots, the development of intuitive operation interface for robots and drones, and the development of information systems that enable flexible management and utilization of collected information, etc.
• Examples of research topics
  • - R&D to promote the use of robots and drones in harsh environments
  • - R&D of drones that achieve long flight, high payload, and carbon neutrality
  • - Standardization of performance evaluation methods for marketability and industrialization of field robots, etc.
  • - R&D of sensor technologies for robots and drones for disaster prevention and response
  • - Improvement of remote control technologies for decommissioning and application to the field
  • * Research topics will be assigned based on the candidate's achievements, aptitude, etc.
• Priority research areas

  [Robotics to contribute to future decommissioning]

  High-power electric/hydraulic manipulation hand technology, environment recognition technology, and advanced semi-autonomous manipulation control technology that enables anyone to operate easily

  [Disaster response robot]

  • - Technologies for collecting wide area information /local information and disaster response support using UAVs, UGVs, UUVs, and USVs in harsh environments
  • - Technologies for establishing an autonomous distributed control system and a user interface (UI) for a group of heterogeneous robots
  • - Technologies for building information systems and UI (User Interface) to integrate and utilize collected information

  [Robot for operations in forests]

  • - High-power hydraulic manipulation and gripper technology
  • - Environment recognition technology
  • - Advanced semi-autonomous manipulation control technology that enables easy operation
  • - Semi-autonomous control hydraulic manipulation and gripper technology from a remote site
  • - Technology for automatically generating three-dimensional maps of forest trees and work procedures for thinning and clear-cutting operations
  • - Semi-autonomous unmanned work robot technology, etc.

• About core facilities
  Research facilities will be constructed. We will consider the unit leader's request in the development of core facilities.
• About the development of research infrastructure
  We plan to develop research infrastructure for the unit's activities by renting laboratories. We expect that the budget for the procurement of the research equipment etc. to be used by the unit will be approximately 100 million yen.
• Labor expenses
  A unit will consist of several researchers. We expect that the budget for labor expenses to be used by one unit will be approximately 100 million yen.
• About research expenses
  We expect that the budget for the research expenses per unit will be approximately 100 million yen per year (including labor expenses for postdoctoral fellows and other personnel with limited contract period).

• * The structure of units will be determined later.

2. Application Deadline

4:00 p.m. Tuesday, 30^th April, 2024 (JST).

3. Application Guidelines and Forms

• (1) Guidelines (HTML, PDF: 144KB)
• (2) F-REI Roadmap (for illustrative purposes) (PDF: 214KB)
• (3) Forms (Word: 90KB)