Research Assistant (Assembly-oriented Mobile Robot Hardware Design)

Company description:

The National University of Singapore is the national research university of Singapore. Founded in 1905 as the Straits Settlements and the Federated Malay States Government Medical School, NUS is the oldest higher education institution in Singapore

Job description:

Job Description

The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the National University of Singapore (NUS) invites applications for one (1) Research Assistant position in the Constructive Machines Lab. The lab builds robotic systems that autonomously build structures and studies the two-way relationship between how a structure is designed and how it is built. Its current focus is a team of mobile manipulators that transport and assemble scaffolding systems, temporarily support unstable partial assemblies, and progressively turn the structure-in-progress into navigable space for themselves.

The Research Assistant will bring up and maintain the lab's mobile manipulation platforms, design and build the end-effectors and specialised tooling that allow the robots to grasp, place, and connect structural elements, and — drawing on what the team learns from off-the-shelf hardware — contribute to the development of custom mobile platforms purpose-built for construction assembly tasks.

The Research Assistant is expected to:

• Design, fabricate, and test end-effectors and specialised tooling for grasping, placing, and connecting structural elements, in close coordination with the design and planning teams.
• Integrate and maintain legged and wheeled mobile manipulation platforms, including arm mounting, power distribution, onboard compute, sensor rigs, cabling, and operational safety.
• Develop embedded software and low-level control for custom tooling, including microcontroller firmware, actuator and sensor interfacing, and ROS 2 hardware drivers.
• Evaluate off-the-shelf platforms — quadrupeds with mounted manipulators, humanoids, and wheeled systems — and translate the findings into requirements and prototypes for the lab's own mobile platforms.
• Support hardware experiments and field trials, including rig setup, data capture, troubleshooting, and experiment documentation.

Job Requirements

• At least a bachelor's degree in Mechatronics, Mechanical, Electrical, or Control Engineering, or a related field.
• A Master's degree will be preferred.
• Practical mechanical design and fabrication skills, including CAD, 3D printing, and machining or workshop fabrication.
• Experience with embedded systems and low-level control: microcontrollers, motor drivers, actuator and sensor integration, and real-time control loops.
• Proficiency in C++ and/or Python, with working experience in ROS or ROS 2.
• Prior experience with mobile manipulators, legged robots, or humanoid platforms is highly preferred.
• Ability to diagnose and resolve hardware faults independently and to work safely with powered robotic systems.
• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively within a multidisciplinary research team.
• Strong written and spoken communication skills.
• Open to fixed-term contract.