PREP0002652 Engineering Technician - Robotic Perception

PREP Research Associate

Opportunity No.: PREP0002652

This position is part of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Professional Research Experience (PREP) program. NIST recognizes that its research staff may wish to collaborate with researchers at academic institutions on specific projects of mutual interest, and thus requires that such institutions must be the recipient of a PREP award. The PREP program requires staff from a wide range of backgrounds to work on scientific research in many areas. Employees in this position will perform technical work that underpins the scientific research of the collaboration.

APPLY ONLINE HERE

Engineering Technician - Robotic Perception

Project Description:

The Intelligent Systems Division at NIST is investigating the performance of 3D machine vision systems for various manufacturing applications. The research will focus on conducting experiments and analyzing data to understand these systems' performance and support the development of standards for measuring their depth error and depth resolution, as well as for measuring the performance of robotic systems used for bin-picking applications.

Key Responsibilities: 

Will be tailored to fit the applicant’s qualifications and the applicant will be trained on the use of certain systems needed for the following possible duties:

• Programming and maintaining robots (arms, mobile robots, exoskeletons, etc.)
• Operating and maintaining measurement equipment (e.g., laser trackers, laser scanners, oscilloscopes, etc.)
• Preparing and maintaining laboratories to support experiments
• Conducting experiments in support of the development of standards
• Assisting in recording and analyzing test data and preparing test reports
• Performing simple preventative maintenance, troubleshooting, adjustment, and repairs of laboratory equipment
• Keeping laboratories clean and organized
• Assisting in performing market research for purchases required for the laboratories
• Using CAD software to design parts, end-of-arm tooling, and fixtures
• Working with NIST and/or external resources to have parts fabricated
• Recording knowledge and best practices to help improve efficiency and productivity
• Conducting tests in the laboratory as well as in the field

Desired Qualifications: Not all the qualifications below are required.

• Associate or bachelor’s degree in physical sciences, engineering, or related field (or a training certificate in robotics, engineering, or automation)
• Experience using gauge blocks and/or micrometers
• A basic understanding of geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T)
• Experience using digital oscilloscopes, multimeters, and environmental monitoring instruments (thermometers, hygrometers, etc.)
• Experience with CAD software such as Solidworks
• Experience programming robots (using a teach pendant, hand guidance, and a command line interface)
• Experience using basic hand and power tools
• Experience using fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printers
• Experience operating in laboratory environments in a safe manner
• Be able to work without close supervision in a team environment
• Experience using software tools such as Matlab, Python, Excel (or other) to analyze data

Other Desired Qualifications:

• Experience using dimensional measurement instruments (such as laser trackers, laser scanners, coordinate measurement machines, etc.)
• Experience using Python, C++, C#, JAVA, etc. for programming/controlling robots
• Experience using the robot operating system (ROS) to program robots
• Experience using simulation software (e.g., MoveIT, RoboDK, etc.) to program robots
• Experience with basic machine tools (e.g., drill press, band saw, lathe, etc.)
• Experience with programming and using CNC milling machines

Other Details:

• Full-time: the participant is expected to work 40 hours a week
• Location: the participant will work at the NIST Gaithersburg Campus.
• Duration: this is expected to be a six-month position. Extensions are sometimes granted depending on the availability of funds.
• For questions related to the research project or the nature of the work in this position, please contact Dr. Kamel S. Saidi (kamel.saidi@nist.gov). For questions related to the online application or NIST PREP more generally, please contact msu-nistprep@morgan.edu.

Privacy Act Statement

Authority: 15 U.S.C. § 278g-1(e)(1) and (e)(3) and 15 U.S.C. § 272(b) and (c)

Purpose: The National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) hosts the Professional Research Experience Program (PREP) which is designed to provide valuable laboratory experience and financial assistance to undergraduates, post-bachelor’s degree holders, graduate students, master’s degree holders, postdocs, and faculty.

PREP is a 5-year cooperative agreement between NIST laboratories and participating PREP Universities to establish a collaborative research relationship between NIST and U.S. institutions of higher education in the following disciplines including (but may not be limited to) biochemistry, biological sciences, chemistry, computer science, engineering, electronics, materials science, mathematics, nanoscale science, neutron science, physical science, physics, and statistics. This collection of information is needed to facilitate the administrative functions of the PREP Program.

Routine Uses: NIST will use the information collected to perform the requisite reviews of the applications to determine eligibility, and to meet programmatic requirements. Disclosure of this information is also subject to all the published routine uses as identified in the Privacy Act System of Records Notices: NIST-1: NIST Associates.

Disclosure: Furnishing this information is voluntary. When you submit the form, you are indicating your voluntary consent for NIST to use the information you submit for the purpose stated.