Master Thesis “Evaluation of Radio Technologies for Mobile Autonomous Robots: Coverage, Performance, and Localization”

AIT Austrian Institute of Technology

As Austria's largest research and technology organization for applied research, we are dedicated to make substantial contributions to solving the major challenges of our time, climate change and digitalization. To achieve our goals, we rely on our specific research, development and technology competencies, which are the basis of our commitment to excellence in all areas. With our open culture of innovation and our motivated, international teams, we are working to position AIT as Austria's leading research institution at the highest international level and to make a positive contribution to the economy and society.

Our Center for Vision, Automation & Control (VAC) located in Vienna invites applications for a master’s thesis position. VAC exploits the opportunities of automation and digitalization to develop intelligent solutions in computer vision, robotics and control. We work closely with industrial and academic partners to bring cutting-edge algorithms onto real machines and into real environments.

As part of the Competence Unit Assistive & Autonomous Systems (AAS), we research safe and dependable autonomous systems and mobile work machines for challenging outdoor and industrial scenarios. We focus on robust perception, localization, planning and monitoring technologies that enable machines to operate reliably, reduce workload for human operators and increase overall system safety.

Master Thesis “Evaluation of Radio Technologies for Mobile Autonomous Robots: Coverage, Performance, and Localization”

Your tasks:

• Dive into the state of the art in radio technologies for large outdoor environments, focusing on solutions such as LoRa/LoRaWAN, Wi-Fi / Wi-Fi HaLow, private 5G / campus networks, UWB and mesh-based approaches.
• Derive system requirements from a representative large-scale outdoor robotics scenario: area size, typical link distances, number and type of nodes (mobile machines, fixed infrastructure, sensors), required data rates, latency bounds, availability and robustness needs.
• Analyze and model coverage and capacity of selected radio technologies, comparing coverage range per node, infrastructure density, achievable throughput and latency, device energy consumption and scalability for different deployment concepts.
• Investigate coarse localization capabilities of radio technologies as a fallback in case of GNSS degradation or loss, e.g., using RSSI-based methods, time-difference-of-arrival (TDoA) or other multilateration approaches, and assess achievable accuracy.
• Study how radio-based information can support dead reckoning, analyzing to what extent translation (position change) and rotation (heading/orientation) can be inferred or stabilized from communication infrastructure.
• Develop simulation or analytical evaluation scenarios (e.g., in Python) to compare different radio technologies and configurations, perform sensitivity analyses and visualize trade-offs between coverage, localization quality, infrastructure effort and energy use.
• Work as part of an experienced research team, receive close mentorship from scientists in robotics, wireless communication and localization, and learn how to plan, document and present an applied research project in a professional R&D environment – giving your scientific career a strong, application-driven kick-start.

Your qualifications:

• Ongoing master’s studies in Telecommunications, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Robotics, Mechatronics, or a related technical field.
• Solid coding skills in Python; experience with simulation or modelling tools (e.g., for wireless systems or network analysis) is an advantage.
• Basic understanding of wireless communication principles (link budgets, propagation, latency, basic networking) and/or strong motivation to acquire this knowledge.
• Interest in autonomous systems, mobile robotics, wireless networks and localization.
• Analytical mindset with enjoyment of conceptual work, modelling and quantitative comparison of alternatives.
  Ability to work both independently and as part of a team
  Good command of English (spoken and written).

What to expect:

• Duration of the master’s thesis: 6 months.
• Start date: as soon as possible
• The opportunity to kick-start your scientific career in an applied research environment
• Work on highly relevant questions at the interface of robotics and wireless communication and contribute to the design of future communication and localization architectures for autonomous mobile work machines.
• EUR 1.005,06 gross per month for 20 hours/week based on the collective agreement. There will be additional company benefits. As a research institution, we are experienced in supervising master’s theses and will support you throughout the project, from definition of the topic to scientific writing, publication, and presentation.

At AIT, we create an inclusive and family-friendly working environment that promotes equal opportunities and actively strengthens diversity across our workforce and in leadership positions. Among other initiatives, we are committed to increasing the proportion of women in our company and therefore particularly welcome applications from female applicants.

TOMORROW TODAY - WITH YOU?

Please submit your complete application documents online, consisting of your CV, a cover letter, relevant certificates and documents, as well as a proof of identity: https://jobs.ait.ac.at/Job/262558