Postdoc Real-World Testing of Future In-Vehicle Touchscreens

Join our NWO-funded "Future In-vehicle Touch Screens" (FITS) project as a postdoctoral researcher and help improve the usability of touchscreens in moving vehicles.

Job description

In this position, you will contribute to the Dutch Research Council funded project “Future In-vehicle Touch Screens” (FITS), a collaboration between the faculties of Aerospace Engineering and Mechanical Engineering at TU Delft.

Touch interfaces have replaced physical buttons, dials, and switches in the new generation of cars, aircraft, and vessels. However, vehicle vibrations and accelerations perturb finger movements and frequently cause erroneous touchscreen inputs by users. Furthermore, unlike physical buttons, touchscreens cannot be operated by touch alone and always require users’ visual focus. Hence, despite their numerous benefits, touchscreens are not inherently suited for use in vehicles, which causes significant user annoyance and results in an increased risk of accidents. In FITS, the aim is to address these problems by developing novel in-vehicle touchscreens that actively, and in real time, predict and correct perturbed finger movements and simulate physical touch interactions with artificial tactile feedback.

As a postdoc, you will:

• Perform fundamental experiments in TU Delft’s SIMONA flight simulator to develop and fine-tune touchscreen corrections for perturbed finger movements.
• Implement and test adaptive tactile feedback (electrovibration) to restore a true sense of touch to in-vehicle touchscreens, to facilitate their “eyes-off” operation.
• Implement novel touchscreen technologies (hardware and software) in a final demonstrator (prototype) as well as commercial touchscreen hardware provided by the project’s partners.
• Perform validation human-subject evaluations with prototype touchscreens in real air, road, and water vehicles.
• Contribute to scientific articles, conference papers, and new research proposals.

You will be hired at the Aerospace Human-Machine Systems cluster of the Control & Operations department at TU Delft’s Aerospace Engineering faculty and co-hosted by the Haptic Interface Technology Lab (HITLab) at the Mechanical Engineering faculty’s Cognitive Robotics department. Focusing on the aerospace and automotive/maritime domains, respectively, both departments strive to lead in integrating, developing, and testing control, autonomous, and cognitive systems, especially those with human interaction, to meet industrial and societal needs. You will also have access to cutting-edge experimental facilities such as the SIMONA Research Simulator, PH-LAB research aircraft, and HITLab.

In this project, you will collaborate closely with two PhD students who perform the fundamental research into finger movement corrections and tactile feedback that support the touchscreen innovations. You will also collaborate with project partners from the aerospace, automotive, and maritime sectors that support FITS: ScioTeq, NLR, VNV, Abbink Aviation Consultancy, SWOV, and Damen. This offers an intellectually stimulating environment with fellow researchers and partners working across disciplines and scales, with ample opportunities for scientific impact and personal development.

Job requirements

We are looking for a self-motivated researcher to help develop, implement, and test new touchscreen technologies for use in moving vehicles. You can perform research independently, but are also a good team player and willing to cooperate closely with other researchers and industry partners.

Furthermore, candidates should meet the following requirements:

• PhD degree in Mechanical Engineering, Control Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Robotics, or comparable studies and experience.
• Proven experience in human-subject data collection, statistical data analysis, and mathematical modeling.
• Proven experience in working with experimental hardware and electronics.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English.
• Good programming skills, preferably including Python and C++.
• Strong analytical skills and ability or interest to work at the intersection of several research domains.
• Excellent track record in scientific research, as evident from published papers in international and peer-reviewed journals.

TU Delft

Delft University of Technology combines science, engineering and design to address challenges in energy, climate, mobility, health and digital society. For this role, you will work in an environment focused on research, innovation and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Faculty Aerospace Engineering

The Faculty of Aerospace Engineering at Delft University of Technology is an international community where innovation in aerospace meets global challenges. Staff, including PhD candidates, postdocs, and students, work together on themes including the energy transition, sustainable aerospace, and safety and security.

When you join, you become part of a collaborative environment where ideas and perspectives are valued. The work extends beyond the lab into field labs, innovation hubs, and partnerships with other faculties, research institutes, governments, and industry, both locally and globally.

Conditions of employment

• Duration of contract is 1 year temporary.
• An excellent pension scheme via the ABP.
• The possibility to compile an individual employment package every year.
• Discount with health insurers on supplemental packages.
• Flexible working week.
• Every year, 232 leave hours (at 38 hours). You can also sell or buy additional leave hours via the individual choice budget.
• Plenty of opportunities for education, training and courses.
• Partially paid parental leave.
• Attention for working healthy and energetically with the vitality program.