Postdoc Integrated Sensor and Readout ICs for Robotics Smart Skin

Give robots a human-like sense of touch. Develop integrated sensors and mixed-signal readout ICs for flexible electronic skin, enabling fast, robust and scalable tactile intelligence for advanced robotics.

Job description

As a Postdoc at TU Delft, you will tackle the challenge of equipping an entire robot with thousands of tactile sensors without creating excessive wiring, latency, sensitivity to electromagnetic interference or power-supply noise. You will develop integrated sensor and readout IC technology for flexible electronic skin, or Smart Skin.

You will design, simulate and lay out low-power mixed-signal ICs for large sensor arrays. Your work may include low-noise analogue front-ends, high-resolution and energy-efficient ADCs, and local data processing and multiplexing. You will explore circuit architectures such as local digitisation, event-driven or asynchronous readout, and noise-immune topologies to achieve robust, ultra-low-latency tactile sensing with a high dynamic range.

Working closely with materials and sensor experts, you will integrate CMOS chips with flexible or stretchable capacitive, piezoelectric or piezoresistive sensor arrays. You will take designs from architecture to tape-out and characterisation, using suitable CMOS technologies. You will conduct electrical measurements and validate your solutions at robotic system level.

Your research will combine fundamental IC innovation with hands-on experimental work. You will publish your findings at leading solid-state circuits and sensor conferences and in journals, and co-supervise MSc and PhD candidates.

You will work at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science (EEMCS), within the Department of Microelectronics. Here, you will join an interdisciplinary research environment with expertise in integrated circuits, sensors and robotic systems. You will have access to advanced IC design tools, measurement equipment and fabrication facilities. Together, we aim to develop the hardware that enables the next generation of intelligent robots to physically sense and interact with their environment.

Job requirements

• You hold a PhD in Electrical Engineering, Microelectronics, Integrated Circuits or a closely related field.
• You have a strong foundation in analogue IC design, including MOSFET physics, amplifiers, voltage references and frequency compensation.
• You have experience designing mixed-signal circuits, such as ADCs, DACs, comparators, oscillators or related building blocks.
• You are proficient with IC design and simulation tools such as Cadence Virtuoso and Spectre, or comparable industry-standard EDA tools.
• You have experience with system-level modelling using MATLAB/Simulink, Verilog-A or comparable tools.
• You enjoy collaborating across disciplines and translating sensor and system requirements into integrated circuit architectures.
• Experience with capacitive, resistive or ultrasonic sensors and their readout ICs is an advantage, but not required.
• You communicate effectively in English and are motivated to publish research and support MSc and PhD candidates.
• You are expected to have 2+ successful tapeouts in CMOS technologies.
• You are expected to have at least 2 of the following publications: ISSCC, VLSI, ESSERC, ASSCC, CICC, JSSC, TCAS-I, SSCL, TCAS-II.

Candidates who do not fullfill the requirements will not be considered.

TU Delft (Delft University of Technology)

TU Delft is a top international university combining science, engineering and design. It delivers world class results in education, research and innovation to address challenges in the areas of energy, climate, mobility, health and digital society. For generations, our engineers have proven to be entrepreneurial problem-solvers, both in business and in a social context.

Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science

The Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science (EEMCS) brings together three scientific disciplines. Combined, they reinforce each other and are the driving force behind the technology we all use in our daily lives. The faculty develops future chips and sensors, advances software technologies including AI, and pushes the limits of applied mathematics. There is plenty of room for ground-breaking research, supported by excellent labs and facilities in a strong international environment.