PDEng Position in Robotics at University of Twente

The Professional Doctorate in Engineering (PDEng) programme Robotics offers a 2-year position combining post MSc education and a design project to be carried out at Voortman Steel Machinery (VSM) in Rijssen.
The educational programme, carried out at the University of Twente, will have an in-depth and broadening character with ample attention for professional development and will be partly tailored to the design project. In collaboration with Voortman Steel Machinery you will work on high level, creative new designs for complex issues.

The project
In steel structures, beams are connected by means of steel connections (or joints). The structural engineer can choose from different kinds of connections (depending on applicable regulation, structural considerations, available welding capacity etc). The type of joint selected has an impact on the required plates, beam fabrication time, required qualification, assembling time on-site and ultimately the structure cost.

Welding is performed either automatically or manually. Automatic welding in the steel structure construction industry is a recent innovation and Voortman developed one of the few state-of-the-art automatic welding robots. Robotic welding is less flexible than manual welding and not all connection types can be performed by robotic welding. This has a major effect on the joint types and beamline logistics which must be taken into account. VSM develops and supplies CNC machinery for steel fabrication and plate processing related industries. In recent years the company has seen a switch from machine manufacturer to complete system supplier. VSM is interested in supplying to their customer software and tools to optimize the complete factory development, starting from the estimation of the connection cost.