Job description

A modern automotive vehicle is controlled by a distributed control system consisting of 20-80 interconnected ECU’s (Electronic Control System). It is fundamentally important  that the control systems are constructed in a way such that the vehicle becomes acceptably safe, conforms to customer requirements, etc. To ensure this, requirements are formulated, and the vehicle is, by different means, verified against these requirements.

However, the control system is built in many variants (many configurations). As an example, even a simple fuel level indication system in a Scania truck has 24000 variants! This means that only a very small portion of all possible variants are possible to verify by testing in real vehicles. The goal of the whole verification process is however to cover as many as possible of the variants. The recently released automotive functional safety standard ISO26262 also states that the verification activities need to ensure that all variants of the control system result in acceptably safe vehicles. All this means that new approaches are needed, traditional vehicle testing needs to be complemented, e.g. with so called compositional verification, and formal or semiformal verification methods.

The project addresses development of control systems in heavy automotive vehicles with high degree of variability. Several aspects of the development chain will be considered, and the final goal is to develop principles, methods, and tools such that it can be ensured that all variants fulfill stated requirements, especially critical ones such as safety goals.

We are seeking one PhD student that will join the Mechatronics and Embedded control systems unit at KTH. The student will be part of a new team (including senior researchers) that addresses safety, architecture, test and verification for heavy vehicles. The team will be working in close collaboration with the industrial partner, Scania, with other researchers at KTH, and with our international collaboration partners.

We offer a stimulating research and engineering environment, encompassing theoretical and practical applications of research.

Qualifications

A suitable candidate should have a degree of Master of Science. Suitable specializations include physics, electrical engineering, mechatronics, computer science, systems engineering or similar. Analytical capability, curiosity and a strong interest in acquiring new knowledge are important aspects for PhD candidates.

We further merit documented experience and interest in industrial collaboration. We also require English language skills, written and verbal.

Trade union representatives

You’ll find contact information to trade union representatives at KTH:s web page.

Application

Log into KTH’s recruitment system in order to apply to this position. You are the main responsible to ensure that your application is complete according to the ad. Your complete application must be received at KTH no later than the last day of application. The application should include the following information/documents: Curriculum Vitae, Personal Letter, copy of degree certificate from previous university degree including grades, list of publications.

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