Thesis: Development of a smart embedded device for multimodal AI interaction

The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft (www.fraunhofer.com) currently operates 76 institutes and research units throughout Germany and is a leading applied research organization. Around 32 000 employees work with an annual research budget of 3.4 billion euros.

Welcome to the Fraunhofer Institute for Mechatronic Design IEM!
At the »Zukunftsmeile« in Paderborn, Germany, we conduct practical research to develop innovative solutions for mechanical and plant engineering, the automotive industry and related sectors. The focus is on intelligent products, production systems, services and software applications.

Smart embedded devices are becoming increasingly important as they act as intelligent, networked interfaces between the physical world and cloud-based AI services. The challenge and at the same time the attraction lies in using limited resources (computing power, energy, space) to develop systems that reliably capture and process input data such as images and speech and provide comprehensible feedback. This topic opens a wide range of possible applications - from barrier-free assistance systems and smart educational devices to applications in industry or everyday life

What you will do

In cooperation with the start-up around the AI companion Lexie, the aim of this thesis is to develop a compact, screen-free smart embedded device that can capture several types of input - in particular image and audio data - and transmit them to cloud-based AI services for processing. Feedback to the user is provided exclusively via acoustic feedback (e.g. voice output). By dispensing with a display, the focus shifts to multimodal processing (image and voice) and intuitive interaction with the device. Various hardware constellations will be tested in order to analyse their influence on recognition quality, system latency and other parameters.

What you bring to the table

You are studying computer science, embedded systems or a comparable study programme
You are interested in embedded AI applications and have some experience in programming microcontrollers and sensor technology
You are motivated and like to work independently

What you can expect

A strong team culture with flat hierarchies is a matter of course for us. This means: high esteem and trust
Professional supervision and specialist support in the preparation of the student research project/thesis
Exciting and practical application example from a young start-up
Flexible working from home to combine studies and work in the best possible way

We value and promote the diversity of our employees' skills and therefore welcome all applications - regardless of age, gender, nationality, ethnic and social origin, religion, ideology, disability, sexual orientation and identity. Severely disabled persons are given preference in the event of equal suitability.

With its focus on developing key technologies that are vital for the future and enabling the commercial utilization of this work by business and industry, Fraunhofer plays a central role in the innovation process. As a pioneer and catalyst for groundbreaking developments and scientific excellence, Fraunhofer helps shape society now and in the future.

Interested? Apply online now. We look forward to getting to know you!

Additional questions will be answered gladly by:
Mr. Tobias Seidenberg
Fraunhofer-Institut für Entwurfstechnik Mechatronik IEM
Zukunftsmeile 1 | 33102 Paderborn

Web: https://www.iem.fraunhofer.de/

Requisition Number: 79578

Job Segment: Cloud, Embedded, Computer Science, Developer, Technology, Research

Apply now »