Master thesis: Robust Multimodal 3D Object Detection with RADAR

Company description:

Part of Volvo Group, Volvo Autonomous Solutions accelerates the development, commercialization and sales of autonomous transport solutions, focusing on defined segments for the on- and off-road space. The combination of strong tech expertise and skilled customer solutions creates innovative transport offers never seen before. We are constantly pushing our own skills and ability to drive change in a traditional industry to meet a growing customer demand. We are now looking for innovative, committed individuals to join us in our endeavor to create customer solutions that enhance safety, flexibility and productivity.

Job description:

Master thesis: Robust Multimodal 3D Object Detection with RADAR under Missing-Modality Conditions

What you will do

At Volvo Autonomous Solutions, we are at the forefront of innovation, designing the autonomous transport solutions of tomorrow. As part of our global and diverse team, you will have the opportunity to work on an industrial research challenge that contributes to the future of safe and sustainable transport.

We are looking for a master’s thesis student to investigate how multimodal perception systems can remain reliable when RADAR data is missing or affected by noise.

The thesis project

Modern 3D object detectors combine information from cameras, LiDAR and RADAR to improve perception performance. However, a detector trained to rely on all three modalities may experience a significant performance drop when RADAR measurements are unavailable.

The goal of this thesis is to investigate methods for making multimodal 3D object detection more robust under missing-modality conditions. The project will focus on developing and evaluating a training strategy based on modality dropout or modality-aware learning.

You will investigate how the detector performs during normal multimodal operation and when operating with camera data only. You will also study the impact of corrupted RADAR measurements and assess whether robustness to missing RADAR can be improved without compromising normal multimodal performance.

The work will include:

Designing a suitable training and evaluation strategy. Training and testing the detector under different sensor conditions. Measuring robustness using relevant performance metrics. Analysing the results and documenting your findings in a scientific report.

Who are you?

You are enrolled in a master’s programme in computer science, data science, machine learning, electrical engineering, robotics or a related field. You have solid Python programming skills and hands-on experience with a deep-learning framework such as PyTorch or TensorFlow.

We are looking for someone who is interested in autonomous systems, machine perception and real-world sensor data.

You should also be:

Independent, structured and curious. Analytical and motivated to solve challenging technical problems. Comfortable working with experimental results and scientific documentation. Proficient in written and spoken English.

What’s in it for you?

This thesis gives you the opportunity to work on a real industrial research problem with access to unique multimodal vehicle data and the tools needed to conduct advanced experiments. You will receive close technical supervision from experts in AI and autonomous systems and have access to GPU resources for training and evaluation.

You will also become part of a dynamic and inclusive work environment where new ideas are encouraged and celebrated.

How to apply

To apply, send your CV, grade transcript and a short motivation explaining your interest in the project and relevant experience. Start and scope can be adjusted together with the supervisor.

We value your data privacy and therefore do not accept applications via mail.

Who we are and what we believe in We are committed to shaping the future landscape of efficient, safe, and sustainable transport solutions. Fulfilling our mission creates countless career opportunities for talents across the group’s leading brands and entities.

Applying to this job offers you the opportunity to join Volvo Group. Every day, you will be working with some of the sharpest and most creative brains in our field to be able to leave our society in better shape for the next generation. ​We are passionate about what we do, and we thrive on teamwork. ​We are almost 100,000 people united around the world by a culture of care, inclusiveness, and empowerment.