STAGIAIRE RECHERCHE DYNALOG-ROBOTIQUE H/F

Title: Bridging Robotic Systems and Simulation: ROS and Industrial Communication Integration for Optimizing Intralogistics

Titre : Intégration des robots réels et de leur simulation : utilisation de ROS et des protocoles industriels pour l'optimisation de l'intralogistique.

Abstract

Keywords: Intralogistics, ROS, Robotic Simulation, Gazebo, Digital Twin, Industrial Communication, Robotics.

As part of the DYNALOG project, this six-month research internship aims to optimize intralogistics through the seamless integration of real and simulated robotic systems. By leveraging ROS (Robot Operating System) and industrial communication frameworks, the work focuses on developing a unified communication interface to connect physical robots, their digital twins (simulated in Gazebo/Omniverse), and mission/fleet controllers. This integration is required to validate robotic missions, in order to ensure consistency between simulation and real-world operations, and enhance the performance, resilience, and scalability of robotic fleets in dynamic warehouse environments. The internship will contribute to the development of a standardized communication layer, enabling real-time bidirectional communication and seamless switching between real and simulated robots. The outcomes include a validated framework, technical documentation, and potential scientific publication, paving the way for smarter, more efficient intralogistics systems.

Résumé

Mots clés : Intralogistique, ROS, Simulation robotique, Gazebo, Jumeau numérique, Communication industrielle, Robotique.

Ce stage de recherche de six mois s’inscrit dans le cadre du projet DYNALOG, visant à optimiser la logistique interne grâce à l’intégration fluide de systèmes robotiques réels et simulés. En s’appuyant sur ROS (Robot Operating System) et des protocoles de communication industriels, le travail se concentre sur le développement d’une interface de communication unifiée pour connecter les robots physiques, leurs jumeaux numériques (simulés dans Gazebo), et les contrôleurs de mission et de flotte. Cette intégration est cruciale pour valider les missions robotiques, garantir la cohérence entre simulation et opérations réelles, et améliorer les performances, la résilience et l’évolutivité des flottes robotiques dans des environnements d’entrepôt dynamiques. Le stage contribuera à la création d’une couche de communication standardisée, permettant une communication bidirectionnelle en temps réel et une bascule transparente entre robots réels et simulés. Les résultats incluront un cadre validé, une documentation technique, et une potentielle publication scientifique, ouvrant la voie à des systèmes intralogistiques plus intelligents et efficaces.

Skills

Scientific and technical skills:

•       Robotic and mechatronic knowledge.

•       Programming languages, including Python and C++ & software development tools (version control).

•       Familiarity with the ROS robotic framework and its tools

•       Familiarity with robotic simulation environments (GAZEBO, Isaac Sim / Omniverse)

Soft skills:

•       Autonomy and scientific curiosity

•       Strong coding discipline (tests, reproducibility, documentation)

•       Clear communication (reporting, analytical)

•       Teamwork with researchers and industrial stakeholders

Compétences

Compétences scientifiques et techniques :

•       Connaissances en robotique et mécatronique.

•       Maîtrise des langages de programmation (Python, C++) et des outils de développement logiciel (contrôle de version, Git).

•       Expérience avec le framework ROS (Robot Operating System) et ses outils associés.

•       Familiarité avec les environnements de simulation robotique (Gazebo, Isaac Sim / Omniverse).

Compétences transversales :

•       Autonomie et curiosité scientifique.

•       Rigueur en développement (tests, reproductibilité, documentation).

•       Communication claire (rédaction de rapports, analyse technique).

•       Travail d’équipe avec des chercheurs et des partenaires industriels.

Research Work

Scientific context 

This six-month research internship is part of the DYNALOG project, to optimize intralogistics—internal goods flows—notably through the robotization of warehouses, offering solutions for supervising, planning, and optimizing complex missions for fleets that may include up to one hundred robots. The project aspires to enhance the performance, resilience, and scalability of robotic systems in warehouses. Within this context, the internship will contribute to bridge real robotic systems with high-fidelity simulations using ROS (Robot Operating System) and industrial communication frameworks.

The integration of simulation and real systems is required to validate robotic missions before deployment in order to improve operational efficiency. By leveraging ROS and industrial protocols, this work will enable seamless communication between physical robots, their digital twins (simulated in Gazebo/Omniverse), and the mission and fleet controller. This integration is key to validating robotic missions, ensuring consistency between simulation and real-world operations, and optimizing fleet performance in dynamic intralogistics environments.

Subject

In collaboration with researchers, you will mainly contribute to the "System Integration" aspect. The internship will focus on developing a unified ROS-based module to seamlessly integrate real and simulated robots within the mission and fleet controller architecture.

The objectives are:

•        Development of a unified communication interface for real and simulated robots

•        Integration with mission/fleet controller to ensure real-time, bidirectional communication between robots and the fleet controller.

•        Validation of the system’s ability to switch seamlessly between real and simulated robots for testing and deployment.

•        Test and optimization of the framework for scalability and resilience (fault tolerance, recovery mechanisms).

This work will directly contribute to the unified messaging system depicted in the diagram, enabling a cohesive environment for robotic fleet management.

Work program

•       Study ROS and industrial communication protocols and existing mission/fleet controller architectures.

•       Study and compare real robot communication protocol and messages and the simulated ones.

•       Develop the interface that enables seamless switching between real and simulated robot.

•       Integration and testing with mission and fleet controllers.

•       Validation, results analysis to ensure consistency in behavior, latency, and performance.

•       Evaluation of scalability and resilience.

Expected scientific/technical production  

•       Implementation of standardized communication layer for real and simulated robots, enabling seamless integration with the mission/fleet controller.

•       Technical documentation: guidelines for deployment, including API references, examples and results analysis.

•       A final internship report; potential submission to a conference/journal depending on results and partner constraints.

Context

Lab presentation

CESI LINEACT (UR 7527), Digital Innovation Laboratory for Companies and Apprenticeships for the Competitiveness of Territories, CESI LINEACT anticipates and accompanies technological changes in sectors and services related to industry, construction and digital technology. CESI‘s historical proximity to companies is a determining factor for our research activities, and has led us to focus our efforts on applied research close to the company and in partnership with them. A human-centered approach coupled with the use of technologies, as well as the territorial network and the links with training have made it possible to build a transversal research; it puts the human, its needs and its uses, at the center of its problems and approaches the technological angle through these contributions.

Research is positioned on two complementary and unifying scientific themes and two major areas of application:

Team 1: “Learning and Innovating”, which brings together cognitive, social and management sciences, as well as training and innovation sciences and techniques; Theme 1 can address application areas broader than those of the City or the Industry of the Future. The main scientific objectives targeted by this theme are the understanding of the effects of the environment, and more particularly of situations instrumented by technical objects (platforms, prototyping workshops, immersive systems…) on learning and creativity processes.

Team 2: “Engineering and digital tools” which brings together skills in the fields of digital sciences and engineering sciences; it is mostly adapted to the two application areas below. The main scientific objectives of this team relate to the modeling, simulation, optimization and data analysis of industrial or urban systems. The research work also focuses on the associated decision support tools, and on human-machine interaction through the study of digital twins coupled with virtual or augmented environments and applied robotics.

The two application domains of the City of the Future and the Industry of the Future enable us to combine the business skills essential to the implementation of our projects around our scientific themes. They respond to the two major challenges that are the energy and digital transitions of our societies.

Funding: DynaLog Project

Location: CESI LINEACT, Angoulême (France)

Starting date: March 2026

Duration: 6 months.