Dr Mark Andrew Post
Senior Lecturer

Profile

Biography

Dr Mark Post is a Senior Lecturer who has published over 61  peer-reviewed journal and conference papers, and raised over £1M in funds as PI for research projects including two Horizon 2020 European projects on sensor fusion, and modular satellites. He leads the Space Robotics and Autonomous Systems laboratory at the University of York that has extensive experience in probabilistic robust autonomy for planetary and agricultural rovers, orbital and planetary vehicles, tensegrity robot and self-configuring autonomous modules capable of knowledge-based adaptation. Recent relevant work includes biomimetic underwater robots including the RoboFish inspection AUV prototype and other modular robots.

Career

Education

• PhD Space Engineering.  Dissertation: “Planetary Micro-Rovers with Bayesian Autonomy”.  York University, Toronto, Canada.  Completed April 2014.
• MSc Space Science.  MSc Thesis: “Non-Destructive Measurement of Stress using Ultrasonic Leaky Lamb Waves”. York University, Toronto, Canada.  Completed December 2008.
• BASc Electrical Engineering.  University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.  Completed June 2004, with PEY employment placement year.

Departmental roles

• October 2022 – Present. Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Robotics and Autonomous Systems, University of York UK, School of Physics, Engineering, and Technology.
• January 2019 – October 2022. Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Robotics and Autonomous Systems, University of York UK, Department of Electronic Engineering.
• January 2014 – December 2018. Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Space Robotics, University of Strathclyde, Department of Design, Manufacture, and Engineering Management.

Research

Overview

Research Expertise

• Robotics and Mechatronics: mobile robots; space robotics; manufacturing robotics; real-time embedded systems; kinematic and dynamic models; actuator and sensor design; bio-inspired tensegrity robots.
• Artificial Intelligence: probabilistic and evidence-based semantic reasoning; machine learning and adaptation; localization and mapping; automated measurement; high reliability systems.
• Sensing and Control: 2D and 3D machine vision; visual reconstruction, adaptive nonlinear filtering and control; modular semantic sensor fusion; communications and networking; distributed systems.

Research projects

• 2024 January-2026 June: STARFAB: A space warehouse concept and Ecosystem to Energize European OSAM, Horizon Europe project in collaboration with Space Applications Services NV/SA, SONACA SA, Thales Alenia Space SAS, and Fraunhofer e.V.
• 2023 January-2023 December: Co-I for STFC Follow-on-Fund project “3D Radioactive Scanning System (3D-RSS)” in collaboration with the University of York Department of Physics, Total £199,217.24
• 2022 January -October: PI for “Next-generation bionic quadruped robot”, University of York Research Priming Funding, Total Value £16,200.
• 2021 March-June: PI for “Knowledge Exchange of RoboFish Technologies to PicSea Ltd and the PicSea 300 prototype AUV”, Total £7,425.
• 2021 January-February: PI for Covid-19 contingency funding to complete the RoboFish prototype AUV, Total £7,352.
• September 2020–August. 2021: PI for “Innovating the Future of Bio-Inspired Autonomous Robots”, White Rose Collaboration Project between the Universities of York, Sheffield and Leeds.  Total £10,985.
• 2020–2022: PI for “Orbital Debris Capture Simulator”, STFC Research Grant, Public Engagement Awards in collaboration with the University of Strathclyde, Total £14,972.00, Institutional £11,000.
• 2019 November–2021 May: Co-I for InnovateUK Knowledge Transfer Partnership with Thales UK: Fault Tolerant Dynamic Communication Architecture using SpaceFibre for Modular Reconfigurable Spacecraft.  Total £147,845.46, Institutional £72,214.47.
• 2019 November–2021 October: PI for “ThickAI: Polymer Processing and Machine Calibration using Machine Learning” Innovate UK Canada Collaboration for High Value Manufacturing and Artificial Intelligence, Total £432,000, Institutional £28,067.35.
• 2019 October–2020 September: PI for “Autonomous Biomimetic Robot-fish for Offshore Wind Farm Inspection” EPSRC Supergen Hub funded project, Total £100,000, Institutional £52,952.98
• 2019 February–2019 July: PI for “Knowledge-Based Self-Reconfiguration for Modular Space Robots”, Total £14,266.55
• 2019 January–2021 March: PI for “MOdular Satellites for Assembly and Reconfiguration (MOSAR)”, Horizon 2020 COMPET-4 Operational Grant 9 for ESA PERASPERA, Total €3,999,963.28, Third party contribution £9,075.68.

Available PhD research projects

Accepting PhD students.

Postgraduate Funding Opportunities

PhD projects

1. Biomimetic Swarm Autonomous Underwater Vehicles for Offshore Wind Farm Inspection.
2. Reliable Autonomy for Modular On-Orbit Satellite Servicing.
3. Tensegrity Rover or Micro Rovers for Planetary Exploration.
4.  Probabilistic Robotics Programming with Bayesian Inference.
   
5. Vision based Sensor Fusion and Tracking Systems for Intelligent Robot.
6. Innovative Design for Robot Manipulators and grippers in Space or Underwater Application.

For more details about these projects, please contact Dr Mark Andrew Post, email: mark.post@york.ac.uk

Publications

Full publications list

Tianyuan Wang, M.A. Post, Andy Tyrrell. “Articulating Resilience: Adaptive Locomotion of Wheeled Tensegrity Robot”. In: Electronics. 2022 Feb. 21. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics11040666

M.A. Post, Xiu-Tian Yan, Pierre Letier. "Modularity for the future in space robotics: A review." Acta Astronautica 189 (2021): 530-547.

Wael Gorma, M. A. Post, J. White, J. Gardner, Y. Luo, J. Kim, P. D. Mitchell, N. Morozs, M. Wright, Q. Xiao. Development of Modular Bio-Inspired Autonomous Underwater Vehicle for Close Subsea Asset Inspection. Appl. Sci. 2021, 11, 5401. https://doi.org/10.3390/app11125401 

Tianyuan Wang, M. A. Post. "A Symmetric Three Degree of Freedom Tensegrity Mechanism with Dual Operation Modes for Robot Actuation." Biomimetics 6(2). p.30, 2021. (2 citations)

Raúl Domínguez, M. A. Post, Alexander Fabisch, Romain Michalec, Vincent Bissonnette, Shashank Govindaraj. “CDFF: An Open-Source Common Data Fusion Framework for Space Robotics”. International Journal of Robotics Research special issue on open-source robotics, 2020. (2 citations)

M.A. Post, J. Li. “A Concept Study of Small Planetary Rovers Using Tensegrity Structures on Venus”. Journal of the British Interplanetary Society, 2020.

F. Carreno, M.A. Post, “Design of a Novel Wheeled Tensegrity Robot: A Comparison of Tensegrity Concepts and a Prototype for Travelling Air Ducts”. Robotics & Biomimetics, submitted Nov 2017.  Accepted April 2018.  Available online: https://rdcu.be/OnfZ (5 citations)

M.A. Post, J. Li, B. Quine. “Planetary Micro-Rover Operations on Mars Using a Bayesian Framework for Inference and Control”. Acta Astronautica (2016), vol. 120, pp. 295-314. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.actaastro.2015.12.019. (6 citations)

M.A. Post, J. Li, R. Lee. “Design and Construction of a Magnetic Field Simulator for CubeSat Attitude Control Testing”. Journal of Instrumentation, Automation, and Systems. Vol.13. Accepted publication 09 May 2014. (4 citations)

M.A. Post, J. Li, R. Lee. "A Low Cost Photodiode Sun Sensor for CubeSat and Planetary Micro-rover", International Journal of Aerospace Engineering, vol. 2013, doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/549080. (23 citations)

J. Li, M. A. Post, and R. Lee. "Real-Time Nonlinear Attitude Control System for Nanosatellite Applications," Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics, 2013, vol. 26, no. 6, pp. 1661-1671. doi: (17 citations) http://arc.aiaa.org/doi/abs/10.2514/1.59023

J. Li, M. A. Post, T. Wright, and R. Lee. "Design of Attitude Control Systems for CubeSat-class Nanosatellite", Journal of Control Science and Engineering, Volume 2013, Accepted 24 April 2013. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/657182 (114 citations)

Z.H. Zhu, M.A. Post, S.A. Meguid. "The Potential of Ultrasonic Non-Destructive Measurement of Residual Stresses by Modal Frequency Spacing using Leaky Lamb Waves". Journal of Experimental Mechanics, Published Online 06 January 2012. (9 citations)

M.A. Post, R. Lee. "Lessons learned from the York University Rover Team (YURT) at the University Rover Challenge 2008–2009". Acta Astronautica, 2010, vol. 68, pp. 1343-1352. doi:10.1016/j.actaastro.2010.08.037

Z.H. Zhu, M.A. Post, and P.C. Xu. “Stress evaluation using Ultrasonic Interference Spectrum of Leaky Lamb Waves”. Journal of Experimental Mechanics, vol. 51, no. 6, pp. 971-980, 2011.  doi:10.1007/s11340-010-9391-x.  Accepted 12 July 2010, Published Online 06 August 2010.

M.A. Post, Z.H. Zhu, G. Clarkson. “Characterization of fibre orientation in FRP using pitch-catch ultrasonic technique”. International Journal for Multiscale Materials Modelling, Vol.1, Number 1, January-June 2010 pp53-61. (1 citation)