Manifold Research Group tackles ambitious, high-impact research problems that traditional institutions overlook—those too engineering-intensive for academia and too exploratory for industry. Inspired by coordinated research models like ARPAs and FROs, we coordinate focused, cross-functional teams and a large asynchronous research contributor pool to systematically pursue and deliver paradigm-shifting science and technology.
Autonomous Assembly of Modular Space Structures
The Autonomous Assembly of Modular Space Structures project develops algorithms and simulation environments for the coordinated self-assembly of free-flying modular spacecraft into larger orbital structures. Rather than relying on slow, serial manipulation, this work explores a swarm-based assembly paradigm in which modules navigate, align, and dock to construct arbitrary voxel-based structures in orbit.
The project combines assembly sequence planning, trajectory optimization, rigid body dynamics, and high-fidelity simulation. The goal is to build a research and validation stack that can model the full assembly process, test planning and control methods under realistic physical constraints, and support future work toward scalable in-space construction.
The Role
OS Team members form the core of Manifold Research Group. As an OS Research Fellow, you will contribute to the simulation and modeling layer of the Autonomous Assembly project.
In this role, you will be responsible for:
- Building and extending simulation environments for modular spacecraft assembly scenarios
- Modeling rigid body dynamics, contact, docking interactions, and multi-agent assembly behavior
- Implementing and validating orbital and physics-based simulation pipelines for assembly experiments
- Supporting the testing of planning, control, and coordination algorithms in simulation
- Helping develop evaluation scenarios, visualizations, and experimental infrastructure for research outputs
Qualifications
Outstanding research emerges from individuals who can combine sound technical modeling with strong engineering execution. For this role, we are looking for:
- Strong software engineering skills, particularly in Python
- Experience with simulation and modeling tools such as Modelica, PyBullet, or similar physics-based frameworks
- Familiarity with rigid body dynamics, multi-agent simulation, or robotics simulation environments
- Ability to build clean, extensible simulation pipelines and validate system behavior carefully
- Comfort working in ambiguous research settings with evolving technical goals
Expectations
There are a few key expectations and clarifications regarding the OS Research Team:
- Contribute approximately 10 hours per week to ensure meaningful progress and deep engagement with our projects. Flexibility around life commitments is understood; clear, proactive communication helps us support each other.
- Our working language is English, and strong proficiency is required to clearly communicate technical concepts without confusion or misunderstanding.
- This is a volunteer effort; none of us receive compensation of any kind, including monetary payment, academic credit, or other formal incentives. Our commitment is driven entirely by shared passion for impactful research.
More information on OS Research Team expectations is available here.
We look forward to seeing your application, and hopefully working together soon!