Ideas, tutorials and curiosities about my journey in automation and robotics.
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Academic Education
2017-2021
Doctoral Degree in Control, Automation and Robotics ‐ Universidade do Minho, Guimarães, Portugal
Dissertation title: From Human Motor Control to Human-like Motion in Robotics: planning, learning and controlling manipulation in Anthropomorphic Robotic Systems. Download here.
Main relevant courses:
Project Management
Leadership
Scientific Communication
Advanced education in control, automation and robotics
Download here the certificate:
2009-2011
Master's Degree in Automation engineering and control of complex systems ‐ University of Catania, Catania, Italy
Dissertation title: Design and development of a simulated framework for the geolocalization of a land target from
UAVs by implementing an Extended Kalman Filter. Download here.
Main relevant courses:
Microelectronics
Robust control
Adaptive systems
Neural networks
Chaotic systems
Industrial robotics
Download here the certificate and the full list of the courses:
2003-2008
Bachelor's Degree in Electronic engineering ‐ University of Catania, Catania, Italy
Dissertation title: Development of a simulated framework for the identication and the automatic tuning of the control parameters in UAVs. Download here.
Main relevant courses:
Electrical engineering
Electronics
Fundamentals of automation
Intelligent control
Fundamentals of computer science
Download here the certificate and the full list of the courses:
R&D Mechatronics Engineer ‐ Delvitech SA, Mendrisio, Ticino, Switzerland
My professional activity consists in designing, developing and following the production of motion control units for industrial robots assigned to the automatic optical inspection of electronic boards. The versatility and intelligence of these robots allows their effective integration in the current industry 4.0 and to anticipate the main characteristics of the nearby industry 5.0. My daily activity regards the selection and the setting of motors, drives and controllers, the design of the related electrical schematics and the software development for an optimal motion control.
2017-2021
Ph.D. Researcher in Electronics and Computing Engineering (Control, Automation and Robotcis) ‐ Universidade do Minho, Guimarães, Portugal
My scientific activity aims at endowing a high-degree of freedom robotic arm-hand system with movements that reflect fundamental characteristics of human arm and hand trajectories. By providing physical assistance, such robotic devices might be used for the rehabilitation of upper-limb motor functions after brain injury. The interdisciplinary nature of my position makes it more interesting and challenging at the same time. Indeed, the basis of my research engages human psychology of the upper-limbs movements, neurophysiology, robotics, machine learning and optimization techniques. My daily activity regards the designing and the development of techniques capable of generating human-like single/dual-arm movements for humanoid systems. This ability enhances the success of a meaningful and efficient human-robot interaction and collaboration in several joint tasks. The main goal is to increase user acceptance by making the interactions with the robot smooth and predictable.
Multimedia:
2019 - 2020
R&D 3D Printing Engineer ‐ Justmake s.r.l.s., Rome, Italy
In collaboration with 3D printing experts, I designed, developed a prototype of an optimization and learning pipeline to improve the fabrication process in FDM 3D printers. I also designed and wrote the technical and managing parts of a research project proposal for different calls in the Horizon 2020 SME Instruments programme dedicated to small and medium enterprises. The project was awarded with the seal of excellence in 2020.
2013-2016
Marie Curie Early Stage Researcher in NETT ITN Program ‐ Universidade do Minho, Guimarães, Portugal
My position is strictly related to the European project NETT: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/289146. My research consists in endowing a high-degree of freedom robotic dual-arm system with movement capacities that reflect fundamental characteristics of human motion. My principal duties were to design and development of software applications for the control of humanoids, documenting experimental results, supervising students and organizing academic events.
Visiting the SNN Machine Learning Group headed by Prof. Bert (HJ) Kappen at the Donders Institute Brain Cognition and Behavior in Radboud University Nijmegen.
Study of the path integral control theory and of path integral reinforcement learning techniques.
Development of learning methods applied in single-arm motion planning to improve quality performance and reduce computational costs.
2011-2013
Automation Engineer ‐ Advanced Technology Solutions, Catania, Italy
Software designing, developing and testing for automatic gas and liquid delivery system: programming PLC/SCADA.
Web-based applications developing.
Software modelling (CIM standard).
05/2011-11/2011
Automation Engineer ‐ Meridionale Impianti, Catania, Italy
Software developing for managing and monitoring renewable energy plants and industrial processes: programming PLC/SCADA.
Other Training and Outreach activities
11/2013
NETT 2nd Induction Seminar ‐ Parc de Ricerca Biomedica, Barcelona, Spain
Main seminars and tutorials: Coaching for scientific writers, Introduction to deep learning, Mathematical neuroscience: from neurons to networks, Neural field models: fundamental elements and applications.
03/2014
NETT Meeting on Dynamic Neural Circuits ‐ Institute for Complex Systems (ISC), CNR, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy
Poster presentation: Movement planning for anthropomorphic robots in Human-Robot Interaction (HRI).
Main talks: Control of collective dynamics in neural networks, Evaluation of neural networks by optimizing flow of information.
BioPMed Workshop: From ideas to projects bench to industry, The role of IP in exploiting scientific results.
06/2014
NETT Mid-Term Review Meeting ‐ De Poort Conference Centre, Nijmegen, Netherlands
Presentation of the current state of the research project to the delegates from the European Commission.
08/2014
Summer School in Neural Dynamic Approaches to Cognitive Robotics ‐ Institute for Neural Computation, Ruhr University, Bochum, Germany
Lectures and hands-on exercises about the Dynamic Fields Theory (DFT) and neural dynamic architectures applied to object recognition, reinforcement learning and movement generation for autonomous robots.
09/2015
International Conference on System Level Approaches to Neural Engineering (ICSLANE2015) ‐ Parc de Recerca Biomedica, Barcelona, Spain
Goal: bring together theoretical and experimental neuroscientists, roboticists and microfluidics experts to present and discuss the state of the art in the field of neural engineering.
Co-organizing of the conference with the other Marie Curie NETT Fellows
Poster presentation: Nonlinear optimization for the generation of human-like synchronous bimanual movements in anthropomorphic robots.
05/2016
Hands-on Summer School on Neural Dynamics Approaches to Cognitive Robotics ‐ Department of Industrial Electronics, Guimarães, Portugal
Co-organizing the summer school, lectures and exercises with my PhD colleagues in the mobile and anthropomorphic robots laboratory (MARLab).
Community Service
2019 - present
Volunteering as a Lecturer Without Borders in Robotics ‐ Lecturer Without Borders
December the 3rd 2020 I had the privilege to be invited to speak about robotics and my field of research. In this Science Dialogues of the BRD FIRST Tech Challenge Romania, I was invited to share some results I have obtained during my research on human-like upper-limb motion generation in humanoids and my opinions concerning the role of robotic devices in the current society. Link of the talk: https://youtu.be/_K4Iiyv5klA.
