Alessandro
De LucaEducational and Academic
I received the `Laurea' degree in Electrical Engineering (1982) and the Ph.D. in Systems Engineering (1987), both from the Università di Roma "La Sapienza". I was then a Research Associate at the School of Engineering of the same University (1988-1992). I became an Associate Professor at the Università di Milano in November 1992 and moved back to Roma "La Sapienza" in November 1993. Since then, I have been with the Dipartimento di Informatica e Sistemistica "A. Ruberti" (DIS), renamed Dipartimento di Ingegneria informatica, automatica e gestionale Antonio Ruberti since July 2011. I am Full Professor since November 2000.Main Visits
I was a visiting scholar at the Robotics and Automation Laboratory of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, USA (September 1985 to May 1986) and a visiting researcher at CINVESTAV, Mexico City, Mexico (November 1989). Between September 2005 and April 2006, I spent a sabbatical period at the Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics of DLR, Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany, with a Helmholtz-Humboldt Research Award for foreign scientists.
Societies and Editorial Activity
I am an IEEE Fellow (class of 2007; student member in 1982, member in 1986, senior member in 2005), active in the Robotics and Automation Society (RAS). I have served as RAS AdCom elected member in 2008-10 and as RAS Associate VP for Publication Activities in 2010-11. I am serving as RAS Vice-President for Publication Activities in 2012-13 (see the list of board members of the IEEE-RAS PAB).
I have been an Associate Editor (1994-1998), an Editor (1998-2003), and then the Editor-in-Chief (2003-04) of the IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation (T-RA).
Since its first issue in August 2004, I have been the Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Robotics (T-RO). My term as EiC ended in September 2008 (some memories here). Take a look at the latest issue of T-RO in IEEE Xplore.
I have been the General Chair of the 2007 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA'07) that has been held in Rome, April 10-14, 2007 (a few pictures here).
Since 2006, I am member of the Search Committee for Physical Sciences (Technical Sciences up to 2010) of the Körber European Science Award, granted by the Körber Foundation.
I have been the Chair of Panel PE7 (Systems and Communication Engineering) of the European Research Council (ERC) for the Advanced Grant (AdG) 2009 and 2011 evaluations.
Bio sketch or Full CV (last update: September 2011)
Access the page of my publications, including abstracts of all journal papers and pdf files of most recent papers.
Download
the list of my publications (last update: September 2011)
My research interests are in the general areas of robotics and control. In particular, I have been working on kinematic and dynamic modeling, trajectory planning, motion planning and control for the following robotic systems:
Manipulators with elastic joints
Manipulators with variable stiffness actuation
Manipulators with flexible links
Kinematically redundant robots
Underactuated manipulators
Robots in contact with the environment
Multiple cooperating manipulators
Wheeled mobile robots
Nonholonomic mechanical systems
Mobile manipulators
Visual servoing
Fault detection and isolation
Physical human-robot interaction
For solving regulation and tracking control problems, I have been using several approaches including: Feedback linearization (static, dynamic, partial state); Input-output decoupling; Lyapunov-based control; Learning; Iterative steering; Inversion in frequency domain; Nonlinear regulation.
Recent projects funded
- by the European Commission:SAPHARI (IP FP7-287513) Physical Human-Robot Interaction: Dependability and Safety (2011-2015)
For this, I am acting as project coordinator. Official start on November 1, 2011.PHRIENDS (STREP FP6-045359) Physical Human-Robot Interaction: Dependability and Safety (2006-2009)
Selected results obtained by our group in PHRIENDS can be found here.CyberWalk (STREP FP6-511092) The CyberCarpet - Enabling Omni-directional Walking in Virtual Worlds (2005-2008)
Selected results obtained by our group in CyberWalk can be found here.
- by the Italian Ministry of Education, University, and Research (MIUR), within the PRIN 2007 call:SICURA Sicurezza per l'Interazione nel Contatto tra Umani, Robot e Ambiente (2008-2010)
For this, I acted also as the national coordinator. Selected results obtained by our group in SICURA can be found here.- by the Italian Ministry of Economic Development (MSE), within the Industria 2015 "Nuove Tecnologie per il Made in Italy" call:
I-Mule (2012-2014)
This industrial three-year project (code MI01_00365) is concerned with the automation of luggage transfer by a team of mobile robots in an airport check-in. Official start on January 1, 2012.
Robotics 1 first semester: October-December 2011; 6 credits; for students of MARR, MELR, MINR, MSIR, BIAR
(la versione italiana Robotica 1 NON VIENE PIU' EROGATA in aula dal 2010/11)
Robotics 2 second semester: February-May 2012; 6 credits; for students of MARR, MELR, MMER, MSIR
(la versione italiana Robotica 2 NON VIENE PIU' EROGATA in aula dal 2009/10)
Locomotion and Haptic Interfaces module of the course Elective in Robotics (coordinator Dr. Vendittelli) in the first half of the first semester: October-November 2011; 3 credits, out of 12 credits for the full course; for students of MARR, MSIR
Sistemi Digitali di Controllo corso tenuto nel secondo semestre 2009/10; 6 crediti; per studenti di BIAR, MSIR
Gli studenti di MELR che hanno nel piano di studi "Unità Integrata Robotica 1 + Robotica 2" (12 crediti) seguono i corsi "Robotics 1" e "Robotics 2", entrambi in inglese (nei due semestri). Sosterranno un esame unico.
Gli studenti di MSIR che hanno nel piano di studi "Unità Integrata Automazione + Robotica 2" (12 crediti) seguono il corso in inglese "Robotics 2" (nel secondo semestre) per la parte di crediti relativa a questo insegnamento. Sosteranno un esame unico, coordinato insieme ai docenti di "Automazione" e "Autonomous and Mobile Robotics", per acquisire il numero di crediti complessivi previsti.MARR = Master in Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (Laurea Magistrale)Modellistica e Controllo di Robot con Giunti Flessibili, Dottorato in Ingegneria dei Sistemi (anni alterni; ultima edizione erogata nel Febbraio 2011)
MINR = Laurea Magistrale in Ingegneria Informatica
MSIR = Laurea Magistrale in Ingegneria dei Sistemi
MELR = Laurea Magistrale in Ingegneria Elettronica
BIAR = Laurea in Ingegneria Informatica e Automatica
Libri di testo / Textbooks
Il libro di testo per i corsi di Robotica 1 e Robotica 2 è:
B. Siciliano, L. Sciavicco, L. Villani, G. Oriolo
"Robotica: Modellistica, pianificazione e controllo", 3a Edizione, McGraw Hill, 2008
The textbook for Robotics 1 and Robotics 2 is:
B. Siciliano, L. Sciavicco, L. Villani, G. Oriolo
"Robotics: Modelling, Planning and Control", 3rd Edition, Springer, 2009
Il libro di testo per il corso di Sistemi Digitali di Controllo (A.A. 2009/10) è:C. Bonivento, C. Melchiorri, R. Zanasi
"Sistemi di Controllo Digitale", Esculapio, Bologna, 1999
Ricevimento per spiegazioni e tesi / Office hours for students
Nel secondo semestre 2011/12 (fino a Giugno 2012), il ricevimento si tiene il Martedì, 12:00-13:30 presso il mio studio (stanza A-210, ala sinistra, secondo piano della sede DIS, Via Ariosto 25). In altri periodi, o per altro orario, contattarmi con sufficiente anticipo via email. Per tesi di laurea in Robotica 1 o laurea magistrale in Robotica 2, si veda la pagina Argomenti di Tesi (del Laboratorio di Robotica del DIS).
During the second semester 2011/12 (until June 2012), I am available for discussions with students every Tuesday, 12:00-13:30 in my office (room A-210, left wing, second floor of the DIS building, Via Ariosto 25). Otherwise, please contact me by email to arrange a meeting time (with some advance notice) and for discussing a final project in Robotics 1 or thesis in Robotics 2 -- see the current list of Topics for theses (at the DIS Robotics Lab).
Prenotazione esami / Registration to exams
Please register to exams via the web site INFOSTUD. See registration Robotics 1 or registration Robotics 2 for details.
Le prenotazioni avvengono tramite il sito INFOSTUD. Vedi prenotazioni_SistemiDigitaliControllo per i dettagli.
Last update: February 7, 2012