Research topics (in chronological order)

You can check more about these in my Youtube Research playlist

• Digital agriculture

• Climbing robots

• Aerial motions for quadruped robots

• Space exploration with legged robots

• Model predictive control applied to locomotion of legged robots

• Dynamic planning for aerial motions

• Heuristic planning on rough terrain for quadruped locomotion

• Development of reactive modules for locomotion (e.g. step reflex, slip recovery algorithms)

• Model identification

• Whole-body control

• Torque control

Publications

Journal articles

2025

• Pseudo-Kinematic Trajectory Control and Planning of Tracked Vehicles. Robotics and Autonomous Systems, 2025. PDF
• Smooth Human-Robot Shared Control for Autonomous Orchard Monitoring with UGVs. IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering, 2025. PDF
• ALPINE: a Climbing Robot for Operations in Mountain Environments. Robotics and Autonomous Systems, 2025. PDF

2024

• Efficient Reinforcement Learning for 3D Jumping Monopods. Sensors, 2024. PDF

2023

• Reactive Landing Controller for Quadruped Robots. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 2023. PDF
• An Efficient Paradigm for Feasibility Guarantees in Legged Locomotion. IEEE Transactions on Robotics, 2023. PDF
• Orientation Control System: Enhancing Aerial Maneuvers for Quadruped Robots. Sensors, 2023. PDF
• Optimization-Based Reference Generator for Nonlinear Model Predictive Control of Legged Robots. Robotics, 2023. PDF

2021

• Model Predictive Control with Environment Adaptation for Legged Locomotion. IEEE Access, 2021. PDF

2020

• A simple yet effective whole-body locomotion framework for quadruped robots. Frontiers in Robotics and AI, 2020. PDF
• Feasible Region: an Actuation-Aware Extension of the Support Region. IEEE Transactions on Robotics, 2020. PDF
• STANCE: Locomotion Adaptation over Soft Terrain. IEEE Transactions on Robotics, 2020. PDF
• Heuristic Planning for Rough Terrain Locomotion in Presence of External Disturbances and Variable Perception Quality. Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics, 2020. PDF
• Motion Planning for Quadrupedal Locomotion: Coupled Planning, Terrain Mapping and Whole-Body Control. IEEE Transactions on Robotics, 2020. PDF
• Editorial: Bridging the Gap Between the Lab and the Real World: Future Perspectives for Legged Robots. Frontiers in Robotics and AI, 2020. PDF

2019

• Fast and Continuous Foothold Adaptation for Dynamic Locomotion through CNNs. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 2019. PDF
• Passive Whole-Body Control for Quadruped Robots: Experimental Validation over Challenging Terrain. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 2019. PDF

2018

• Simultaneous Contact, Gait, and Motion Planning for Robust Multi-Legged Locomotion via Mixed-Integer Convex Optimization. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 2018. PDF
• Application of Wrench-Based Feasibility Analysis to the Online Trajectory Optimization of Legged Robots. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 2018. PDF

2017

• High-slope Terrain Locomotion for Torque-Controlled Quadruped Robots. Autonomous Robots, 2017. PDF

2016

• Robot Impedance Control and Passivity Analysis with Inner Torque and Velocity Feedback Loops. Control Theory and Technology, 2016. PDF
• Design of the Hydraulically-Actuated, Torque-Controlled Quadruped Robot HyQ2Max. IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, 2016. PDF

2015

• Towards Versatile Legged Robots through Active Impedance Control. The International Journal of Robotics Research, 2015. PDF
• On the Use of Positive Feedback for Improved Torque Control. Control Theory and Technology, 2015. PDF

2014

• Quadruped Robot Trotting over Irregular Terrain Assisted by Stereo-Vision. Intelligent Service Robotics, 2014. PDF
• Magnetorheologically Damped Compliant Foot for Legged Robotic Application. Journal of Mechanical Design, 2014. PDF

2011

• Design of HyQ – a Hydraulically and Electrically Actuated Quadruped Robot. Journal of Systems and Control Engineering, 2011. PDF

Conference papers

2024

• Distributed Robot Perception for Tracked Vehicles. Italian Conference on Robotics and Intelligent Machines (I-RIM), 2024. PDF
• ContactNet: Online Multi-Contact Planning for Acyclic Legged Robot Locomotion. Ubiquitous Robots, 2024. PDF

2023

• Locosim: An Open-Source Cross-Platform Robotics Framework. CLAWAR, 2023. Publisher
• CLIO: a Novel Robotic Solution for Exploration and Rescue Missions in Hostile Mountain Environments. ICRA, 2023. PDF

2022

• Towards a Generic Navigation and Locomotion Control System for Legged Space Exploration. ASTRA, 2022. PDF
• Foothold Evaluation Criterion for Dynamic Transition Feasibility for Quadruped Robots. ICRA, 2022. PDF

2020

• On the Hardware Feasibility of Nonlinear Trajectory Optimization for Legged Locomotion based on a Simplified Dynamics. ICRA, 2020. PDF

2019

• Brief Introduction to the Quadruped Robot HyQReal. I-RIM, 2019. PDF
• On the Detection and Localization of Shin Collisions and Reactive Actions in Quadruped Robots. CLAWAR, 2019. PDF

2017

• Online Payload Identification for Quadruped Robots. IROS, 2017. PDF
• A Combined Limit Cycle-Zero Moment Point Based Approach for Omni-Directional Quadrupedal Bounding. CLAWAR, 2017. PDF
• Validation of Computer Simulations of the HyQ Robot. CLAWAR, 2017. PDF
• Heterogeneous Sensor Fusion for Accurate State Estimation of Dynamic Legged Robots. Robotics: Science and Systems (RSS), 2017. PDF
• Viscosity-based Height Reflex for Workspace Augmentation for Quadrupedal Locomotion on Rough Terrain. IROS, 2017. PDF
• Trajectory and Foothold Optimization using Low-Dimensional Models for Rough Terrain Locomotion. ICRA, 2017. PDF

2016

• Towards a Multi-Legged Mobile Manipulator. ICRA, 2016. PDF
• A Design Method of a Robust Controller for Hydraulic Actuation with Disturbance Observers. AMC, 2016. PDF
• Hierarchical Planning of Dynamic Movements without Scheduled Contact Sequences. ICRA, 2016. PDF

2015

• Slip Detection and Recovery for Quadruped Robots. ISRR, 2015. PDF
• Design of a Hydraulically Actuated Arm for a Quadruped Robot. CLAWAR, 2015. PDF
• Planning and Execution of Dynamic Whole-Body Locomotion for a Hydraulic Quadruped on Challenging Terrain. ICRA, 2015. PDF
• Design Overview of the Hydraulic Quadruped Robots HyQ2Max and HyQ2Centaur. 14th Scandinavian International Conference on Fluid Power (SICFP), 2015. PDF

2014

• Path Planning with Force-Based Foothold Adaptation and Virtual Model Control for Torque Controlled Quadruped Robots. ICRA, 2014. PDF

2013

• Local Reflex Generation for Obstacle Negotiation in Quadrupedal Locomotion. CLAWAR, 2013. PDF
• Vision Enhanced Reactive Locomotion Control for Trotting on Rough Terrain. TePRA, 2013. PDF

2012

• On the Role of Load Motion Compensation in High-Performance Force Control. IROS, 2012. PDF
• Design and Scaling of Versatile Quadruped Robots. CLAWAR, 2012. PDF
• Dynamic Torque Control of a Hydraulic Quadruped Robot. ICRA, 2012. PDF
• Torque-Control Based Compliant Actuation of a Quadruped Robot. AMC, 2012. PDF

2011

• Novel Concept for an Air-Pressure Driven Micro-Turbine for Power Generation. ASME Turbo Expo, 2011. PDF

2010

• Control of a Hydraulically-Actuated Quadruped Robot Leg. ICRA, 2010. PDF
• Water/Air Performance Analysis of a Fluidic Muscle. IROS, 2010. PDF

A brief presentation of my research work can be found here

The video of my talk for “PI stories” collection of seminars at University of Trento can be found here

The video of my talk at Acquario di Genova on my recent research results can be found here

The video of my talk at the ICRA workshop on Opportunities and Challenges in Space Robotics (video)

The video of my talk at the University of Porto (video)