Embedded Intelligence and Robotics Systems | Doctoral Program - Information Engineering and Computer Science

Embedded Intelligence and Robotics Systems

The research program is mainly focused on the technological issues related to intelligent systems and their ability to be distributed in an environment to solve complex problems. This central topic stems from the description of intelligent systems as products that use communication channels, electronics, microprocessors and software technologies to accomplish predefined tasks, e.g., control objectives given to an autonomous mechatronic system. Embedded systems are fundamental for intelligent products and can be considered as computing systems dedicated to special purposes. These systems will radically change the future through new products as well as sophisticated product development, a trend that has just been started. Indeed, a lot of people don't realize that the embedded computer is by far the most common form of computer in use today; the most common consumer products, such as vacuum cleaners, washing machines or lawn mowers, use more or less complex embedded systems. Our city streets, homes and working places are supplied with embedded systems in order to control and regulate lighting, comfort and different security and safety appliances. There are two important aspects of embedded computers in real life: the necessity of robust and dedicated electronics and the increasing need for communication links between each embedded system. Dedicated electronics is in demand since embedded systems are frequently used in harsh environment and add substantial value to products. Indeed, within the next five years, the share of embedded systems is expected to increase substantially in the automotive, industrial automation, telecommunications, consumer electronics and health/medical equipment sectors. Moreover, the value added to the final product by embedded technologies and software is much higher than the cost of the device itself. For example, in case of a modern car, by 2010 over 35% of its value will be due to embedded electronics. And it is even more so for other appliances, where each computing or sensing system may be regarded as a wireless network node that participates in achieving a global goal.

In this embedded distributed framework, our research activities include: distributed algorithms, to develop lightweight distributed applications to adapt to time-varying and heterogeneous environments and to correctly collect and fuse information gathered from different sources; general methodologies, for system level architectures, paradigms and methodologies design in order to implement resource intensive algorithms; modelling for the development of power aware devices and protocol design. Another area of research investigates measurements (to devise new types of sensing techniques for physical quantities and emphasize low power and heterogeneous sensors integration and fusion), and microsensors and MEMS, for highly integrated network nodes. Finally, our researchers also study prototyping for performance assessment using system-prototyping based on resource-constrained platforms.

Publications

10 publications for 12 currently enrolled students

CryptojackingTrap: An Evasion Resilient Nature-Inspired Algorithm to Detect Cryptojacking Malware
Chahoki, Atefeh Zareh; Shahriari, Hamid Reza; Roveri, Marco in IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INFORMATION FORENSICS AND SECURITY, v. 2024, (2024). - DOI: 10.1109/TIFS.2024.3353072

Comparing Multi-Agent Path Finding Algorithms in a Real Industrial Scenario
Saccon, Enrico; Palopoli, Luigi; Roveri, Marco in AIxIA 2022 – Advances in Artificial Intelligence, Cham: Springer, 2023, p. 184-197. - (LECTURE NOTES IN COMPUTER SCIENCE). - ISBN: 978-3-031-27180-9. Proceedings of: AIxIA 2022, Udine, 28th November-2nd December 2022. - DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-27181-6_13

Multi-agent open framework: Developing a holistic system to solve MAPF (student abstract)
Saccon, E. in Sixteenth International Symposium on Combinatorial Search, Washington, DC, USA: The AAAI Press, 2023, p. 198-199. Proceedings of: SOcS23, Praha, 14 July-16 July 2023. - DOI: 10.1609/socs.v16i1.27312

When graphs meet game theory: A scalable approach for robotic car racing
Tikna, A.; Roveri, M.; Fontanelli, D.; Palopoli, L. in Proceedings - International Computer Software and Applications Conference, 10662 LOS VAQUEROS CIRCLE, PO BOX 3014, LOS ALAMITOS, CA 90720-1264 USA: IEEE Computer Society, 2023, p. 1-8. - ISBN: 979-8-3503-2697-0. Proceedings of: 47th IEEE Annual Computers, Software, and Applications Conference, COMPSAC 2023, ita, 2023. - DOI: 10.1109/COMPSAC57700.2023.00011

Humanising robot-assisted navigation
Falqueto, Placido; Antonucci, Alessandro; Palopoli, Luigi; Fontanelli, Daniele in INTELLIGENT SERVICE ROBOTICS, v. 2023, (2023). - Publication URL . - DOI: 10.1007/s11370-023-00495-1

Comparative evaluation of background-rejection techniques for SPAD-based LiDAR systems
Tontini, Alessandro; Gasparini, Leonardo; Manuzzato, Enrico; Perenzoni, Matteo; Passerone, Roberto in INTEGRATION, v. 2022, 90, (2022)

Comparison of background-rejection techniques for SPAD-based LiDAR}systems
Tontini, Alessandro; Gasparini, Leonardo; Manuzzato, Enrico; Perenzoni, Matteo; Passerone, Roberto in Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on PhD Research in Microelectronics and Electronics, Piscataway, NJ: IEEE, 2022. Proceedings of: International Conference on PhD Research in Microelectronics and Electronics, Villasimius, Sardinia, Italy, 12th June-15th June 2022

A 64x64-Pixel Flash LiDAR SPAD Imager with Distributed Pixel-to-Pixel Correlation for Background Rejection, Tunable Automatic Pixel Sensitivity and First-Last Event Detection Strategies for Space Applications
Manuzzato, Enrico; Tontini, Alessandro; Seljak, Andrej; Perenzoni, Matteo in 2022 IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC), San Francisco, CA, USA: IEEE, 2022. - ISBN: 978-1-6654-2800-2. Proceedings of: International Solid-State Circuits Conference, San Francisco, CA, USA, 20-26 Febbraio 2022. - DOI: 10.1109/ISSCC42614.2022.9731622

Robot motion planning: Can GPUs be a game changer?
Saccon, E.; Bevilacqua, P.; Fontanelli, D.; Frego, M.; Palopoli, L.; Passerone, R. in Proceedings - 2021 IEEE 45th Annual Computers, Software, and Applications Conference, COMPSAC 2021, 10662 LOS VAQUEROS CIRCLE, PO BOX 3014, LOS ALAMITOS, CA 90720-1264 USA: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., 2021, p. 21-30. - ISBN: 978-1-6654-2463-9. Proceedings of: 45th IEEE Annual Computers, Software, and Applications Conference, COMPSAC 2021, esp, 12-16, July, 2021. - DOI: 10.1109/COMPSAC51774.2021.00015

An Iterative Dynamic Programming Approach to the Multipoint Markov-Dubins Problem
Frego, M.; Bevilacqua, P.; Saccon, E.; Palopoli, L.; Fontanelli, D. in IEEE ROBOTICS AND AUTOMATION LETTERS, n.s., v. 5, n. 2 (2020), p. 2482-2489. - Publication URL . - DOI: 10.1109/LRA.2020.2972787

 

Students

Abbasi, Sohaib Iftikharsohaib.abbasi [at] unitn.itwebpage
Aqasizade, Hosseinhossein.aqasizade [at] unitn.itwebpage
Basei, Elenaelena.basei [at] unitn.itwebpage
Falqueto, Placidoplacido.falqueto [at] unitn.itwebpage
Faraci, Tommasotommaso.faraci [at] unitn.itwebpage
Manuzzato, Enricoenrico.manuzzato [at] unitn.itwebpage
Nardi, Davidedavide.nardi-1 [at] unitn.itwebpage
Panjkovic, Stefanstefan.panjkovic [at] unitn.itwebpage
Saccon, Enricoenrico.saccon [at] unitn.itwebpage
Tikna, Ahmetahmet.tikna [at] unitn.itwebpage
Wobuyaga, Dinahdinah.wobuyaga [at] unitn.itwebpage
Zareh Chahoki, Atefehatefeh.zareh [at] unitn.itwebpage