Expertise: The research at the University of Salento focuses on understanding the fundamental physical phenomena underlying robot-environment interaction, and developing models, and sensing techniques that allow mobile robotic systems to operate effectively and robustly in complex, unstructured (i.e., outdoor, poorly characterized) environments. An underlying theme of this research is a reliance on physics-based analysis. That is, physical models of the mechanisms governing robot-environment interaction are studied, then, techniques from control and estimation theory are employed to develop robust sensing and control methods. The research attempts to develop models and algorithms that can be broadly applied, however rigorous experimental analysis and demonstration in a few important problem domains have been also emphasized. A robotic manipulator for the automatic harvesting of vegetables was designed and built in a joint research project with the Politecnico of Bari, Italy. Novel methods to detect and compensate for wheel slippage and sinkage in wheeled-robots were also developed through collaborations with prestigiuos international Universities (University of Michigan, Tohoku University).

Facility: Test bed for wheel-terrain characterization, visually-controlled robotic arm for automated vegetable harvesting, four-wheel-drive mobile robot for crop following and weed detection.

Priority: Expertise lies in the design and development of robots for agricultural application. Special focus on mobility on uneven, deformable terrain using terramechanics theory. Research interests include also automation of harvesting and post-harvesting processes and computer vision applied to agriculture.