My research interests encompass artificial intelligence, autonomous robotics, and technology for elderly care. In 1995 I pioneered the use of fuzzy logic to combine intelligence and action in robots. In 2004 I defined the notion of “Ecology of physically embedded intelligent systems”, a new approach to include robotic technologies in everyday life. In 2012 I started to organize international activities on combining AI and Robotics, including the “Lucia” series of workshops and PhD schools, a special issue of the Artificial Intelligence journal, and the euRobotics topic group on “AI and Cognition in Robotics”. In 2019-2022 I have been the scientific manager of AI4EU, the EU landmark project to develop the European AI on-demand platform.
I have published more than 200 research papers in international journals, books and conferences, with more than 10,000 citations and an H-index of 53 (data from Google Scholar). I have served in the organization of a large number of conferences and scientific events, and participated in 16 EU projects, several EU networks, and many national projects.
I have been a director of euRobotics, the European robotics association, and a member of the editorial boards of Artificial Intelligence, the flagship journal on AI, and of the International Journal on Social Robotics. I am a member of AAAI, a senior member of IEEE, and a fellow of EurAI, the European Associatiation for AI.