Dr Massimo Cefalo
Faculties, departments and locations
- Faculty of Engineering, Computing and the Environment
- Department of Mechanical Engineering
- School of Engineering
- Roehampton Vale
Senior lecturer
- Email:
- [email protected]
About
I am a senior researcher in robotics, motion and path planning and advanced control systems for robotic applications.
I have consolidated experiences in software design for parallel scientific computing spanning from algorithm design in C/C++ and Matlab to implementation and custom device driver development for real time applications and design of power electronics boards for proof of concept and prototyping. Expert skills in mathematical modelling.
Currently active researcher in the fields of robotics (motion planning and control of underactuated systems) and applied mathematics (in the design and implementation of numerical solvers for partial differential equations and mesh algorithms). Numerous and significant University and High School teaching experiences.
Qualifications
- PhD in Systems Engineering (Sapienza University, Rome, Italy)
- Maître de conférences (MCF) for the class 61 -Génie informatique, automatique et traitement du signal (French National Qualification)
- Chartered Engineer (Sapienza University, Rome, Italy)
- Italian national qualification for High Schools Teaching (University eCampus, Novedrate, Italy)
Domains
I have various experiences in teaching Mechanical Engineering topics concerning Robotics and Control Theory.
Courses taught
- Advanced Control Systems – A.Y. 2024/25 – Kingston University
- Introduction to Robotics – A.Y. 2024/25 – Kingston University
- Human Robot Interactions – A.Y. 2024/25 – Kingston University
- Systems Theory and Automatic Controls – Since January 2023, International Telematic University UNINETTUNO
- Fundamentals of Robotics – 2023, International Telematic University UNINETTUNO
- Control of Electromechanical Systems – A.Y. 2022/2023 – University La Sapienza of Rome
- Fundamentals of Automatic Control – A.Y. 2015/16 and 2016/17 – University of Rome Niccolò Cusano
- Computer Science – A.Y. 2014/15 and 2015/16 – University of Rome Niccolò Cusano
My research is focused on robot motion and path planning in presence of dynamic and kinematic constraints, and design of advanced control laws for underactuated mechanical systems. The study of underactuated systems represents a significant challenge in robotics, given the limitation of the number of actuators with respect to the degrees of freedom. Many practical cases of underactuations arise in industrial, space and service robotics applications.
A further area of research on which I am currently focusing is applied mathematics, in particular the design and implementation of numerical solvers for partial differential equations and mesh algorithms. In recent years I studied transmission problems across fractal domains in presence of interfaces of Robin or Ventcel type. The Robin boundary condition is a type of mixed boundary condition commonly used to modelling many transmission problems using partial differential equations (PDEs), particularly problems involving heat transfer, fluid flow and electromagnetic fields.
Specialisms
- Control Systems
- Robotics
- Motion and Path Planning
- Numerical solvers for PDEs
- Mesh algorithms design for fractal domains
Scholarly affiliations
- Sapienza Università di Roma, Department of Computer, Control and Management Engineering (DIAG)
- Sapienza Università di Roma, Department of Basic and Applied Sciences for Engineering (SBAI)