Curriculum Vitae Andrea Maria Zanchettin - Dipartimento di ...

Curriculum Vitae
Andrea Maria Zanchettin
updated: January 21st, 2013
Name: Andrea Maria Zanchettin
Birthdate: 22-05-1983 in CREMONA (CR) , Italy
Address: via MONFALCONE, 44, MILANO (MI), Italy
Mobile: +39 349 83 84 208
E-mail zanchettin@elet.polimi.it
Home Page: http://home.dei.polimi.it/zanchettin/
Personal data
Education
Ph.D. in Information Technology, February 2012
Politecnico di Milano, Dipartimento di Elettronica e Informazione, Italy
Final grade: A, with Honor
Thesis: Human-centric behaviour of redundant manipulators under kinematic control
Advisor: Prof. Paolo Rocco
Reviewer: Prof. Giuseppe Oriolo (Università di Roma “La Sapienza”)
M.Sc. in Computer Science Engineering, April 2008
Politecnico di Milano, Italy
Final grade: 110/110 cum Laude (average grade: 28.85/30)
Thesis: Analisi teorica e sperimentale del sistema di controllo di un motore asincrono per lavabiancheria
Advisor: Prof. Paolo Rocco
B.Sc. in Computer Science Engineering, September 2005
Politecnico di Milano (Cremona)
Final grade: 110/110 (average grade: 28.53/30)
Thesis: Analisi di strategie di controllo per servomeccanismi elastici
Advisor: Prof. Gianni Ferretti
Diploma di Maturità Scientifica (progetto Brocca), July 2002
Istituto Tecnico Industriale J. Torriani (Cremona), Italy
Final grade: 100/100

Research positions
Post-doctoral research assistant, 16-01-2012 – 15-07-2013 (expected)
Politecnico di Milano, Dipartimento di Elettronica e Informazione, Italy
Funded by: EU FP7 ROSETTA Project
Topic: Safety-oriented motion planning and control for kinematically redundant dual-arm robot manipulators
Research assistant, 01-06-2008 – 31-12-2008
Politecnico di Milano, Dipartimento di Elettronica e Informazione, Italy
Funded by: Fondazione Politecnico di Milano, in cooperation with Indesit Company
Topic: Control of mechanical systems with low-cost sensors
Visiting positions
During Spring 2010, namely from 26-04-2010 to 09-07-2010, he spent a research stay at the Department of
Automatic Control (Reglerteknik) at Lund University, LTH, Sweden, working with Prof. Rolf Johansson and
Prof. Anders Robertsson within the EU FP7 project ROSETTA.
Teaching activities
2012/2013 Course: Tecnologie dei Sistemi di Controllo per l'Aeronautica, prof. Gianantonio Magnani
Role: teaching assistant, 16 hours
2011/2012 Course: Fondamenti di Automatica (per Aerospaziali), prof. Paolo Rocco
Role: teaching assistant, 28 hours
2010/2011 Course: Fondamenti di Automatica (per Aerospaziali), prof. Paolo Rocco
Role: teaching assistant, 4 hours
2008/2009 Course: Fondamenti di Automatica (per Aerospaziali), prof. Paolo Rocco
Role: teaching assistant, 26 hours
Course: Fondamenti di Automatica (per Aerospaziali), prof. Paolo Rocco
Role: lab assistant, 12 hours
He has been co-advisor of around 20 Master Theses for Automation, Computer Science, Electronic and
Mechanical Engineering, covering several topics ranging from robotics and mechatronics to satellite attitude
control.

Participation in funded projects
Fabbrica Intelligente – Adaptive, to start (duration 3 years)
Funded by: MIUR CTN
Partners: Università di Bergamo, Università di Napoli “Federico II”, Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia,
Loccioni, Balluff Automation s.p.a. and others
Topic: intelligent factory, smart automation, safe human-robot interaction
Founding (overall): 10 M€ (estimate)
ECHORD project – Fidelio experiment, 2011-2012
Funded by: EU FP7
Partners: Comau robotics (Italy)
Topic: machine learning techniques for robotic-aided industrial manufacturing
Quadrivio project, 2011-2012
Funded by: Regione Lazio - FILAS
Partners: AeroSekur (Italy)
Topic: navigation and control of an unmanned all-terrain robot
ROSETTA project, 2009-2013
Funded by: EU FP7
Partners: Lund University (Sweden), University of Munich (Germany), KU Leuven (Belgium), ABB
Corporate Research (Sweden and Germany), Fraunhofer IPA (Germany) and others
Topic: safe human-robot interaction for industrial manipulators
Founding (overall): 7.5 M€
Washing machine robust control, 2008-2009
Funded by: Fondazione Politecnico di Milano
Partners: Indesit Company (Italy)
Topic: robust tuning of the velocity loop of a washing machine with low-resolution sensing
Andrea Zanchettin was also actively involved in the preparation of the proposal for the IP Project CoSEA,
submitted on January 2013 for the FP7 ICT Call 10 – Objective 2.1 (Robotics, Cognitive Systems & Smart
Spaces, Symbiotic Interaction).
Computer skills
Advanced knowledge of Windows and Linux operating systems, excellent knowledge of Mathworks Matlab
and Simulink, Dynasim Dymola, basic knowledge on National Instruments DAQ boards, common
programming languages (C/C++, Java, Php, Sql, Html, Modelica, Labview, Matlab and IEC 61131-3),
RAPID language for ABB robots, development environments (ABB RobotStudio, B&R Automation Studio,
Michrochip Technology MPLAB).

Sensor-based trajectory generation for safe human-robot cooperation
Research interests
Future paradigms in industrial robotics no longer require a physical separation between robotic manipulators
and humans. Moreover, to optimize production, humans and robots will be expected to coexist and cooperate
to some extent. In this scenario, involving a shared environment between humans and robots, common
industrial robot controllers might turn to be inadequate for this purpose.
In order to obtain a natural and safe collaboration, robots will be equipped with sophisticated sensing devices
and with human-aware control/planning capabilities. In the literature many attempts in developing suitable
robot reactions to unforeseen events have been presented by means of trajectory adaptation or modifications
based on sensor readings. However, in case of very unstructured environments, a better solution could be
achieved with an advanced sensor-based motion and trajectory generation, rather than a real-time
modification of an offline planned path. The aim of this research is to provide tools to overcome the current
limitations in off-the-shelf robot controllers and propose a real-time trajectory generator capable of
understanding the environment and of computing a sensor-based trajectory to let the robot perform a
prescribed task with a suitable level of safety.
Human-friendly behaviour for redundant robots
Although robustness and safety of industrial robots have been increasing in the last decades, common
industrial manipulators are still not able to co-operate with human beings in a natural way.
Using redundant manipulators (i.e. robotic arms having more degrees of freedom than those strictly
necessary to perform a certain task) it is possible to achieve high levels of dexterity in order to make the
robot able to co-operate with humans in the same way that humans would co-operate with other humans.
Moreover, since the same task can be performed in several ways, redundant manipulators offer a wide range
of flexibility in motion planning. Thanks to the extra degree(s) of freedom, it is possible to modify in realtime
the behaviour of the robot, in order to ensure a safe co-operation with human co-workers and minimize
the injury risk, without modifying the end-effector motion. The aim of this research is to study the problem
of kinematic inversion for redundant manipulators in order to make their motion as natural as possible.
Since the robot is supposed to co-operate with humans, its motion should be predictable, safe, and intuitive.
Part of this research is focused on the development of some criteria to design a human-like kinematic
inversion algorithm for redundant manipulators while maintaining the possibility of on-line adjustments of
the joint trajectory to perform additional tasks such as obstacle avoidance, injury risk minimization, etc. In
this way, a human-friendly behaviour of the robot will ensure a natural co-operation between robotic
manipulators and humans which is not obtained with today commercial industrial manipulators.
Optimization-based design of control systems
Optimization-based design is a very active research area aiming at the development of computationally
efficient methods for the solution of challenging control issues (e.g., static output feedback) in terms of
constrained optimization problems. Among others, randomized methods and nonsmooth optimization
techniques appear today as the most promising paths to the development of viable design methods applicable
to practical engineering problems.
This research is aimed at the following objectives: to provide an overview of optimization-based design
methods, to explore potential integrations between them and to assess their applicability to a real control
system design problem such as robust stabilization of the attitude dynamics of a magnetically actuated
satellite. As a case study, the problem of designing attitude controllers for magnetically actuated spacecraft
has been considered. An approach to the tuning of projection based controllers has been proposed, relying on
robust periodic state feedback control techniques. The static state feedback control law has been tuned using
a randomized algorithm that combines pure Monte Carlo techniques with steepest descent algorithms for
non-smooth optimization problems. The performance of the resulting controller has been illustrated in a
simulation study.

Control of mechanical system with low-resolution sensors
The aim of this research is to characterize how the control performance of a washing machine is influenced
by each mechanical, electrical and control components. A model of the machine including a description of
the electrical aspects involved in the torque generation, as well as the transmission chain, the load, the
spring-damper system connecting the tub to the cabinet, and the velocity estimator, has been introduced.
Simple experimental procedures to identify the main mechanical parameters of the machine have been
performed and the accuracy of the model is demonstrated through validation experiments. The model is then
exploited to analyze the behavior of the machine at the stability limit and to propose a modification in the
mechanical design, in order to simplify the tuning procedure.
As for control purposes, the classical motion control architecture, that is also the one already adopted by the
machine manufacturer, has been considered. A rational automatic procedure to tune the velocity regulator,
that ensures the loop stability in any operating condition of interest, has been devised. A revision of the
current loop tuning, in order to ease the tuning of the velocity loop is also proposed. The tuning procedures
have the advantage to be simple, easily implementable using the experimental setup adopted by the
manufacturer to tune the controllers, and directly applicable on the control architecture of a commercial
washing machine.
Editorial activities
Andrea Zanchettin has served as a reviewer for the following journals: IFAC Automatica, IFAC Control
Engineering Practice, IFAC Mechatronics, IET Control Theory & Applications, Robotica and for major
international conferences on automatic control (IEEE CDC, IEEE ACC) and robotics (IEEE ICRA,
IEEE/RSJ IROS, IFAC SYROCO).
He co-chaired the session named “Biologically-Inspired Robots IV” held in May 2011 at the IEEE
International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), Shanghai (China).
He co-chaired the session entitled “Industrial applications II” held in September 2012 at the IFAC
Symposium on Robot Control (SYROCO), Dubrovnik (Croatia).
Seminars, workshops and invited talks
▪ “Optimisation-based design for linear control systems” - Seminar held at Politecnico di Milano,
Dipartimento di Elettronica e Informazione, Milano (Italy), 23-11-2010
▪ “L’ingegnere: dall’ingegno al congegno” - Dissemination talk for future Engineering students at
Liceo Scientifico G. Aselli (high school) - Cremona (Italy), 08-05-2012
▪ “Control of aerospace systems” - Seminar held at Politecnico di Milano for undergraduate Aerospace
Engineering students - Milano (Italy), 20-06-2012
▪ “Sensor-based trajectory generation for safe human-robot cooperation” (co-authored with B. Lacevic)
- IEEE/RSJ IROS 2012 Workshop on Robot Motion Planning: Online, Reactive, and in Real-time,
Vilamoura, Algarve (Portugal), 12-10-2012
▪ “Human-centric behaviour of redundant manipulators for ergonomic human-robot coexistence” (co-
authored with P. Rocco) - 5th International Workshop on Human-Friendly Robotics, Royal Military
Accademy of Brussels (Belgium), 18-10-2012

International Journals
List of publications
[IJ1] L. Bascetta, P. Rocco, A.M. Zanchettin, G. Magnani - “Velocity control of a washing machine: a
mechatronic approach”, IFAC Mechatronics, volume 22, issue 6, pp. 778–787, September 2012.
[IJ2] A.M. Zanchettin,
P. Rocco - “A general user-oriented framework for holonomic redundancy
resolution in robotic manipulators using task augmentation”, IEEE Transactions on Robotics,
volume 28, issue 2, pp. 514-521, April 2012.
[IJ3] L. Bascetta, G. Magnani, P. Rocco, A.M. Zanchettin - “Performance limitations in Field
Oriented Control for asynchronous machines with low resolution position sensing”, IEEE
Transactions on Control System Technology, volume 18, issue 3, pp. 559-573, May 2010.
Papers conditionally accepted in International Journals
[S1] A.M. Zanchettin,
A. Calloni, M. Lovera - “Robust magnetic attitude control of satellites”,
IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, December 2012, minor revision (revised version in
preparation).
[S2] A.M. Zanchettin,
L. Bascetta, P. Rocco - “Human-like redundancy resolution for
anthropomorphic industrial manipulators”, IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine, March
2012, conditionally accepted (resubmitted on April 2012).
Papers submitted to International Journals
[S3] A.M. Zanchettin,
B. Lacevic, P. Rocco - “Passivity-based control of robotic manipulators for
safe physical cooperation with humans ”, submitted to IFAC Automatica, July 2012 (resubmitted
for second review round, January 2013).
[S4] B. Lacevic, P. Rocco, A. M. Zanchettin - “Safety assessment and control of robotic manipulators
using danger field”, submitted to IEEE Transactions on Robotics, May 2012 (resubmitted for
second review round, January 2013).
[S5] A.M. Zanchettin,
L. Bascetta, P. Rocco - “Human-like redundancy resolution improves social
acceptance of robots in working environments”, submitted to Applied Ergonomics, June 2012
(revised version in preparation).

Proceedings of International Conferences
[IC1] N.M. Ceriani, G. Buizza Avanzini, A.M. Zanchettin, L. Bascetta, P. Rocco - “Optimal placement
of spots in distributed proximity sensors for safe human-robot interaction”, IEEE International
Conference on Robotics and Automation, ICRA 2013, Karlsruhe (Germany), accepted.
[IC2] A.M. Zanchettin,
B. Lacevic, P. Rocco - “A novel passivity-based control law for safe human-
robot coexistence”, IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Robots and Intelligent Systems,
IROS 2012, Vilamoura, Algarve (Portugal), October 2012, 7th-12th.
[IC3] A. Barcellini, L. Bascetta, M. Raymo, P. Rocco, A.M. Zanchettin, A. Robertsson - “Integrating
an anti-collision system based on laser Time-Of-Flight sensor in an industrial robot controller”,
IFAC Symposium on Robot Control, SYROCO 2012, Dubrovnik (Croatia), September 2012, 5th
-7th.
[IC4] A. Calloni, A. Corti, A.M. Zanchettin, M. Lovera - “Robust attitude control of spacecraft with
magnetic actuators”, American Control Conference, ACC 2012, Montreal (Canada), June 2012,
27th-29th, invited paper.
[IC5] A.M. Zanchettin,
P. Rocco - “Dual-arm redundancy resolution based on null-space dynamically-
scaled posture optimization”, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation,
ICRA 2012, St. Paul (Minnesota, USA), May 2012, 14th-18th.
[IC6] A.M. Zanchettin,
M. Lovera - “H_infty attitude control of magnetically actuated satellites”, 18th
IFAC World Congress, Milano (Italy), August/September 2011, 28th-2nd.
[IC7] A.M. Zanchettin,
P. Rocco - “On the use of functional redundancy in industrial robotic
manipulators for optimal spray painting”, 18th IFAC World Congress, Milano (Italy),
August/September 2011, 28th-2nd.
[IC8] I. Symeonidis, S. Peldschus, A.M. Zanchettin, P. Rocco, D. Bortot, K. Bengler - “Database of
human reach motions in work environment”, First International Symposium on Digital Human
Modeling, DHM 2011, Lyon (France), June 2011, 14th-16th.
[IC9] A.M. Zanchettin,
P. Rocco, A. Robertsson, R. Johansson - “Exploiting task redundancy in
industrial manipulators during drilling operations”, IEEE International Conference on Robotics
and Automation, ICRA 2011, Shanghai (China), May 2011, 9th-13th.
[IC10] A.M. Zanchettin,
P. Rocco, L. Bascetta, I. Symeonidis, S. Peldschus - “Kinematic analysis and
synthesis of the human arm motion during a manipulation task”, IEEE International Conference
on Robotics and Automation, ICRA 2011, Shanghai (China), May 2011, 9th-13th.
[IC11] A.M. Zanchettin,
P. Rocco, G. Ferretti - “Numerical issues in integrating holonomic kinematic
inversion algorithms for redundant manipulators”, 8th IFAC Symposium on Nonlinear Control
Systems, NOLCOS 2010, Bologna (Italy), September 2010, 1st-3rd.
[IC12] A.M. Zanchettin,
P. Rocco, L. Bascetta, I. Symeonidis, S. Peldschus - “Kinematic motion
analysis of the human arm during a manipulation task”, International Symposium on Robotics
and German Conference on Robotics, ISR/Robotik 2010, Munich (Germany), June 2010, 7th9th.

[IC13] P. Rocco, A.M. Zanchettin - “General parameterization of holonomic kinematic inversion
algorithms for redundant manipulators”, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and
Automation, ICRA 2010, Anchorage (Alaska, USA), May 2010, 3rd-8th.
[IC14] L. Bascetta, G. Magnani, P. Rocco, A.M. Zanchettin - “Design and implementation of the low-
level control system of an All-Terrain Mobile Robot”, International Conference on Advanced
Robotics, ICAR 2009, Munich (Germany), June 2009, 22nd-26th.
[IC15] G. Magnani, P. Rocco, L. Trevisan, A.M. Zanchettin, A. Rusconi - “Torque control in the joint of
a space robotic arm”, IEEE International Conference on Mechatronics, ICM 2009, Malaga
(Spain), April 2009, 14th-17th.
National Journals (in Italian)
[NJ1] L. Bascetta, P. Bolzern, G. Ferretti, B. Lacevic, A. Locatelli, G. Magnani, P. Rocco, N.
Schiavoni, A.M. Zanchettin - “Robotica industriale umano-centrica: il progetto ROSETTA”,
Automazione e Strumentazione, Giugno 2011 - pp. 75-79.
On Proceedings of National Conferences (in Italian)
[NC1] L. Bascetta, P. Rocco, A.M. Zanchettin, G. Magnani - “Controllo di velocità di una
lavabiancheria: dall’analisi meccatronica alla taratura automatica del regolatore”,
Automatica.it 2012, Benevento (Italy), September 2012, 12th-14th.
[NC2] L. Bascetta, G. Ferretti, B. Lacevic, G. Magnani, P. Rocco, A.M. Zanchettin - “Robotica
industriale umano-centrica: il progetto ROSETTA”, Motion Control 2010, Cinisello Balsamo
(Italy), November 2010, 10th-11th.
[NC3] A. Locatelli, P. Rocco, N. Schiavoni, A.M. Zanchettin - “Ripetibilità dei movimenti nei
Misc publications
manipolatori robotici a ridondanza cinematica”, Motion Control 2010, Cinisello Balsamo
(Italy), November 2010, 10th-11th.
[M1] A.M. Zanchettin
- “Human-centric behaviour of redundant manipulators under kinematic
control”, Politecnico di Milano, Doctoral dissertation, February 2012.
[M2] A.M. Zanchettin,
P. Rocco, L. Bascetta - “Kinematic analysis and synthesis of the human arm
motion during a manipulation task”, Convegno SIDRA 2010, L'Aquila (Italy), September 2010,
13th-15th.
[M3] A.M. Zanchettin
- “Optimisation-based design for linear control systems”, Politecnico di
Milano, Dipartimento di Elettronica e Informazione, internal report num. 2010.26.
[M4] L. Bascetta, G. Magnani, P. Rocco, M. Rossi, A.M. Zanchettin - “Teleoperated and Autonomous
All Terrain Mobile Robot (TA-ATMR)”, B&R First European Industrial Ethernet Award,
Salzburg (Austria) June 2009, 27th, fourth classified.