Alcherio Martinoli

Autonomous Robotics; Distributed Robotics; Swarm Robotics; Distributed Intelligent Systems; Sensor and Actuator Networks; Intelligent Vehicles; Swarm Intelligence; Distributed Control and Estimation; Mechatronic Design; Localization and Navigation

Biography

I received my Diploma in Electrical Engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETHZ), and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL). I am currently Full Professor at the School of Architecture, Civil, and Environmental Engineering and the head of the Distributed Intelligent Systems and Algorithms Laboratory. Before joining EPFL I carried out research activities at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering of the ETHZ, at the Institute of Industrial Automation of the Spanish Research Council in Madrid, Spain, and at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, U.S.A. Additional information can be found on my full CV.

Mission

My research interests focus on methods to design, control, model, and optimize distributed intelligent systems, including multi-robot systems, sensor and actuator networks, and intelligent vehicles. I am also interested in the understanding and control of mixed societies consisting of natural and artificial components. My research policy relies on iteratively closing the loop between theory and physical experiments using modeling and computational techniques. Our research output ranges from fundamental, methodological aspects to more applied contributions, often associated with application areas of interest in my school, especially in environmental and civil engineering.

Awards

2016 : Best Teacher Award of the Environmental Science and Engineering Section : Environmental Science and Engineering Section

2016 : Best Poster Award at the 13th Int. Symposium on Distributed Autonomous Robotic Systems : Distributed Autonomous Robotic Systems Award Committee

2007 : SNSF Professorship (extension) : Swiss National Science Foundation

2006 : Best Teacher Award of the Computer and Communication Sciences School : Association Générale des Étudiants de l'École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, AGEPoly

2006 : Best Paper Award at the 8th International Symposium on Distributed Autonomous Robotic Systems : Distributed Autonomous Robotic Systems Award Committee

2003 : SNSF Professorship : Swiss National Science Foundation

Publications

Selected publications

Wasik A., Lima P. U., and Martinoli A. Autonomous Robots	A Robust Localization System for Multi-Robot Formations Based on an Extension of a Gaussian Mixture Probability Hypothesis Density Filter
Talebpour Z. and Martinoli A. Robotics and Automation Letters	Adaptive Risk-Based Replanning For Human-Aware Multi-Robot Task Allocation with Local Perception
Haghighat B. and Martinoli A. Swarm Intelligence	Automatic synthesis of rulesets for programmable stochastic self-assembly of rotationally symmetric robotic modules
Prorok A. and Martinoli A. International Journal of Robotics Research	Accurate Indoor Localization with Ultra-Wideband using Spatial Models and Collaboration
Pugh J., Raemy X., Favre C., Falconi R., and Martinoli A. IEEE Transaction on Mechatronic Systems	A Fast On-Board Relative Positioning Module for Multi-Robot Systems
Correll N. and Martinoli A. IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine	Multi-Robot Inspection of Industrial Machinery: From Distributed Coverage Algorithms to Experiments with Miniature Robotic Swarms
Halloy J., Sempo G., Caprari G., Rivault C., Asadpour M., Tâche F., Saïd I., Durier V., Canonge S., Amé J.M., Detrain C., Correll N., Martinoli A., Mondada F., Siegwart R. R., and Deneubourg J. L. Science	Social integration of robots in groups of cockroaches to control self-organized choices
Martinoli A., Easton K., and Agassounon W. International Journal of Robotics Research	Modeling of Swarm Robotic Systems: A Case Study in Collaborative Distributed Manipulation
Hayes A. T., Martinoli A., and Goodman R. M. IEEE Sensors Journal	Distributed Odor Source Localization
Rahbar F. and Martinoli A. Proc. of the IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation	A Distributed Source Term Estimation Algorithm for Multi-Robot Systems
Quraishi A., Bahr A., Schill F., and Martinoli A. Proc. of the IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation	Autonomous Feature Tracing and Adaptive Sampling in Real-World Underwater Environments
Marjovi A., Arfire A., and Martinoli A. Proc. of the Int. Conf. on Embedded Wireless Systems and Networks	Extending Urban Air Pollution Maps beyond the Coverage of a Mobile Sensor Network: Data Sources, Methods, and Performance Evaluation
Schill F., Bahr A., and Martinoli A. Proc. of the 13th Int. Symp. on Distributed Autonomous Robotic Systems	Vertex: A New Distributed Underwater Robotic Platform for Environmental Monitoring
Arfire A., Marjovi A., and Martinoli A. Proc. of the Int. Conf. on Embedded Wireless Systems and Networks	Mitigating Slow Dynamics of Low-Cost Chemical Sensors for Mobile Air Quality Monitoring Sensor Networks
Di Mario E., Navarro I., and Martinoli A. Proc. of the 2015 IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation	A Distributed Noise-Resistant Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm for High-Dimensional Multi-Robot Learning
Soares J. M., Aguiar A. P., Pascoal A. M., and Martinoli A. Proc. of the 2015 IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation	A Distributed Formation-Based Odor Source Localization Algorithm -Design, Implementation, and Wind Tunnel Evaluation
Gowal S. and Martinoli A. Proc. of the 2012 IEEE/RSJ Int. Conf. on Intelligent Robots and Systems	Real-time Optimization of Trajectories that Guarantee the Rendezvous of Mobile Robots
Mermoud G., Mastrangeli M., Upadhyay U., and Martinoli A. Proc. of the 2012 IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation	Real-Time Automated Modeling and Control of Self-Assembling Systems

Teaching & PhD

Teaching

Environmental Sciences and Engineering

Microengineering

PhD Students

Jin Wanting, Schmid Nicolaj Andreas, Wallén Kiessling Jan Alexander, Wälti Lucas Cédric,

Past EPFL PhD Students

Arfire Adrian , Baumann Cyrill Silvan , Boberg Klara Maria , Cianci Christopher , Correll Nicolaus , Da Cruz Baptista Dias Duarte , Di Mario Ezequiel Leonardo , Dias Almeida Rodrigues Soares Jorge Miguel , Ercolani Chiara , Erünsal Izzet Kagan , Evans William Christopher , Ferreira Maia Pereira José Nuno , Gowal Sven Adrian , Haghighat Bahar , Lochmatter Thomas , Mermoud Grégory , Prorok Amanda Stella Markowska , Pugh James , Quraishi Anwar Ahmad , Rahbar Faezeh , Roduit Pierre , Roelofsen Alicja Barbara , Roelofsen Steven Adriaan , Talebpour Zeynab , Vasic Milos ,

Courses

Signals, instruments and systems

The goal of this course is to transmit knowledge in sensing, computing, communicating, and actuating for programmable field instruments and, more generally, embedded systems. The student will be able to put in practice the knowledge acquired using concrete software and hardware tools.

Distributed intelligent systems

The goal of this course is to provide methods and tools for modeling distributed intelligent systems as well as designing and optimizing coordination strategies. The course is a well-balanced mixture of theory and practical activities.