ANDREA CAITI – Curriculum Vitae
Full Address:
Prof. Andrea Caiti
Director,
Centro E. Piaggio, University of Pisa
Largo Lazzarino 1 - 56122 Pisa, Italy
Tel: +39 050 2217328 - +39 340 9173278 Fax: +39 050 2217051 e-mail:
also affiliated to:
DII - Dept. Information Engineering , University of Pisa
ISME - Interuniversity Research Centre on Integrated Systems for the Marine Environment
Personal information:
Born in Napoli, Italy, on May 18 1963; Italian citizen. Married, with one daughter, born in 1990.
Current position:
2015-present: Director, Centro Piaggio, University of Pisa
2007-present:Full Professor of System Theory and Automatic Control, University of Pisa.
Previous positions:
1988-94:Scientist, NATO SACLANT Undersea Research. Centre, La Spezia, I.
1994-95:Adjunct Professor, University of Genova, I.
1996-98:Assistant professor, University of Pisa, I.
1998-2001:Associate Professor, University of Siena, I.
2001-2007:Associate Professor, University of Pisa, I.
1994-95:Scientific consultant, University of Texas at Austin, U.S.A., Norwegian University of Science & Technology, Trondheim, N.
2001–08:Director, Interuniversity Research Centre on Integrated Systems for the Marine Environment (ISME)
2012-2015: Deputy Director, Centro Piaggio, University of Pisa.
Teaching activities:
Post-Graduate:
Elements of Oceanography and underwater acoustics propagation (5 Credits);
Autonomous Systems for Oceanography (5 Credits)
Graduate:
System Identification (6 Credits, Engineers);
Underwater Systems (6 Credits, Engineers and Geophysicists);
Undergraduate:
Automatic Control (9 Credits, Engineers);
He has also taught in the past courses on Discrete Event Systems, Automation Technology, System Analysis, either at the graduate or undergraduate level.
Research Interests:
•Modeling and identification of the ocean environment – Inversion methods in geoacoustics
•Automation of oceanographic systems
•Underwater acoustics
•Robotics and Underwater Vehicles (motion planning, Guidance-Navigation-Control systems)
•System Theory
•Modeling, optimization and Control of nonlinear systems
•E-learning and remote laboratories
(see publication list).
In the course of his research activities he has participated to more than 20 research cruises at sea, several times as Scientist in Charge of the mission.
He is "Senior Member" of the Inst. Electrical Electronic Engineering (IEEE), participating in the Oceanic Engineering and Control Systems Societies). Since 2012 he is Vice-President of the Italian Chapter of the IEEE Oceanic Engineering Society
He is member of the IFAC (International Federation of Automatic Control) Technical Committee on Marine Systems.
In the period 2008 - 2015 he has been the coordinator of the Ph.D. Programme in Automation, Robotics and Bioengineering at the University of Pisa.
Since 2015 he is the coordinator of the M.Sc. Degree in Robotics and Automation Engineering at the University of Pisa.
He has been the General Chair of the Oceans'15 MTS/IEEE Genova Conference (Genova, Italy, May 18 – 21 2015), the first ever conference of the Oceans series held in Italy (in more than 40 years).
In 2015 he has been appointed as Scientific Coordinator of the SEAlab laboratory, a joint laboratory on heterogeneous autonomous marine systems, established by CSSN – Italian Navy and ISME.
National and International Collaborative Research Projects
As Coordinator of the whole project (project PI):
2002-2005: “SITAR - Seafloor Imaging and Toxicity: Assessment of Risk caused by buried waste, funding agency: EU, initiative “Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development” 5° Framework Programme (overall funding: 2.130 k€ (67% of project cost); ten participants).
2002-2005:Analysis of autopilot systems for the underwater vehicle OCEAN EXPLORER C; Autopilots tuning and models identification; integration with various payloads research commissioned by SACLANT Undersea Res. Ctr (funding: 86 k€)
2005 – 2006:Underwater towed vehicle for inspection of buried pipelines, funding agency: Parco Scientifico e Tecnologico della Regione Liguria (funding: 140 k€).
2006 – 2007: Investigation and evaluation of a novel prototype of a mobile autonomous oceanographic platform, funding agency Italian Ministry of Education and Research, integrated Italy-Spain actions for researchers mobility (overall funding: 40 k€; two participants).
2007-2008: Simulator for performance prediction of underwater anti-intrusion systems in coastal and harbour protection, funding agency: Parco Scientifico e Tecnologico della Regione Liguria (funding: 195 k€ )
2011-2013: THESAURUS - Tecniche per l'Esplorazione Sottomarina Archeologica mediante l’utilizzo di Robot Autonomi in Sciami - Techniques for Archaeological Underwater Exploration with Swarms of Autonomous Robots, funding agency: Tuscany Region (overall funding: 1.480 k€ (75% of project cost) - four participants)
2012-2014: Ducati s.r.l. (object of project subject to non-disclosure agreement – funding 23 k€)
2011-2014: V-Fides – Guidance, Navigation and Control system for an autonomous underwater vehicle; research commissioned by WASS s.r.l. in the framework of a Tuscan Region co-funded project (local funding for the activity: 250 k€).
2013-2016: WAVE 1 and WAVE 2- Wave-Powered Autonomous Vehicle for Marine Exploration – National Programme on Defense Research (overall funding 560 k€ (50% of project cost) – two participants)
2015-2016: OptoCOMM: devices for optical underwater communication – research and demonstration project; funding from the European Union, FP7, within the activities of the SUNRISE project (overall funding 248 k€ (approx. 60% of project cost) - two participants)
As Coordinator of the local research unit (local PI)
1994-1996:Geophysical Seafloor Exploration with a Towed Array in Shallow Water”, , funding agency: EU, MAST-II initiative (local funding: 215 k€).
1996-1999:ISACS - Integrated Systems for Analysis and Characterization of the Seafloor, funding agency EU, MAST-III initiative (local funding: 200 k€)
2000-2002:Use of satellite technologies for maritime and aerospace navigation in constrained areas funding agency: Ministry of University and Research, research projects of national interest initiative (local funding: 40 k€)
2004 - 2006PICTURE – Planning and Intelligent Control Techniques for Robotics in Unstructured Environments (as DSEA, University of Pisa) funding agency: Ministry of University and Research, research projects of national interest initaitive (local funding: 54 k€).
2005 – 2006: Feasibility study of an anti-intrusion system for coastal, harbour and underwater applications, funding agency: EU/Regione Liguria, (local funding: 90 k€).
2007 – 2008:Archeomed – Mediterranean Maritime Cultural Heritage, funding agency EU, FP6, INTER-REG initiative (local funding: 42 k€).
2008 – 2011:UAN – Underwater Acoustic Network, funding agency EU, FP7 (local funding: 450 k€)
2013 – 2014:SAFE QUARRY – Automated monitoring technologies to improve marble excavation processes, funding agency Tuscany Region (local funding: 120 k€)
2013 – 2016: MARIS - Marine Autonomous Robotics for InterventionS – funding agency Ministry of University and Research, research projects of national interest initiative (local funding: 132 k€)
As member of the project research team:
WiMUST - Widely scalable Mobile Underwater Sonar Technology (2015 – 18), EU, Horizon2020
CO3AUVs – Cognitive Cooperative Control of AUVs (2009 – 2012), EU, FP7
CHAT – Control of Heterogeneous Automation Systems (2008 – 2011), EU, FP7
VENUS – Virtual Exploration of Underwater Sites (2006 – 2009), EU, FP6
EPOCH – Excellence in Processing Open Cultural Heritage (2004 – 08) – EU, FP6 (as member of the Board of Directors of the Network of Excellence)
Telepresence Instant Groupware for higher Education in Robotics (2003-05) – Ministry of University and Research.
Service in management and evaluation of research activities
Management of research activities
As managing responsible
2001-2008:Director of ISME, the Interuniversity Research Centre of Integrated Systems for the Marine Environment. ISME is a consortium of Italian Universities (currently 6 universities) devoted to research in marine technologies.
2015 – present: Director of Centro Piaggio
As board member
1993-97:Italian MAST Users Committee.
1995:Italian Delegation to the EU, DGXII, as expert in marine technologies.
2001-present:Scientific Council of ISME.
2004-2009:Direction Board of the Ligurian Association of Marine Technologies (TECMAR)
2011-present: IFAC Technical Committee on Marine Systems.
Organization of scientific events:
As conference/workshop/school organizer/co-organizer
1993: La ricerca marina nel Mediterraneo verso il 2000: dalla cellula all’ oceano, Nat. Conf., Rome, I.
1994:Full-field inversion methods in ocean and seismic acoustics, Int. Conf., Lerici, I.
1999:Experimental Acoustics Inversion Methods for Exploration of the Shallow Water Environment, Int. Workshop, Carvoeiro, Pt
2002:1st Lerici Winter School on Marine Technologies: Autonomous and Remotely Operated Underwater Vehicles”, Ph.D./Young Res. School, Lerici, I.
2004:Acoustic Inversion Methods and Experiments for Assessment of the Shallow Water Environment, Int. Workshop, Ischia, I.
2004:Control Applications in Marine Systems – CAMS’04, IFAC Int. Conf., Ancona, I.
2005:Underwater Robotics for sustainable development, IARP Int. Conf., Genova, I.
2015: Oceans'15 MTS/IEEE Genova, May 18 – 21 2015 - General Chair.
As member of the scientific committee / associate editor
2004:The application of recent advances in underwater detection and survey techniques to underwater archaeology, Int. Conf., Bodrum, Turkey.
2005:New Concepts for Harbour Protection, Littoral Security and Underwater Acoustic Communications, Int. Conf., Istanbul, Turkey.
Boundary influences in high frequency, shallow water acoustics, Int. Conf., Bath, UK.
2006: IEEE Mediterranean Control Conference, Int. Conf., Ancona, I.
IEEE Intelligent Robots and Systems - IROS 2006, Int. Conf. Beijing, China.
IFAC Manoeuvring and Control of Marine Crafts – MCMC’06, Int. Conf., Lisbon, Portugal
2007:Undersea Defense technology Conference – UDT’07 – Napoli, Italy
2008: IEEE Intelligent Robots and Systems - IROS 2008, Int. Conf. Nice, F.
2009: IEEE Oceans’09 – Europe, Int. Conf, Bremen, Germany
IEEE Intelligent Robots and Systems - IROS 2009, Int. Conf. , St. Louis, USA
IEEE Conf. Robotics and Automation – ICRA 2009, Int. Conf., Kobe, Japan
IFAC Manoeuvring and Control of Marine Crafts – MCMC’09, Int. Conf., Garuja, Brazil
2010: IEEE Conf. Robotics and Automation – ICRA 2010, Int. Conf., Anchorage, USA
IEEE Intelligent Robots and Systems - IROS 2010, Int. Conf., Taipei, Taiwan.
2011: IEEE Conf. Robotics and Automation – ICRA 2011, Int. Conf., Shangai, China
2012: IEEE Conf. Robotics and Automation – ICRA 2012, Int. Conf., St. Paul, USA.
IFAC Manoeuvring and Control of Marine Crafts – MCMC’12, Int. Conf., Arenzano, Italy.
IEEE Intelligent Robots and Systems - IROS 2012, Int. Conf., Vilamoura, Portugal.
2013: Underwater Acoustic Conference, UAC 2013, Int. Conf., Corfu, Greece.
2014:IEEE Mediterranean Control Conference, Int. Conf., Palermo, Italy.
Underwater Acoustic Conference, UAC 2014, Int. Conf., Rhodes, Greece.
2015: IFAC Worksh. Navigation, Guidance Control of Underwater Vehicles – NGCUV 2015, Girona, Spain.
Underwater Acoustic Conference, UAC 2015, Int. Conf., Chania, Greece
MCMC 2015, IFAC Conf. on Maneuvering and Control of Marine Crafts, Int. Conf., Copenhagen, DK.
Evaluation of research activities
Reviewers of research project submission for:
NERC (National Environmental Research Council, UK)
NATO Collaborative Research Grants
Research Council of Norway (N)
Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR)
Greek Ministry of University and Research (G)
European Union (EU)
Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT - PT)
In 2011 he has been member of the panel for research evaluation of FOI (Swedish Defense Research Agency), Stockholm, Sweden.
He has served as reviewer for numerous conferences and workshops and for the following scientific journals: IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation, IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology, IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, IEEE Transactions on Aerospace Engineering, IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering, IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine, Automatica, Inverse Problems in Engineering, Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, Artificial Intelligence in Engineering, International Journal Adaptive Control and Signal Processing, Acta Acustica, Journal of Computational Acoustics, International Journal of Control, Journal of Marine Engineering & Technology, Journal of Signal Processing, Entropy, Asian Journal of Control, Ocean Engineering, Journal of Electrical and Computing Engineering, Journal of Control Science and Engineering.
He has been selected among the Outstanding Reviewers of the IEEE J. Oceanic Engineering, year 2015.
Editorial activities
1995:Editor of the book: “Full-field inversion methods in ocean and seismo-acoustics”, Kluwer.
2000: Editor of the book: “Experimental Acoustics Inversion Methods for Exploration of the Shallow Water Environment”, Kluwer.
2006:Editor of the book: “Acoustic Sensing Techniques for the Shallow Water Environment”, Springer.
2007:Editor of the book: “Buried waste in the seabed – Acoustic imaging and biotoxicity”, Springer-Praxis
2012 to present: Editorial Board member, International Journal of Advanced Robotics Systems (ISI Impact Factor 0.821, the only open access journal with ISI impact factor in the robotics community)
2015 to present: Editorial board of “Acta Acustica united with Acustica” (ISI impact factor 0,783)
Published contribution to the scientific literature
Edited Books
[M1] O. Diachok, A. Caiti, P. Gerstoft, H. Schmidt (Eds.), Full-field inversion methods in ocean and seismo-acoustics, series "Modern approaches in Geophysics", vol. 12, Kluwer Academic Publ., Dordrecht, 1995.
[M2] A. Caiti, J-P. Hermand, S.M. Jesus, M.B. Porter (Eds.), Experimental Acoustic Inversion Methods for Exploration of the Shallow Water Environment, Kluwer Academic Publisher, Dordrecht, 2000.
[M3] A.Caiti, N. R. Chapman, J.-P. Hermand, S.M. Jesus (Eds.) Acoustic Sensing Techniques for the Shallow Water Environment, Springer, Dordrecht, 2006.
[M4] P.Blondel, A.Caiti (Eds), Buried Waste in the Seabed – Acoustic Imaging and Biotoxicity, Springer Praxis, Berlin, 2007
International Journals
[R1] A. Caiti, G. Cannata, "Comments on the operational matrices of integration and differentiation for Fourier trigonometric functions", IEEE Trans. Automatic Control, vol. AC-38, n. 4., pp. 667-671, 1993.
[R2] D. DeRossi, G. Canepa, G. Magenes, F. Germagnoli, A. Caiti, T. Parisini, "Skin-like tactile sensor arrays for contact stress field extraction", Material Science and Engineering C, vol. C-1, pp. 23-36, 1993.
[R3] A. Caiti, G. Cannata, "Spectral methods for the solution of linear descriptor systems using Fourier functions", Circuits, Systems and Signal Processing, vol. 13, n. 2-3, pp. 225-239, 1994.
[R4] A. Caiti, T. Akal, R.D. Stoll, "Estimation of shear wave velocity in shallow marine sediments", IEEE Journal Oceanic Engineering, vol. 19, n. 1, pp. 58-72, 1994.
[R5] A. Caiti, T. Parisini, "Mapping Ocean Sediments with RBF networks", IEEE Journal Oceanic Engineering, vol. 19, n. 4, pp. 577-582, October 1994.
[R6] A. Caiti, G. Magenes, T. Parisini, R. Simpson, "Smooth approximation with RBF: three case studies", International Journal Applied Science and Computation, vol. 1, n.1, pp. 88-113, 1994.
[R7] A. Caiti, G. Cannata, "Stabilization of spectral methods for the analysis of singular systems using piecewise constant basis functions", Circuits, Systems and Signal Processing, vol. 14, n.3, pp.299-316, 1995.
[R8] A. Caiti, G. Canepa, D. DeRossi, F. Germagnoli, G. Magenes, T. Parisini, "Towards the realization of an artificial tactile system: fine-form discrimination by a tensorial tactile sensor array and neural inversion algorithms", IEEE Trans. System, Man, Cybernetics, vol. 25, n. 6, pp. 933-946, 1995.
[R9] J.A. TenCate, T.G. Muir, A. Caiti, A. Kristensen, J.F. Manning, J.A. Shooter, E. Michelozzi, "Beamforming on seismic interface waves with an array of geophones on the shallow seafloor", IEEE Journal Oceanic Engineering, vol. 20, n. 4, pp. 300-310, 1995.
[R10] P. Alotto, A. Caiti, G. Molinari, M. Repetto, "A multiquadrics-based algorithm for the acceleration of simulated annealing optimization procedures", IEEE Trans. Magnetics, vol. 32, n. 3, pp. 1198-1201, 1996.
[R11] S.M. Jesus, A. Caiti, "Estimating geoacoustic bottom properties from towed array data", J. Computational Acoustics, June, 1996.
[R12] A. Caiti, S.M. Jesus, "Acoustic estimation of seafloor parameters: a Radial Basis Functions approach", Journal of Acoustical Society of America, vol. 100, n. 3, pp. 1473-1481, September 1996.
[R13] A. Caiti, S.M. Jesus, A. Kristensen, "Geoacoustic seafloor exploration with a towed array in a shallow water area of the Strait of Sicily", IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering, vol. 21, n.4, pp. 355-366, October 1996.
[R14] A. Caiti, O. Bergem, J. Dybedal, “Parametric sonars for seafloor characterization”, Measurement Science and Technology, vol. 10, pp. 1105-1115, 1999.
[R15] A. Caiti, “Seafloor properties determination from acoustic backscattering at normal incidence with a parametric source”, J. Computational Acoustics, vol. 8, n. 2, pp. 365-388, 2000.
[R16] A. Caiti, A. Garulli, F. Livide, D. Prattichizzo, “Set-membership acoustic tracking of autonomous underwater vehicles”, Acta Acustica united with Acustica, vol. 88, n. 5, pp. 648-653, 2002.
[R17] A. Alvarez, A. Caiti, R. Onken, "Evolutionary path planning for autonomous underwater vehicles in a variable ocean", IEEE J. Oceanic Engineering vol. 29, n.2, pp.418-429, 2004.
[R18] A.Caiti, A. Garulli, F. Livide, D. Prattichizzo, Localization of autonomous underwater vehicles by floating acoustic buoys: a set-membership approach, IEEE J. Oceanic Engineering vol.30, n.1, pp. 140 - 152, 2005.
[R19] A. Bicchi, A. Caiti, L. Pallottino, G. Tonietti, "On-line robotic experiments for tele-education at the University of Pisa", Int. J. Robotic Systems, vol. 22, n.4, pp.217- 230, 2005.
[R20] A.Caiti, M.Palmese, A.Trucco, "Risk assessment of seafloor waste: acoustical imaging of buried waste", J. Computational Acoustics, vol. 13, n.2, pp. 385 - 401 2005.
[R21] A. Caiti, G, Casalino, G. Conte, S.M. Zanoli, “Innovative technologies in underwater archaeology: field experience, open problems, research lines”, Chemistry and Ecology, vol. 22 (Suppl.1), pp. S383-S396, August 2006.
[R22] A. Caiti, R. Minciardi, M. Palmese, M. Robba, R. Sacile, A. Trucco, “GIS tools application for risk assessment of toxic waste buried in seafloor sediments”, Chemistry and Ecology, vol. 22 (Suppl.1), pp. S145-S161, August 2006.
[R23] A.Balestrino, A.Caiti, E.Crisostomi, “Efficient Numerical Approximation of Maximum Entropy Estimates”, Int. J. Control, vol. 79, n. 9, pp. 1145 – 1155, 2006.
[R24] A.Caiti, A.Munafò, R.Viviani, “Adaptive on-line planning of environmental sampling missions with a team of cooperating autonomous underwater vehicles”, Int. J. Control, vol. 80, n.7, pp. 1151-1168, 2007.
[R25] A.Balestrino, A.Caiti, E.Crisostomi, “Entropy of curves for nonlinear system classification”, Chemical Engineering Trans., vol.11, pp.119 - 124, 2007
[R26] P. Drap, J. Seinturier, G. Conte, A. Caiti, D. Scaradozzi, S.M. Zanoli, P. Gambogi, “Underwater cartography for archaeology in the VENUS project”, Geomatica, vol. 62, n. 4, pp. 419-427, 2008.
[R27] A.Caiti, V.Morellato, A.Munafò, “A GIS Based Simulation Tool for Civilian Harbour Protection”, Singapore Maritime and Port Journal, 2007/2008.
[R28] A.Alvarez, A.Caffaz, A.Caiti, G.Casalino, L.Gualdesi, A.Turetta, R.Viviani, “Fòlaga: a low cost autonomous underwater vehicle combining glider and auv capabilities”, Ocean Engineering, 36 (1), pp. 24 – 38, 2009.
[R29] A.Balestrino, A.Caiti, E.Crisostomi, “Generalised Entropy of Curves for the Analysis and Classification of Dynamical Systems”, Entropy, vol. 11., pp. 249-270, doi:10.3390/e11020249, 2009.
[R30] G. Conte, S. M. Zanoli, D. Scaradozzi, A. Caiti , “Robotics techniques for data acquisition in underwater archeology”, International Journal of Mechanics and Control (JoMaC), Vol 10, No. 1, pp.45-51, 2009.
[R31] A.Balestrino, A.Caiti, E.Crisostomi, “From remote experiments to web-based learning objects: an advanced tele-laboratory for robotics and control systems” IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, vol. 56, n. 12, pp. 4817 – 4825, 2009.
[R32] A.Caffaz, A.Caiti, G.Casalino, L.Gualdesi, A.Turetta, “Fòlaga: a low cost AUV/glider for coastal environmental sampling”, Int. J. Soc. Underwater Technology, vol.28, no.4, pp. 151-157, 2009
[R33] A.Caffaz, A.Caiti, G.Casalino, A.Turetta, “The hybrid glider/auv FOLAGA”, IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine, vol. 17, n. 1, pp. 31 – 44, 2010.
[R34] A. Balestrino, A. Caiti, E. Crisostomi, “Logical composition of Lyapunov functions”, International Journal of Control, Vol.84, 3, pp. 563-573, 2011.
[R35] G. Casalino, A. Caiti, E. Simetti, A. Turetta, “RT^2: Real Time Ray Tracing for Underwater range Evaluation”, International Journal of Intelligent Service Robotics, 4 (4), 259-270, 2011.
[R36] A. Munafò, E. Simetti, A. Turetta, G. Casalino, A. Caiti, “Autonomous underwater vehicle teams for adaptive ocean sampling: a data-driven approach”, Ocean Dynamics, 61 (11) (2011), pp. 1981-1994 doi: DOI 10.1007/s10236-011-0464-x, 2011.
[R37] P. Drap, A. Caiti, “Relevés optiques et acoustiques pour l’archéologie sousmarine”, Meditérranée, 2011/2, n. 117, pp. 117-125, 2011.
[R37] A Caiti, A Munafò, G Vettori, “A Geographical Information System (GIS)-Based Simulation Tool to Assess Civilian Harbor Protection Levels”, IEEE J. Oceanic Engineering, 37 (1), 85-102, 2012
[R38] A Caiti, V Calabrò, G Dini, A Lo Duca, A Munafò, “Secure Cooperation of Autonomous Mobile Sensors Using an Underwater Acoustic Network”, Sensors 12 (2), 1967-1989, 2012
[R39] A Balestrino, A Caiti, S Grammatico, “Multivariable constrained process control via Lyapunov R-functions”, Journal of Process Control, 22 (9), 1762-1772, 2012.
[R40] A Balestrino, A Caiti, S Grammatico, “A new class of Lyapunov functions for the constrained stabilization of linear systems”, Automatica, 48 (11), 2951-2955, 2012
[R41] A Caiti, V Calabro, A Munafò, G Dini, A Lo Duca, “Mobile Underwater Sensor Networks for Protection and Security: Field Experience at the UAN11 Experiment”, Journal of Field Robotics 30 (2), 237-253, 2013