Guest researcher
DFKI Robotics Innovation Center · Underactuated Robotics Lab
Extending and adapting visual navigation and state estimation software to humanoid platforms, with tightly coupled IMU, joint-states, contact, and vision measurements.
04 / BACKGROUND
Background & experience
Research appointments, education, and technical skills.
Research & engineering
GNC engineer · internship
Tyvak International
Contributed to FUTURE IOD mission software integration and processor-in-the-loop (PIL) testing, supporting functional verification and validation of the navigation software payload experiment. Supported GNC software review and commissioning-plan activities for the Hera Milani CubeSat.
PhD researcher
DART Lab · Politecnico di Milano
Developing factor-graph SLAM and recursive filtering algorithms for autonomous GNC operations in small-bodies close proximity scenarios, covering both design and implementation phases across multiple languages. Working on real ESA and ASI missions in Deep Space and LEO environments, and a robotic manipulators facility for GNC V&V.
GNC intern · Hera mission
European Space Agency · ESTEC
Reviewed and tested Hera GNC simulation and algorithms models in MATLAB/Simulink and developed trajectory-safety failure-detection algorithms (MSc thesis work), during internship at ESA ESTEC.
AOCS team member, then team leader
PoliSpace · 6S CubeSat
Contributed to mission phases A and B and ESA’s Fly Your Satellite! Design Booster programme, in the AOCS team, with focus on simulation models and analysis. Led the AOCS team from June to December 2023, including work on the attitude determination filter.
Education
2023–2027
PhD in Aerospace Engineering
Politecnico di Milano, Department of Aerospace Science and Technology. Doctoral programme started in December 2023.
2021–2023
MSc in Space Engineering
Politecnico di Milano. Thesis, developed at ESA ESTEC: Hera mission trajectory-safety assessment through onboard failure detection. Supervisors: Prof. Michèle Lavagna (Politecnico di Milano) and Jesús Gil-Fernández (ESA). Final grade: 110/110.
2018–2021
BSc in Aerospace Engineering
University of Naples Federico II. Elective: Laboratory of Onboard Systems, taught by Prof. Roberto Opromolla. Thesis: comparison of control laws for LiDAR pointing in close-proximity operations, supervised by Prof. Roberto Opromolla. Final grade: 110/110.
Experience, skills and tools
Estimation & navigation
Experience with visual SLAM, factor-graph smoothing, and recursive filtering for autonomous navigation and state estimation. Factor-graph optimisation with GTSAM/iSAM2 and bundle adjustment; EKF, UKF, and SRIF for orbit, state, and parameter estimation. Applications include spacecraft proximity operations and multi-sensor fusion for robotics.
Programming
Experience with C, C++11–20, CUDA, Python, MATLAB/Simulink, and Bash; MATLAB code generation; Python/MATLAB bindings and wrappers.
Vision & machine learning
Experience with feature tracking, matching, and centroiding for visual navigation using frame-based and event-based cameras. Geometric image processing with OpenCV and custom code, and learning-based methods with PyTorch. Model export and embedded inference with ONNX Runtime and TensorRT.
Rendering & simulation
Experience developing GPU ray-tracing software with CUDA/OptiX for synthetic navigation imagery, including spectral and radiometric modelling with BRDF and Hapke reflectance models. Spacecraft dynamics and sensor simulation for closed-loop GNC evaluation, synthetic dataset generation, and reproducible Monte Carlo analysis.
Software & deployment
Experience with Linux, CMake, and Git; GitHub Actions workflows and GitLab CI/CD pipelines; Docker and Podman containers; ROS 2 and MoveIt 2. Experience with NVIDIA Nsight Systems/Compute, MATLAB Profiler, and Valgrind for profiling; Google Test, Catch2, CTest, pytest, and MATLAB Unit Test for testing; GDB for debugging; Valgrind and sanitizers for memory checks.
Hardware
Experience with NVIDIA Jetson and Raspberry Pi embedded computing platforms; iniVation event cameras, Intel RealSense depth cameras, and Tyvak Milani/FUTX navigation cameras.
Research profiles & contact
Italian (native). English: C1 spoken and written, C2 reading.