Michele Colledanchise

Making Robots Behave

What I’ve Learned: - Deepened understanding of challenges in a bleeding-edge robotics company, including adapting solutions from customer feedback. - Enhanced my knowledge of scalable software architecture and advanced coding practices for behavior design in complex systems. - Developed skills in balancing development speed with code quality to meet customer demands. My Impact: - Led the restructuring of the behavior codebase, which improved modularity and reduced feature integration time. - Contributed to new product development and critical code reviews, leading to higher system reliability and performance. - Implemented best practices that optimized workflows, directly improving the development team's efficiency.

What I’ve Learned: - Advanced my expertise in managing multidisciplinary teams across computer vision, motion planning, and software engineering. - Acquired project management skills, including budget planning, risk mitigation, and resource allocation. - Gained insights into technology transfer, ensuring that research outcomes were successfully transitioned into industry applications. My Impact: - Led the development of autonomous robotic behaviors, significantly enhancing system autonomy and reliability. - Supervised and mentored a diverse team of researchers, contributing to their growth and ensuring high-quality project outputs. - Secured and co-authored successful project proposals, bringing substantial funding and advancements to the institute.

Co-authored the proposal and deliverables for the SCOPE project, a second-call Integrated Technical Project (ITP) under the EU RobMoSys initiative (see project details below), effectively contributing to both research innovation and its practical application through technology transfer. Managed project execution from planning through completion, ensuring adherence to scope, schedule, and budget while mitigating risks. Focused on translating research into scalable solutions that align with industry needs and standards. Supervised the development team, overseeing multiple work packages and guiding the successful implementation of robotic experiments, ensuring that research outputs were transformed into deployable technologies. Organized the inaugural workshop on Behavior Trees at the 2019 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), establishing a platform for sharing tools, applications, and insights in the field.

Co-authored the proposal and deliverables for the CARVE project, a first-call Integrated Technical Project (ITP) within the EU RobMoSys initiative (see project details below). Led the development team, managing multiple work packages and directing the execution of robotic experiments to meet project objectives. Contributed to an industrial project under a non-disclosure agreement (NDA), applying advanced robotics expertise to address confidential challenges.

What I’ve Learned: - Deepened my understanding of providing technical consulting and strategic advisory services in a commercial setting. - Enhanced my ability to assess and optimize system architecture for improved efficiency and functionality. - Learned to coordinate remotely and effectively work within an international team across various time zones. My Impact: - Provided strategic guidance that streamlined development processes and enhanced system performance. - Contributed to refining the behavior system architecture, leading to more efficient implementation cycles. - Supported the company in aligning technical developments with customer needs for greater client satisfaction.

Organized the inaugural workshop, "Behavior Trees for Robotics Systems: Tools, Applications, and Lessons Learned," at the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), one of the most prominent robotics research conferences worldwide. Organized the first Behavior Tree-focused workshop in the robotics community, bringing together six invited speakers, multiple oral presenters, and over 70 attendees. Facilitated knowledge sharing and discussions on cutting-edge tools and applications, establishing a platform for advancements in Behavior Tree methodologies within robotics.

Main author of the book "Behavior Trees in Robotics and AI: An Introduction" The book in available is both English and Chinese.

I was involved in the SARAFun project to enable a non-expert user to integrate a new bi-manual assembly task on a robot in less than a day.

What I’ve Learned: - Strengthened my ability to work on cutting-edge research while applying findings to practical implementations. - Developed critical thinking skills through rigorous Ph.D. studies, enabling precise problem-solving and analytical approaches. - Enhanced collaborative research and technical documentation skills. My Impact: - Pioneered the use of behavior trees in robotics, laying the groundwork for their adoption in the field. - Enhanced the project’s research output, contributing to its recognition within the academic and industrial robotics communities.

What I’ve Learned: - Advanced my understanding of system resilience and stability in space robotics, collaborating with top researchers and NASA/JPL. - Improved my ability to develop robust control strategies for high-stakes environments. - Strengthened my problem-solving skills and adaptability to work within a pioneering research setting. My Impact: - Contributed to the development of the ”total system stability” framework for NASA/JPL’s Resilient Space Executive, increasing its reliability for the Mars Sample Return project. - Implemented control strategies that significantly improved system performance under challenging space conditions.

Stabilization and Collision Avoidance of Non-point Agents in Dynamic Environments: A Potential Field Approach.