Speakers

Title: Unlocking the potential of unconventional aerial robots. 

Abstract: Unconventional drone designs result in new capabilities and flight behaviours, which allow complex tasks to be performed more efficiently or new applications altogether. Particularly challenging domains include environmental sensing and operations in urban areas – both of which require drones to be versatile and robust, while also posing a low risk and causing a minimal disruption to their surroundings. This talk will present UAV design, modelling and control research, focusing on unconventional and bioinspired configurations. Moving away from the traditional robotics approach of relying mainly on powerful computation, we will discuss a more holistic approach that leverages a robot’s inherent physical features. 

Title: Advancements in fully-actuated UAVs and cooperative transport. 

Abstract: Novel multirotor platforms are being developed to enhance dexterity and energy  efficiency, enabling capabilities beyond those of conventional UAVs. At the same time, driven by long-endurance autonomous aerial transportation, cooperative manipulation using continuously flying UAVs has been emerging as a promising paradigm. This talk will present recent developments in the design, modeling, and control of fully actuated aerial robots, with a particular focus on their enhanced motion capabilities and interaction with the environment. Additionally, it will highlight efficient strategies for the cooperative transportation of cable-suspended payloads, emphasizing the challenges and opportunities associated with coordinated multi-UAV systems maintaining continuous flight. 

Title: Animal Drones: Zoomorphic Design and Emerging Intelligence.  

Abstract: There is much to learn from nature. Animals show us that intelligence does not reside only in the brain, but also in the body...in the ways bodies sense, adapt, move, and interact with the world. Inspired by this idea, my lab explores how animal morphologies can be translated into aerial robots, turning biological principles into new forms of flight. Rather than simply mimicking animals, we ask how the body itself can become a source of intelligence. By designing drones that can sense, adapt, and interact through their morphology, we seek to uncover behaviours that emerge naturally, sometimes unintuitively, shaped by interactions with world around them. 

Title: Unconventional Design for Minimal-Impact Aerial Environmental Monitoring.  

Abstract: Minimal impact should be the goal when monitoring ecosystems, and aerial vehicles are a strong asset: they travel through environments without trampling them. In this talk, I will discuss how we have expanded what aerial vehicles can sense while preserving that minimal impact. Our blimp drone enables ego-noiseless acoustic monitoring; our whisker-inspired sensors use extremely low-force tactile sensing to detect airflow and gusts as well as contact. In both, mechanical design is the innovation. I will share our results, discuss how we critically evaluate reliability and usefulness when the environment is unstructured, and argue for decreasing structure earlier in the design process.

Prof. Bahadir Kocer 

University of Bristol, United Kingdom

Title: Towards more functional aerial robots for environment.

Abstract: Aerial robots offer new ways to monitor and protect ecosystems by accessing dense forest canopies and other fragile habitats that are difficult or risky for humans and environment. Our work develops perching and tethered aerial platforms for long‑duration, minimally invasive environmental sensing, enabling continuous observation with reduced ecological disturbance and energy use. We design compliant grasping mechanisms that safely attach to branches and trunks while minimizing noise and airflow during data collection. In this talk I will highlight recent advances in aerial perching, present case studies in ecology and conservation, and outline open challenges for sustainable, environment‑centered robotic design and long‑term conservation. 

Title: Soft Yet Agile: Rethinking Drone Design.

Abstract: Soft drones show that compliance enhances collision resilience and enables flight through narrow gaps via squeezing, but typically at the cost of reduced stability and agility. In this presentation, I will introduce FlexiQuad, a soft quadrotor architecture based on a decentralized ring-shaped frame with anisotropic stiffness and distributed mass. This design preserves high in-plane compliance for squeezing and collision resilience while suppressing destabilizing out-of-plane deformation and oscillations. Across scales, FlexiQuad reveals a softness regime in which agility and robustness coexist. A 405-g prototype exceeds 80 km/h and 3g acceleration while achieving collision resilience and narrow-gap traversal without sacrificing flight performance. 

Title: Active Perception for Autonomous Drones. 

Abstract: Autonomous drones are increasingly used for applications such as environmental monitoring, inspection, mapping, and search and rescue, where effective sensing is as important as motion. This talk explores active perception: enabling aerial robots to reason about how their actions influence the information they acquire. I will introduce the problem of informative path planning and present our work on learning-based perception and mapping. Across these applications, the goal is to move beyond passive data collection towards drones that actively seek useful information, adapt their behaviour as their understanding evolves, and make better decisions under uncertainty.

Title: Beyond Flying in Free Space: Planning, Control, and Interaction with Aerial Robots. 

Abstract: Aerial robots are exciting because they can go where other robots cannot—and challenging because every new capability pushes the limits of planning, control, and interaction. In this talk, I will present our work on enabling drones to move through complex environments and interact with the world around them. We begin with ways to represent free space and plan smooth, collision-free motions without restrictive paths. From there, we move toward aerial manipulation, where precise and robust flight control becomes essential. I will highlight our actuated platforms and control framework, and discuss what it takes to turn agile flight into physical interaction. 

Title: Shaping the Next Problem: Anticipating and Altering Future Conditions in Aerial Robotics.

Abstract: Autonomous robots are usually designed to answer a recurring question: given a model, an objective, and the available measurements, what should the robot do next? In demanding missions, however, the main limitation may lie in the conditions that will define subsequent decisions. This talk examines how aerial robots can anticipate and influence those conditions. In persistent monitoring, multi-robot NMPC predicts the co-evolution of UAV trajectories and a dynamic urgency field, so each visit modifies the future mission state. In CA-AC-MPC, actor–critic learning adapts the MPC objective to the task context while retaining model-based dynamics and constraints, enabled by CUDA-accelerated differentiable MPC. Finally, preliminary Tom Thumb-inspired work detects VIO degradation and creates visual traces for later use in feature-poor environments. These contributions share a future-oriented principle: identify what may limit the next decision, modify a variable usually treated as given, and solve the resulting problem. 

Title: Towards Robust and Scalable Multi-Agent Aerial Manipulation. 

Abstract: Aerial manipulators act as flying hands, enabling physical interaction with the environment and the manipulation of objects. However, their limited load capacity restricts the forces and torques that each platform can exert on the objects. Multi-agent aerial manipulation offers a promising direction to fundamentally overcome these limitations. In this presentation, I will present our recent work on a centralized approach to the cooperative aerial manipulation of a cable-suspended load, along with our explorations of decentralized solutions aimed at improving scalability and fault tolerance. These developments open the door to future dexterious, robust, and scalable multi-agent aerial manipulation systems.

Title: Airship Drones: New Surveying and Navigation Modes in Contested Zones.

Abstract: For decades, airships have been technologically overlooked, yet they offer several unique advantages for certain types of surveys. This is particularly true in geophysical, surveys, where the stability of airships enables extremely accurate data collection. The precision of these measurements led FloFleet to design a navigation system for drones and vehicles that allows for navigation in contested zones, relying solely on gravitational acceleration and magnetic field intensity. 

Title: Acoustically aided inertial navigation of underwater robots. 

Abstract: The accurate localization of underwater vehicles, including autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), is critical for many applications, such as search & rescue, mapping (e.g., coral reef or bathymetric surveys), environmental/biological monitoring, intervention, and inspection. While surface vessels can rely on Global Navigation Satellite System measurements, these systems are unavailable underwater. Most underwater positioning systems are based on the use of acoustic positioning techniques combined with depth measurements and dead reckoning using an inertial navigation system. Methods for fusing data from these disparate measurement systems to accurately estimate the pose of underwater vehicles are presented. 

Title: Recent Experiences in Navigation, Guidance and Control of Autonomous Marine Robots at the ISME node of the University of Genova. 

Abstract: The Interuniversity Research Center of Integrated Systems for the Marine Environment (ISME) has been founded in 1999 with the aim of supporting research activities in the fields of marine technologies and oceanic engineering. The University of Genova is one of the 11 universities of the Center and it's GRAAL LAB is particularly active in the area of Navigation, Guidance and Control of Autonomous Marine Robots, both on the surface and underwater. The talk aims at providing an overview of recent advancements and active projects in this domain.

Title: Marine Drones for Complex Ocean Environments: Maneuvering, Dynamics, Control, and Intelligent Navigation. 

Abstract: to be announced

Title: Airports for Drones: Different Missions, Common Ground.

Abstract: Different drone missions demand different ground infrastructure. From compact indoor charging platforms to protected emergency-response hangars and docking systems for long-range VTOL operations. Andrea Puiatti will share practical insights from Skycharge’s customer projects across industrial automation, emergency response and infrastructure inspection. Drawing on delivered systems, ongoing validation and emerging requirements, the talk will explore what can be standardized across applications and what must remain mission-specific.    

Title: Marine Robotics: Current Projects and Activities at the University of Florence (ISME Node). 

Abstract: This talk presents recent advances in marine robotics developed at the University of Florence within the framework of ISME (Interuniversity Center of Integrated Systems for the Marine Environment). Ongoing research projects and experimental activities will be presented, with particular emphasis on innovative robotic technologies and their real-world applications in marine exploration, monitoring, and intervention.    

Title: Integrating UAV remote sensing with proximal monitoring for vineyard and olive orchard management. 

Abstract: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) provide unprecedented opportunities to monitor crop conditions through high-resolution remote sensing, enabling early detection of stress and variability in vineyards and olive orchards. To fully exploit the potential of drone-based observations, their integration with ground-based proximal sensing is essential. Instruments such as electromagnetic induction (EMI) sensors for soil mapping and dendrometers for continuous monitoring of plant water status and growth offer complementary insights that enhance the interpretation of aerial data. By combining these layers of information, it becomes possible to link canopy responses to soil variability and plant physiological dynamics, thus improving the accuracy of decision-making in irrigation scheduling, soil management, and overall crop resilience.

Title: Unmanned Aerial Systems for Crop Protection in Heroic Viticulture: An Eight-Year Field Assessment.

Abstract: In recent years, the use of drones for crop protection (UASS) has grown rapidly, offering new opportunities, especially in complex scenarios such as heroic viticulture. Since 2017, the Agrismart Lab research group has been testing three UASS models (Bly-c-agri, DJI Agras T10 and T25) in terraced vineyards to verify their effectiveness. Coverage and deposition on the canopy, ground losses, drift and operator contamination were examined. The Bly-c-agri UAS (2017) showed insufficient coverage, especially within the canopy, due to problems related to maintaining a constant flight altitude above irregular terrain. With technological advances (DJI Agras T10 - 2022), performance improved significantly: coverage was similar (22.13%) to that of the backpack sprayer, thanks to the drone's ability to maintain a constant altitude relative to the terraces. However, ground losses were three times higher than with traditional methods. Drift, on the other hand, showed no significant differences between the drone and the backpack sprayer. A significant advantage of UASS is operator safety, with contamination levels approximately 300-fold lower than in manual spraying. Finally, the Agras T25 (2025) UASS confirmed good coverage, although slightly lower than the traditional method. In conclusion, UASS technology has achieved levels comparable to conventional techniques in terms of canopy deposition, but the issue of excessive ground losses remains unresolved.

Title: From UAV surveys to landscape metrics: integrating Sentinel-2 for agroecological monitoring in a Mediterranean bio-district.

Abstract: This study integrates UAV and 2024 Sentinel-2 imagery to monitor a heterogeneous Mediterranean agroecosystem in Italy's Lame Bio-District. Systematic UAV surveys provided high-resolution ground truth to train and validate satellite classifications for calculating Landscape Diversity indicators.

Comparing a supervised pixel-based method with an unsupervised multitemporal object-based approach (GEOBIA), the supervised classification of July NDVI yielded the highest accuracy (91.76%). The final map effectively assessed landscape composition, fragmentation, and connectivity, demonstrating that targeted UAV data reliably complements open satellite observations for scalable, accurate, and cost-effective agroecological monitoring.

Title: Opportunities and limitations of drone applications in agriculture: technological solutions and on-farm transfer.

Abstract: The presentation examines the ongoing evolution of drone applications in agriculture, highlighting their opportunities, limitations, and potential for adoption at farm level. It will address the sector’s main operational needs and the technological solutions currently available for crop monitoring, targeted input application, and decision support. Particular attention will be given to the barriers slowing adoption, including costs, technical skills, data reliability, and integration into existing farm processes. The presentation will also emphasise the need for a harmonised regulatory framework enabling drones to be deployed safely and promptly, in accordance with the narrow operational windows and specific timing requirements of agricultural activities.

Title: Enabling safe drone operations: Flygraean’s vision to Bring Autonomy to Life.  

Abstract: Our skies are transforming. With the rapid surge of drones and the evolution of concepts such as Air Mobility, the future airspace, especially the low altitude one, will host unprecedent volumes of autonomous operations. This dynamic reality demands immediate actions to guarantee safety, scalability and seamless integration. Flygraean tackles these aspects by turning cutting-edge avionics research into field-ready solutions. We are a University of Naples “Federico II” spin-off, specialized in innovative solutions for autonomous drone operations. Our products range from trajectory planning, to ground-based and airborne perception; from surveillance to flight operations. We have one mission: Bring Autonomy to Life. 

Title: IAM-CC: Competence Center to Assess Social Readiness for Innovative Air Mobility in the Milan Healthcare Context. 

Abstract: Public acceptance surveys show whether people approve of drones, but not if an organisation is ready to use them in daily operations. This distinction is crucial in healthcare, where drones interact with clinical workflows, quality procedures, and stakeholder perceptions. The IAM-CC project in Madrid, Milan, and Coimbra addresses this gap by assessing how Innovative Air Mobility can improve social welfare and be deployed fairly. The Milan Living Lab uses participatory methods and real-world drone demonstrations to identify needs and barriers, informing how healthcare systems can integrate drones. Preliminary results show strong interest and willingness among hospital professionals. 

Title: To be announced.

Abstract: To be announced

Title: Enabling Complex UAS Missions: Advanced Integration, Fleet Control, and Ecosystem Collaboration. 

Abstract: Overspace Aviation designs and manufactures UAS solutions tailored for missions in complex scenarios. Drawing on extensive experience in the healthcare and monitoring sectors, this presentation highlights how the integration of increasingly efficient aircraft, advanced fleet control solutions, and multi-stakeholder ecosystem collaboration serves as a key driver for navigating a rapidly evolving global landscape and regulatory framework. In this perspective, Overspace will showcase several of its upcoming projects, marking a strategic path toward greater interoperability, flexibility, and operational capability. 

Title: Advancing Innovative Air Mobility through SAMWISE 2.5: IAM-CC Approach to Safety, Society and Regulation (I-part).

Abstract: The successful deployment of Innovative Air Mobility (IAM) services requires more than conventional operational risk assessment. Within the Horizon Europe IAM-CC project, EuroUSC Italia is developing SAMWISE 2.5, a web-based framework designed to support UAS operators, authorities, and city stakeholders in addressing safety, security, privacy, urban integration, and broader IAM-related challenges. Leveraging the outputs of the EASA eSORA methodology, SAMWISE 2.5 extends risk assessment through additional compliance-oriented modules. The framework aims to simplify and accelerate the preparation of safety portfolios for operational authorization applications while providing a structured approach to assess city readiness for future drone and IAM operations.

Title: Advancing Innovative Air Mobility through SAMWISE 2.5: IAM-CC Approach to Safety, Society and Regulation (II-part).

Abstract: The successful deployment of Innovative Air Mobility (IAM) services requires more than conventional operational risk assessment. Within the Horizon Europe IAM-CC project, EuroUSC Italia is developing SAMWISE 2.5, a web-based framework designed to support UAS operators, authorities, and city stakeholders in addressing safety, security, privacy, urban integration, and broader IAM-related challenges. Leveraging the outputs of the EASA eSORA methodology, SAMWISE 2.5 extends risk assessment through additional compliance-oriented modules. The framework aims to simplify and accelerate the preparation of safety portfolios for operational authorization applications while providing a structured approach to assess city readiness for future drone and IAM operations.

Title: usINg Drones fOr Organ tRansportation: INDOOR, an outdoor adventure.

Abstract: The INDOOR project, promoted by DOT foundation, aims to transform organ and biological material transport in transplant medicine through drone‑based delivery. It targets higher efficiency, safety, and speed, cutting critical transfer times and costs while preserving quality. Drone operations address the limits of road‑based medical transport, often affected by traffic and timing constraints, opening new horizons for healthcare logistics. Partners include regional transplant authorities, Torino’s university hospitals, Politecnico di Torino, Università di Torino, ENAC, and ABzero. Beneficiaries are all transplant patients, with 539 transplants performed in Piedmont in 2025.