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Introduction

These notes are a short presentation of the DIST department of the University of Genova ( Italy ), and of the activities carried out at the MACLAB laboratory.

Purpose of these notes is to provide useful information and highlights of the research activities carried on at MACLAB , in view of possible research co-operation and joint partnership in forthcoming European research programs.

 

DIST ( Department of Communication, Computer and System Science )

The Department of Communication, Computer and System Sciences ( DIST ) is part of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Genova . DIST operates since 1984 in the areas of Computer Sciences , Automation , Robotics , Bioengineering and Communications .

DIST has a staff of over 50 members (2/3 teaching and research, 1/3 technicians and administrative), and it offers graduate and Ph.D. curricula, in Computer Science, Robotics, Bioengineering and Communications.

DIST is strongly involved in International and National Research Projects granted by the European Commission and by Italian Research Agencies which, along with a significant number of research contracts with Italian industries and companies, ensure an annual average research budget of about € 1.5 million.

Research at DIST is organized into 15 laboratories, providing a number of facilities for research in the areas of advanced robotics, automatic control, industrial automation, computer vision, bioengineering, artificial intelligence and communications.

Furthermore, an electronic and a mechanical workshop support most of experimental development activities carried on in the various laboratories.

 

MACLAB ( Mechatronics and Automatic Control Laboratory )

MACLAB has been established in 2001 with the goal of supporting research activities in the area of automatic control of electro-mechanical systems. In particular the primary areas of interest include embedded control systems, distributed control and sensing architectures for robots.

Current Work (2001 - 2004)

Currently the experimental activity at MACLAB is focused on the study of distributed control architectures based on field-bus networks and microcontroller-based computers. Current application targets are robotic systems and technologies for humanoid robots and man-robot interaction.