Theoretical investigations of human pancreatic beta-cells: heterogeneous and non-intuitive electrophysiological responses to ion channel antagonists; slow oscillations due to glycolytic oscillations; paracrine signals; gap junction coupling
Modeling of pancreatic alpha-cells: simulations of electrical activity; micro-RNA mediated effects on electrophysiology and exocytosis; glucose-sensing mechanisms including the roles of SGLT2 and K(ATP)-channels; cAMP-mediated effects downstream of electrical activity
Today's society is increasingly being embedded with technology that can interact with humans in a large scale interconnected world. We refer to the contexts where this new paradigmatic societal change is happening as smart environments. Our department is working on specific smart environments:
The classical production hierarchy in factories, which is strongly characterized by centralized control, is increasingly being replaced by a flexible, self-organized factory (Smart Factory). The Internet of Things is transforming factory control and production structures, increasing agility and flexibility in the production process.Ongoing specific research topics regard:
Buildings today are complex concatenations of structures, systems and technology. Each of the components inside a building has been developed and improved, allowing to select lighting, security, heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems independently. Smart buildings use information technology during operation to connect such subsystems, so that they can share information to optimize total building performance. Modern buildings also contain complex mechanical devices, sophisticated control systems and a suite of features to improve the safety, comfort and productivity of occupants.
The research focuses on the modeling, estimation, control and optimization of smart energy grids in the presence of renewable energy sources and dynamic prosumers. In particular, particular emphasis is placed on the impact of unreliable communication (packet loss and random delay), clock synchronization errors, safety constraints, multiple objectives, and non-rational prosumers. Ongoing research projects are the following:
Robotics research is faced within the automation group with a strong methodological approach, aiming at the thorough understanding of the foundational principles and theories. This is key for the development of identification, estimation and control techniques for modern applications in the fields of industrial and civil robotics: the study and the design of algorithms for manipulators and mobile platforms in these two areas find a further synthesis in the field of cooperative robotics, where network theory comes into play with multiagent robotic systems.
This research is focused on the modeling and control of terrestrial and aerial unmanned vehicles and ranges from the identification of the system to the design of control laws for autonomous operation of the vehicle both as a single unit and in cooperation with other agents of the same or different nature. Ongoing research activities include:
Focus of the research activity is the development of advanced modeling and control approaches for mechatronic systems, in an integrated approach where the interplay of components of different nature is taken into consideration since the early development stages. Integration of hardware and embedded software components is a specific feature of the design approach. The research activities include:
The research focuses on multi-agent robotics for exploration, map building and patrolling of unstructured and unknown environments. In particular, we are interested in understanding the benefits of the use of multiple cooperating robots in terms of improved localization from relative measurements, reduced time-to-map and scalability. Other fundamental aspects under investigation are robustness to unreliable communication and scalability. Ongoing research projects are the following:
