With over 10 years of experience in R&D and over 6 years in robotics and artificial intelligence, I am passionate about developing fully integrated intelligent robots that can perform complex tasks in dynamic and uncertain environments. I am currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for Systems and Robotics (ISR-Lisboa), where I work on the intersection of learning and planning techniques for single and multi-robot systems. I am motivated by the challenge of creating robots that can learn from their own experience, cooperate with other robots and humans, and adapt to changing situations. I believe that my research can contribute to advancing the state-of-the-art in AI and robotics, and to improving the quality of life of people who can benefit from robotic assistance.

As a postdoctoral researcher at ISR-Lisboa, I am involved in several projects that aim to develop robust, scalable, and intelligent solutions for real-world robotic problems. I am currently part of euROBIN which is the European network of excellence of research centres on AI-powered Robotics. I am also leading the SocRob@Home team, a multidisciplinary group of researchers and students from Instituto Superior Técnico, who participate in AI and Robotics competitions, namely RoboCup which is the world’s largest and most prestigious AI and Robotics competition. In RoboCup 2023, we achieved second place among 15 teams from 10 countries, demonstrating our ability to integrate and apply cutting-edge methods and novel approaches from various areas of AI and robotics, such as computer vision, manipulation, navigation, localization, natural language understanding, and human-robot interaction. In my previous roles, I have also gained valuable experience in embedded systems, wireless communications, wearable technology, and instrumentation, which complement my skills and knowledge in robotics and AI.

Experience

Postdoctoral Researcher (2023-Present)

My research interests lie in the field of artificial intelligence applied to the development of fully integrated intelligent robots. I’m currently researching the use of learning and planning techniques to obtain reliable, self-improving, and intelligent behaviors, for both, single and multi-robot systems. I am also part of euROBIN which is the European network of excellence of research centres on AI-powered Robotics.

Team Leader, SocRob@Home (2021-Present)

Leading Tecnico’s Robotics Team (SocRob@Home), our objective is to excel in AI and Robotics competitions. Our multi-disciplinary team comprises Post-Docs, Ph.D. and M.Sc. students, Research Engineers, and Assistant Technicians, totaling between 5 to 15 members. Our primary goal is to integrate state-of-the-art techniques into a service robot, the TIAGo, while benchmarking novel approaches in areas such as computer vision, planning, manipulation, navigation, localization, natural language understanding, and human-robot interaction. Our efforts yielded a 2nd place finish in the RoboCup 2023 competition, where we competed against 15 teams from 10 countries. RoboCup 2023 is the world’s largest and most prestigious AI and Robotics competition, and I have been fortunate enough to participate in 3 editions.

Visiting Researcher, Oxford Robotics Institute, UK (2019)

Collaboration with the GOALS group, under the supervision of Prof. Nick Hawes and Dr. Bruno Lacerda. The research focused on the extension of state-of-the-art multi-robot coordination methods in order to address scenarios with long-term horizons, such as monitoring, surveillance, and inspection.

Member, SocRob@Home (2017-2021)

Contributed to SocRob’s task planning and execution framework. This framework runs inside in a TIAGo service robot and enables it to perform tasks fully autonomously. These tasks take place inside an indoor environment and are communicated through natural language. The tasks are not known in advance and consist in storing groceries, waiting tables at a restaurant, hosting a party, carrying luggage to the car, etc.

Research Manager, PLUX Wireless Biosignals, Portugal (2016-2017)

Divided my time between the development of PLUX’s embedded systems and project management. This comprises mainly the management and contribution to European consortiums addressing novel preventive methods and remote monitoring in elderly healthcare.Divided my time between the development of PLUX’s embedded systems and project management. This comprises mainly the management and contribution to European consortiums addressing novel preventive methods and remote monitoring in elderly healthcare.

Embedded Systems Engineer, PLUX Wireless Biosignals, Portugal (2015-2016)

Development of embedded systems, wireless network protocols, and APIs. A common goal for all developed devices is extreme miniaturization and low power consumption.

Research Assistant, NOVA School of Science and Technology, Portugal (2013-2015)

Contributed to the Invisible Network project, developing a new generation of interactive products based on invisible computation, the Internet of Things, and ubiquitous computing.

Education

Ph.D. Student in Electrical and Computer Engineering (2017-2023)

Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Portugal

Thesis Title: Multi-Robot Coordination Under Uncertainty in Cyclic Long Horizon Tasks

Project Description: Proposed a novel modeling formalism that allows for compact and asynchronous representation of multi-robot systems. Furthermore, proposed two multi-robot coordination methods that can reason on this novel formalism, while accounting for uncertainty and optimizing over infinite horizons of time. The first method is the extension of classical methods, thus providing formal guarantees while yielding the optimal coordination policy. However, is computationally expensive and is only applicable to small teams of robots. The second method is a deep reinforcement learning method that can scale to larger teams of robots at the expense of lacking optimality guarantees. Finally, I also implemented an open-source toolbox funded by a RoboCup grant in collaboration with MathWorks, that provides some of these methods.

Supervisor: Professor Pedro U. Lima

Other tasks:

• Team leader of Tecnico’s Robotics Team (SocRob@Home)

• Co-supervisor of 7 M.Sc. students in the area of AI and robotics

• Teacher assistant in the Autonomous Systems course

• Group seminars organizer

MSc in Physics Engineering (2013)

University of Coimbra, Portugal

Thesis Title: Activation and synchronization of wireless smart sensors through radiofrequency

Project Description: Conceptualisation, development, and characterization of two different approaches for wake-up radio systems.

Supervisor: Professor Francisco A. Cardoso