Dr. Marco Cecotti

I am involved with several teaching and research activities. From the teaching point of view, I am managing the MSc in Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Engineering and leading the Group Design Project for the same course. I am also leading the taught module on Vehicle Control Application, and I am supervising MSc projects in the Automotive and Motorsport area. Regarding my research activities, I am supervising research students and supporting project in the are of connected and autonomous mobility.

I was responsible for the development of algorithms for sensor fusion in the MuCCA project (https://mucca-project.co.uk/), aiming to demonstrate the state-of-the-art in cooperation between autonomous and connected vehicles. My role was to deliver novel solutions for matching and fusion of object tracks, combining information from multiple vehicles to produce a single model of the environment.

I was responsible for an EPSRC-funded project focused on the early development of an autonomous vehicle targeted at elderly and disabled people, and able to operate unassisted in urban environment, without relying on GNSS. The project was a collaboration with the company tmsuk UK LTD. My role was to design the system and the software architecture in order to deliver a working prototype, trying to improve on existing solutions for vision-based localisation and trajectory planning.

I was part of the team delivering the Dyson electric vehicle. My role was focused on the definition of processes and the selection of tools for design and verification of electrical systems and software. I also supported the development of control systems in early prototypes.

My job was to define, develop and validate control systems for technology demonstrators, such as vehicle, focused on electric and hybrid powertrains, intelligent transportation and connected vehicles. Responsibilities: definition of hardware and software control architecture; selection of sensors, actuators and processing units; development of algorithms for trajectory planning and motion control; verification and validation of developed software

My job was to define, develop and validate control systems for technology demonstrators, such as vehicle, focused on electric and hybrid powertrains, intelligent transportation and connected vehicles. Responsibilities: definition and management of requirements; development, testing and calibration of the control software running on rapid-prototyping ECUs

I spent five months working on the mathematical model of the induction motor in order to develop an automatic procedure to estimate the parameters of the motor at standstill. I simulated the proposed algorithms in Matlab/Simulink, validating them on a motor test-bench controlled by a dSPACE board.

The aim of my PhD was to contribute to an Intelligent Transportation System project, designing and building an autonomous electric vehicle. Under the supervision of James Larminie, I worked on the propulsion system of the vehicle, while my research was particularly oriented towards traction control. This was a fulfilling experience, where I was involved with multiple aspect of the design, including the choice of the components for the powertrain and the overall development of the vehicle.

Graduate with the highest grade (110/110 e lode). Foreign studies: 1 year in ESIEE, Noisy le Grand (France), thanks to the Erasmus exchange program. Dissertation titled “Parameters Identification and Vector Control on Induction Motors”, subject chosen and elaborated with the contribution of Schneider Toshiba Inverter Europe (STIE), where I spent 5 months working as a trainee. Taught courses about Robotics, Motor Control, Power Electronics, Programming (C, C++) and Heat Transfer, among others.