Robots that perceive, learn and manipulate.

The Laboratory of Automation and Robotics (LAR) is a research laboratory based in Bologna, Italy, part of the Department of Electrical, Electronic, and Information Engineering “Guglielmo Marconi” (DEI) at the Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna.

Our research follows two main directions. The first is the perception and manipulation of deformable objects, such as cables, wires and wiring harnesses, which robots still struggle to see and handle in industry. The second is shared autonomy and human–robot collaboration: sEMG interfaces, robotic hands and assistive devices that let people and robots work together naturally. Across both, we combine AI-based approaches with classic control theory, so that robot manipulators can operate skillfully in structured and unstructured environments.