The research center is dedicated to the memory of Ing. Gustavo Stefanini, chairman and CEO of Oto Melara from 1966 to 1981, who strongly believed that technological development, research and innovation are the best tools not only to work and produce but also to the territory grow.

The core group of robotics engineers in CGS started working on mobile robotics in 2005, after several years of experience in perceptual robotics at Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna.
Our proven capabilities include:

• teleoperation of tracked robots in harsh environments
• autonomous mobility solutions for tactical ground systems
• simulation of multirobot systems
• sensor systems for autonomous surveillance and recognition

2005

CGS receives the first supply order for a Teleoperated Robotic Platform (TRP). The TRP is a tracked robot provided with:

• a spherical camera covering 75% of the whole solid angle.
• a teleoperated robotic arm, allowing the remote operator to physically interact with the explored environment.
• an operator control unit provided with handgrips to which the operator can hold on, if the teleoperator is carried on from a mobile remote vehicle.

2006

Awarded contract from EDA for the simulation of a Networked Multi-Robot System (NMRS).CGS is involved in the simulation of an intruder detection sensor system, mounted on autonomous UGVs. Simulation is supported by experiments on real HW, in order to provide our future robots with real detection systems.

2007

A new contract from OTOMELARA for the development of a new version of the Teleoperated Robotic Platform, called TRP1B. Main features in the following:

• fast all-terrain robot, able to load heavy weights in a stable way
• self-configurable mechanical system, overwhelming obstacles and difficult terrains
• resistand to bad environment conditions (high temperatures, humidity, acid agents, ..)

These features expecially meet the requirements of Fist Responders as an auxiliary robotic companion.

2008

The first real multirobot system is developed, as a prototype for a future autonomous demining system. CGS develops a module for self localization and local mapping, based on a 2D laser scanner. New hardware is developed for efficient data acquisition from the laser and data preprocessing. Furthermore, a robust reactive obstacle avoidance algorithm is tested, providing each platform to autonomously recognize and avoid any kind of obstacle, including other robots.

2009

A vision-based road recognition algorithm has been designed and developed.
Moreover, a robot control software for autonomous outdoor navigation has been developed and tested on the Pioneer-P3AT. The robot control system performs the following tasks:

• Fully autonomous waypoint navigation
• Fully autonomous road following using the vision-based road detection algorithm
• Teleoperation and remote control through dedicated Graphical User Interface