STMicroelectronics Increases Efforts on Advanced Robotics Development

STMicroelectronics (ST) is increasing its efforts on advanced robots and smart systems by creating a joint laboratory with the BioRobotics Institute of Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, one of Italy’s most prestigious universities, focused on research and innovation in bio-robotics, smart systems and microelectronics.

Supporting the expansion of research in biologically-inspired robots with human-like structures and behavior, ST and the BioRobotics Institute of Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna are working to extend their understanding of locomotion principles in sensing, actuation, dynamics and control of various biological systems through the opening of a joint laboratory in Catania, Italy.


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In the past five years, ST and Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna have been collaborating to develop and promote advanced robotics and ‘smart’ systems based on ST’s semiconductor products and technologies. Completed joint projects include DustBot, a scientific platform integrating self-driven, self-navigating “service robots” for selective waste collection and street cleaning in city centers, which were successfully demonstrated in a number of places around the world in 2009.

The newly created joint lab will utilize logistics, material and equipment supplied by ST, as well as combine researchers and engineers from both parties to delve into the development of new concepts and applications in bio-robotics, smart sensors, energy harvesting, and to examine the application of new materials to expand the horizons of today’s microelectronics.

In a statement, Professor Paolo Dario, Director of the BioRobotics Institute of Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, said, “Bio-robotics and smart systems will be fundamental to the sustainable development of human society in the 21st century, improving our quality of life in all its aspects, from manufacturing and medicine to smart homes and environment protection. The joint laboratory will help advance our efforts in creating the next generation of intelligent systems integrating microelectronics, mechanics and computing technologies.”

Carmelo Papa, Senior Executive Vice President, General Manager of ST’s Industrial & Multisegment Sector, and Chairman of the European Platform on Smart Systems (EPoSS), noted that semiconductor-fueled innovation plays a key role in the development of robotic and smart systems. “Cooperation has always been in ST’s DNA and a key element of the company’s strategic vision. We are confident that the new lab will serve as a model of excellence in industrial-academic cooperation, translating rich R&D potential into globally competitive, marketable results,” he said in a news release by the company.

One of the areas that experts from ST and Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna plan to work in is humanoid robots, which are new machines with flexible and compliant properties—soft-bodied robots made of Shape-Memory materials capable of acting and interacting physically, emotionally, socially and safely with humans. The joint robotics lab aims to participate in the EU Future and Emerging Technologies Program for the development of companion robots. One example of the lab’s interests is in replacing the motor from a conventional robot’s elbow and replacing it with an artificial “muscle”, making the system lighter, as well as more natural looking.

Another area experts from the joint lab are working on now is smart systems, which are miniaturized devices that incorporate functions of sensing, actuation and control, for smart toys equipped with motion and pressure sensors for early diagnosis of neuro-developmental delays and autistic pathologies in small children. In bio-robotics, the joint laboratory will also focus on exploiting the use of new materials, including Shape Memory Alloys, or smart metals, which exhibit unique, muscle-like properties, such as pseudo-elasticity and the shape memory effect, to develop lighter-weight and more resilient robots.

Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna

STMicroelectronics