Long Biography

Since April 2023, I've been a postdoctoral researcher at the Advanced Quantum Architecture (AQUA) Laboratory part of EPFL's Institute of Electrical and Micro Engineering in Lausanne, Switzerland. With the support of armasuisse Science & Technology (S+T)—the center of technology at the Swiss Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS)—, my group currently conducts research at the intersection of robotics, quantum imaging, and space. My main line of research revolves around the study of novel autonomous navigation pipelines and robotic mobility solutions for ground robots deployed in extreme environments. Our present goal is to enhance mobile robotic systems, enabligh them to efficiently, reliably, and rapidly characterize unstructured, dynamic, and visually degraded environments using single-photon detectors with minimal human intervention.

Born and raised in Madrid, I have spent most of my early research career abroad. It started with my first master's thesis under the guidance of Prof. Ever Barbero at the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, West Virginia University (WVU) in the US, and co-directed by Prof. Carlos Navarro Ugena at the Continuum Mechanics and Structural Analysis group, Carlos III University of Madrid (UC3M) in Spain. I have since participated in international projects, founded initiatives, and led research teams across 7 countries and 3 continents. I hold BSc&MSc degrees in Mechanical Engineering from UC3M in Spain, a MSc degree in Space Studies from the International Space University (ISU) in France, and Ph.D. in Robotics and Aerospace Engineering from Tohoku University in Japan.

In 2018, at the onset of my Ph.D., I initiated an unprecedented collaboration between the European Space Agency (ESA) and Tohoku University under the project “High-speed lunar locomotion.” This collaboration, a first of its kind between ESA (supported by Michel Van Winnendael) and a non-member state university, led to the establishment of a new research team under the Space Robotics Lab (SRL) of Prof. Kazuya Yoshida at Tohoku University. The collaboration marked a departure from the conventional approach to planetary robotic exploration. For the first time ever, we started to look at the effects of and means for increasing lunar rover speeds by two orders of magnitude. This opened up a new line of research focused on the concept of high-speed rovers in planetary environments. By the end of my PhD, this group at the SRL counted with 1 additional PhD student, 4 master's students, and 1 exchange student. Together, we co-authored the first comprehensive review dedicated to high-speed mobility on planetary surfaces. We built and tested a prototype of a new robot (Explorer 1) designed with a novel suspension mechanism capable of withstanding the perturbations expected during high-speed travel on unstructured planetary terrains, which has been recently featured by NHK News. And with the support of the German Aerospace Center, we conducted the most extensive testing campaign to date on the effects of speed on the interaction between rover wheels and planetary soil simulants. The enduring impact of our research is still tangible today. The group at Tohoku University continues to spearhead research efforts on the effects of speed on off-road robotic mobility. Meanwhile, ESA has initiated new industry- and academic-led projects on the subject of faster navigation in planetary environments.

Post-Ph.D., I briefly transitioned from pure academic work, serving for 2.5 years as a member of the EPFL Space Center (eSpace), where I founded and directed EPFL's Lunar Hub. Intended as a home base for lunar research and technology development within Switzerland, it addressed critical knowledge and technology gaps within current global lunar exploration and infrastructure development roadmaps. During this period, I contributed as project manager for EPFL in multiple university-industry collaborative projects including the capture system concept validation and relative navigation technologies for failed satellite removal alongside the company ClearSpace and New European Space Transportation Solutions (NESTS), led by Ariane Group and formed by a large consortium of private entities such as Airbus, Thales Alenia Space, Telespazio, Orbex, and D-Orbit. In house, we launched the Lunar Reconnaissance Drone (LRD) project to explore the feasibility of designing and deploying a compact, fully autonomous drone for high-resolution mapping of hardly accessible lunar regions. The work conducted was presented in major international forums and a paper describing the outcome of this project is currently under review.

In early-2022, I founded HERMES, an international working group formed by renowned field scientists, researchers, and industry experts on the subject of heterogeneous multi-robot cooperation for exploration and science in extreme environments. The group has since gained prominence, culminating in the 1st International HERMES Workshop held at the IEEE/RAS 2023 International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) in London, which was attended onsite by about 150 people and hosted more than 20 speakers. Work is currently ongoing to plan the 2nd edition of our workshop at ICRA 2024 to be held in Yokohama, Japan.

Currently chair of the HERMES committee, co-chair of the International Conference on Space Robotics (iSpaRo), member of the organizing committee for ERF2024 Space Robotics Workshop, member of euRobotics TGs on Space Robotics, Autonomous Navigation, and Perception, and guest editor for the Journal of Intelligent & Robotic Systems (JINT), I remain actively engaged in various aspects of my field.

Throughout my career, I have been honored with prestigious grants and awards including the Japanese MEXT fellowship, Tohoku University's GP Mech Award, and ESA's Networking Partnering Initiative. I have been invited to give numerous talks and seminars including presenting our work on lunar robotics to the Embassy of Italy in Bern, at the EPFL Space Center Public Seminar Series, at the University of Luxembourg, and at the Space Tech Summit as part of the 50 Global Innovators track.

Alongside pursuing my own research, I have been mindful of the responsibility of guiding upcoming generations. Over the years, I have personally supervised (directed or co-directed) more than 20 graduate student projects—6 master's thesis and 15 semester/exchange student projects to date (full list here)—and coordinated student initiatives involving more than 200 students. While I haven't yet officially supervised any doctoral thesis, I have indirectly supported the work of 5 PhDs (3 in Tohoku and 2 at EPFL). I currently teach and direct master's level courses on Concurrent Engineering of Space Missions (ENG411) and Spacecraft Design and Systems Engineering (EE584) at EPFL, with around 60 students enrolled every year.

Last Updated: 2023 Dec 16