He has been Research Director and Responsible for the Genoa Branch of IEIIT. His research interests are experimental robotics and educational robotics. He led Italian underwater robotics campaigns in Antarctica and in the Arctic. In 2000 he founded the non profit association “School of Robotics” . In 2002 he coined the word and proposed the concept of Roboethics. He is engaged in an intensive outreach activity. In 2009 he was awarded the title of Commander of the Order to the Merit of the Italian Republic