Welcome to the Personal Page of

Riccardo Rocca

This page presents the results of my work with mobile microrobots.

I was always fascinated by models and remote controls.
For some time I satisfied this interest by building remote controlled aeroplanes, but my enthusiasm dropped after a number of crush landings.
After having developed some experience in electronics and microprocessors (Z80 to begin with), I found it very challanging to build small, mobile, autonomous microrobots.
With this devices you can experience the interaction between the "intelligence" of a computer and the real world, thus creating something that seems to live on its own and this, I feel, is the most fascinating thing in this kind of activity.
So far I have built four microrobots. In the following pages you will find a presentation of them.

Click to see a description of:

UGO I - memorizes the path
UGO II - catches objects
Penelope - moves around autonomously
ROBOAT - a GPS controlled model boat
Pathfinder - GSM remote controlled and remote viewing
ROBOAT 2011 - autonomous model boat controlled by GPS

From June 2000 to May 2008 I worked abroad, in Nigeria and Angola.
Because of the remoteness of these countries, I was not able to develop new robots in this period.
Nevertheless, I found ways to do other kinds of scientific investigations. Here is one example:

Size of the Earth