Senior Lecturer in Robotics & Autonomous Systems
Lincoln Centre for Autonomous Systems (LCAS), University of Lincoln, UK
Ciao! 👋 I'm Dr Riccardo Polvara, a Senior Lecturer (Assistant Professor equivalent) in Robotics and Autonomous Systems at the Lincoln Centre for Autonomous Systems (LCAS), University of Lincoln, UK.
My research focuses on enabling robust autonomy in mobile robots, particularly in unstructured and dynamic environments. I develop algorithms that help robots sense, interpret, and act under uncertainty—using techniques in AI, probabilistic reasoning, and multi-modal sensor integration. I'm especially interested in aerial-ground robot collaboration and precision agriculture.
I currently lead two major funded projects:
Prior to this, I was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at L-CAS and an associate member of the Autonomous Learning Robots Lab at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. I contributed to the H2020 BACCHUS project and the EPSRC-funded NCNR project.
I earned my PhD from the University of Plymouth (Autonomous Marine Systems group), where my thesis focused on deep reinforcement learning for vision-based drone landing on unmanned surface vehicles. I hold a BSc and MSc in Computer Engineering from Politecnico di Milano.
I'm also passionate about student engagement. In 2023, I co-founded LCASTOR, a student-led team competing in the RoboCup @Home league — we placed 9th globally in 2024!
If you're interested in collaboration, supervision, or discussion, please get in touch.
Ground-Aerial maps Integration for increased Autonomy outdoors — multi-robot mapping for precision agriculture with TU Delft, ETH Zurich, and Uni Bonn.
Vineyard Information System for Technology and Automation — open standards for vineyard mapping using drones, robots, and in-field sensors.
Lincoln Centre for Autonomous Systems RoboCup @Home team. Co-founded 2023, placed 9th globally and best UK team at RoboCup 2024.
Showcasing L-CAS innovations in agricultural robotics, vineyard data management, drone-based weed mapping, and field robotics.
Jacob Swindell, my first PhD student, won the Best Student Award at IAS'19 in Genoa with his debut publication.
We hosted the first edition of this competition at the University of Lincoln — a brilliant day of assistive robots and innovation.
We hosted Prof. Martin Saska from CTU Prague for a guest lecture on swarm autonomy and multi-robot deployment.