Giovanni B. Palmerini

About

Giovanni B. Palmerini is a distinguished aerospace engineer and researcher whose work spans space robotics, spacecraft guidance and control, and autonomous systems for environmental monitoring. Based primarily at Sapienza University of Rome, Palmerini has made significant contributions to some of the most challenging problems in modern space engineering, particularly in the domains of on-orbit servicing and active debris removal. His most cited work, "Vibration Control of a Flexible Space Manipulator during On Orbit Operations" (2011, 128 citations), established him as a leading voice in the dynamics and control of flexible robotic systems in space. This research, alongside complementary studies on optimal target grasping and coordinated manipulator control, has helped lay foundational groundwork for next-generation servicing missions. His 2015 paper on robotic manipulator design for spent launcher removal (52 citations) addresses the growing urgency of orbital debris mitigation with practical engineering solutions. Palmerini has also advanced vision-based navigation techniques for formation flying and space robotics, and pioneered collective control strategies for spacecraft swarms. More recently, he has broadened his scope to terrestrial challenges, developing multi-robot swarms and miniaturized sensor platforms for urban air quality monitoring. His body of work reflects a researcher who bridges theoretical rigor with real-world application across both space and environmental domains.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   Vibration control of a flexible space manipulator during on orbit operations

   128 citations · 2011
2. 2
   Design of robotic manipulators for orbit removal of spent launchers’ stages

   52 citations · 2015
3. 3
   Ground tests for vision based determination and control of formation flying spacecraft trajectories

   35 citations · 2013
4. 4
   Adaptive and robust algorithms and tests for visual-based navigation of a space robotic manipulator

   34 citations · 2012
5. 5
   Optimal target grasping of a flexible space manipulator for a class of objectives

   33 citations · 2010
6. 6
   A swarm of wheeled and aerial robots for environmental monitoring

   31 citations · 2017
7. 7
   Coordinated control of a space manipulator tested by means of an air bearing free floating platform

   30 citations · 2017
8. 8
   Collective control of spacecraft swarms for space exploration

   27 citations · 2009
9. 9
   Adaptive Thrust Vector Control during On-Orbit Servicing

   22 citations · 2014
10. 10
    Air quality monitoring by means of a miniaturized sensor onboard an autonomous wheeled rover

    6 citations · 2016

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links