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About

Giovanni Lacava is a researcher whose work bridges the critical intersection of robotics, cultural heritage, and cybersecurity. His primary research areas include underwater robotic technologies for archaeological applications and the emerging field of robot cybersecurity. Lacava’s most notable contribution is his leadership in the ARROWS Project, which developed innovative robotic technologies for underwater archaeology. This work, presented at the Florence Heri-Tech conference in 2018 and garnering 18 citations, demonstrates how autonomous underwater vehicles can be deployed to explore, map, and preserve submerged cultural heritage sites—a field where traditional human diving is often dangerous or impractical. More recently, Lacava has pioneered critical work in robot cybersecurity with his development of "alurity," a toolbox specifically designed to address the growing vulnerabilities in robotic systems. As robots become increasingly prevalent in public environments, his 2020 paper (4 citations) highlights the urgent need for security frameworks that protect these systems from exploitation. This dual focus on both enabling robotic capabilities and securing them against threats positions Lacava as a forward-thinking researcher addressing the full lifecycle of robotic deployment in sensitive applications.