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About

P. Virgili is a pioneer in underwater robotics, best known for spearheading the AMADEUS project—a landmark European initiative in deep-sea manipulation. His core research spans dexterous subsea manipulation, human-computer interaction, and the control architectures for unmanned underwater vehicles. Virgili’s most significant contribution is the development of a revolutionary underwater gripper that uses fluid-filled, tentacle-like fingers instead of traditional mechanical jaws. By precisely controlling hydraulic pressure in three flexible bellows per finger, this design achieves compliant, delicate grasping while incorporating force and slip contact sensing—a major leap for tele-operated and autonomous sampling tasks. The foundational paper on this work, "AMADEUS: advanced manipulation for deep underwater sampling" (1997), has garnered 131 citations, underscoring its lasting influence on the field. Beyond the hardware, Virgili also advanced the ergonomics of subsea control, designing man-machine interfaces that evolved through the project’s phases to improve operator reliability. His work on real-time architectures for UUV control further demonstrates his commitment to building robust, integrated systems for challenging marine environments. Virgili’s innovations remain a key reference for researchers developing soft, sensor-rich grippers and intuitive interfaces for deep-sea exploration.