Pietro Ferrara

ETH Zurich, Ca' Foscari University of Venice

Papers

Total Citations

H-Index

About

Pietro Ferrara is a leading researcher in the field of software verification and cybersecurity, with a particular focus on robotic systems. His work centers on applying static analysis techniques—including data-flow analysis, model checking, and abstract interpretation—to enhance the reliability and security of mission-critical software. Ferrara’s major contributions include pioneering methods for verifying robotics software, as demonstrated in his highly cited 2013 paper (11 citations), which provides a comprehensive overview of semantics-based static analysis for robotic control systems. More recently, he has advanced the automation of security policy extraction for ROS 2 (Robot Operating System 2), a widely used framework for distributed robotic applications. His 2024 papers (each with 3 citations) introduce novel approaches to statically analyze ROS 2 applications, enabling developers to automatically infer access policies and implement DDS-Security features without manual configuration. This work addresses the growing need for scalable cybersecurity in robotic deployments, making Ferrara a key figure in bridging formal verification with practical, secure robotics software engineering.