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About

Paola Loreti is a mathematician whose work bridges pure number theory and applied robotics, exploring the elegant interplay between expansions in non-integer bases and the control of hyper-redundant manipulators. Her research centers on modeling robotic systems—from fingers and hands to octopus tentacles—using self-similar structures governed by the Fibonacci sequence. In her most cited work, she demonstrates how binary controls and iterated function systems can characterize the reachable sets of these bio-inspired robots, offering a novel framework for approximate reachability. Her 2012 paper on robot fingers and expansions in non-integer bases (14 citations) and her 2016 study on Fibonacci control systems for hyper-redundant manipulators (14 citations) are foundational contributions, each showing how discrete mathematical structures can drive continuous robotic motion. Loreti’s work is notable for its originality: she recasts classical control problems through the lens of non-integer base expansions, opening new pathways for designing flexible, self-similar robotic limbs. Her models, though mathematically sophisticated, are directly motivated by real-world challenges in soft robotics and manipulation, making her a distinctive voice at the intersection of dynamical systems and engineering.