Marco Castellani
Cardiff University, University of Bergen, University of Birmingham
Papers
8
Total Citations
193
H-Index
6
About
Marco Castellani is a robotics and artificial intelligence researcher whose work sits at the intersection of bio-inspired optimisation, neural networks, and autonomous manipulation. He is perhaps best known for his pioneering applications of the Bees Algorithm — a nature-inspired optimisation technique modelled on honey bee foraging behaviour — to challenging robotics problems. His 2008 paper on using the Bees Algorithm to train neural networks for robot inverse kinematics modelling has accumulated 81 citations, establishing him as a key figure in applying swarm intelligence to robotic control. A follow-up study in 2011 further demonstrated the algorithm's versatility across complex parameter optimisation tasks, garnering 46 citations. Beyond optimisation, Castellani has made meaningful contributions to robotic perception and manipulation, exploring grasp selection strategies informed by object dynamics and inertia, and more recently harnessing deep learning architectures such as PointNet for 3D shape recognition and mechanical part identification in industrial settings. His trajectory planning research additionally reflects a commitment to practical, deployment-ready robotics. Across more than a decade of sustained output, Castellani has built a coherent research identity centred on making robots smarter, more adaptable, and more efficient in real-world environments.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
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- 4Nature-Inspired Intelligent Optimisation Using the Bees Algorithm14 citations · 2014
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- 8Time-Optimal Trajectory Planning Based on Dynamics for Industrial Robot2 citations · 2020