Rodrigo Fonseca

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About

Rodrigo Fonseca is a leading researcher in networked and mobile systems, with a particular focus on the intersection of robotics, security, and Internet-scale sensing. His work has been instrumental in exposing critical vulnerabilities in widely used robotic platforms. In a landmark 2019 study, Fonseca and his team scanned the entire IPv4 address space for instances of the Robot Operating System (ROS), revealing thousands of publicly accessible robots with no security protections—a finding that sent shockwaves through the robotics community and underscored the urgent need for security-by-design in cyber-physical systems. This paper, cited over 90 times, has become a foundational reference for researchers working on IoT and robotics security. Beyond this, Fonseca has made significant contributions to wireless sensor networks and mobile computing, including pioneering work on energy-efficient sensing and data collection. His research has been recognized with multiple best paper awards and has influenced both academic discourse and industry practices. For students and researchers, Fonseca’s work serves as a powerful reminder that as our digital and physical worlds converge, security must be a first-class citizen in system design.