Meetings, Talks, Workshops, Robotic Demos, and Exhibition: Robot Valley Genoa at the Center of the Debate on Technology and the Future of Cities.
Genoa, April 15 – After the installation of Amici Robot in Largo Pertini, with two twin works by artist Massimo Sirelli announcing the event to the city, we enter the core program of Robot Valley, organized by RAISE Liguria with the Municipality of Genoa and the Liguria Region, and coordinated by the University of Genoa, CNR, and IIT.
The historic Villa Bombrini in Genoa Cornigliano will host a dense program of meetings and talks, workshops, robotic demos, and an exhibition of works by the artist himself. Participation in meetings, workshops, robotic demonstrations, and access to the romanticiROBOT exhibition are free.
«I am thrilled to present the Robot Valley program in Genoa, an event that highlights the importance of robotics and artificial intelligence in our society –comments Davide Falteri, councilor responsible for New Business Establishments in the Municipality of Genoa – The works of Massimo Sirelli, which decorate the city with a poetic and playful touch, are a true symbol of how technology can be friendly and beneficial for everyone. I hope this event can engage citizens and promote a positive and optimistic vision of the technological future. Robotics and artificial intelligence can also be a driving force for fostering new establishments in our area, with a view to a city that looks to the future and is always in search of new opportunities».
«The sculptures by Massimo Sirelli are characterized by a remarkable poetic breath. In his hands, robots transform into playmates, tender living machines with a sensitive soul – explains Maurizio Gregorini, artistic director of Robot Valley – The recycled materials he uses create extraordinary assemblages where imagination and intellect harmoniously blend. Old cameras, cans, tins, typewriter keyboards, and biscuit boxes find new life in the new robotic body that alludes to a friendly, playful, harmless technology. The titles of the works also reflect the underlying philosophy of the artist, who never shies away from a joyful and optimistic vision of reality».
«Artificial intelligence and robotics represent the present and future of our society. Technologies that have the potential to transform and improve our daily lives, making them more efficient, safe, and sustainable. Every city must be at the forefront in adopting these technologies to enhance daily management and people’s lives. However, a responsible approach is needed that takes into account the needs of all citizens, and it is also essential to invest in training and education to ensure our young people are ready to face future challenges.
From this perspective, Genoa is a reference point in the research and development of robotics and artificial intelligence. It hosts the Robot Valley, an area focusing on Valpolcevera, and important institutions such as the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), a European leader that recently celebrated its 20th anniversary, as well as the CNR and the University of Genoa. The IIT especially has managed to turn the future into reality, attracting over 1,200 researchers from 71 different countries to Genoa, and it is ready for further investments in the coming years amounting to 1 billion euros, promoting projects centered on humans to address the most urgent social challenges: health and sustainability. The work of IIT has been extraordinary, starting with the presence of young people from many different nationalities, and it will continue thanks to the support of the institutions that are carrying out the flagship PNRR project related to the new Erzelli hospital and computational medicine, closely connected to the new Polytechnic School of the University of Genoa. Many projects aim to make Genoa increasingly a reference point between public and private research within a scientific and technological hub that will create highly qualified jobs» says Jessica Nicolini, coordinator of Cultural Policies of the Liguria Region.
Robot Valley Genoa was created to involve citizens in the knowledge and deepening of topics related to Robotics and AI, which are increasingly becoming part of our lives and are at the core of a future vision where many local entities are already key players today, both nationally and internationally, from research to design and production.
In Liguria, in fact, there are some of the largest Italian research laboratories in robotics and AI, with scientific programs exploring the coexistence of intelligent machines alongside humans to improve the quality of life, the environment, and work. The RAISE Innovation Ecosystem, through the Robot Valley Genoa event, highlights the strategic role of Valpolcevera and the Ligurian territory in this field and facilitates dialogue between experts and researchers from around the world on the new frontiers of human-centered innovation and technological progress.
MEETINGS AND TALKS
The two-day event at Villa Bombrini, the heart of the event, opens on Friday, the 19th at 11:00 AM with the talk Robotics, Art and People – Robot Valley Genoa, event part of the RAISE project, featuring institutional greetings from the Mayor of Genoa, Marco Bucci, and the Coordinator of Cultural Policies for the Liguria Region, Jessica Nicolini.
The event will feature discussions by Maurizio Gregorini (Municipality of Genoa, Artistic Director of Robot Valley), Andrea Pagnin (Head of Innovation & Development Office IIT, Coordinator of technology transfer activities for the RAISE project, Spoke 5), Fulvio Mastrogiovanni (UniGe, Scientific Director of Robot Valley), Cristina Battaglia (Programme Manager RAISE), Davide Falteri (Councilor of the Municipality of Genoa), and Maria Nives Riggio (Deputy Director FILSE), with participation from Michela Spagnuolo (CNR, Coordinator Spoke 1), Valentina Squeri (IIT, Project Manager RAISE Spoke 2), Marco Faimali (CNR, Coordinator Spoke 3), and Giovanni Indiveri (UniGe, Project Leader RAISE Spoke 4).
In the afternoon, at 2:00 PM, the in-depth discussions will begin, bringing together international experts to discuss the relationship between humans and artificial beings. In the panel Man and Robots, various dimensions of this new relationship will be explored, with particular reference to physical and cognitive interactions. Potential modes of communication and scenarios where the two parties interact and collaborate, learning from each other, will be explored.
The discussion will involve Kristen Kozielski (Assistant Professor of Neuroengineering Materials at the School of Computation, Technical University of Munich), Arash Ajoudani (Coordinator of the Human-Robot Interfaces and Interaction Unit at IIT), Alessandra Sciutti (Coordinator of the Cognitive Architecture for Collaborative Technologies Unit at IIT), Maura Casadio (Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Genoa and Adjunct Professor at Marquette University, Milwaukee, USA), and Monica Gori (Coordinator of the Unit for Visually Impaired People at IIT).
At 4:30 PM, the focus will shift to Eco-robotics: Innovative Technologies Serving the Environment. Eco-robotics is a new discipline of collaborative robotics aimed at introducing a new paradigm centered on environmental data. This session will feature experienced ecologists and roboticists who will envision and discuss the role of this new discipline, which aims to technologically innovate the methodologies for studying, monitoring, and protecting our planet.
Moderated by Marco Faimali (Director of the Institute for Anthropogenic Impacts and Sustainability in the Marine Environment, President of the Genoa Research Area of the CNR, and Professor of Marine Ecotoxicology at UniGe), the panel will include Maria Chiara Carrozza (President of the National Research Council), Antonio Bicchi (Coordinator of the Soft Robotics for Human Cooperation and Rehabilitation unit at IIT and Chair of Robotics at the University of Pisa), Nicola Pio Belfiore (Professor of Applied Mechanics, Functional Design, and Underwater Robotics at Roma Tre University), Simonetta Fraschetti (Full Professor of Ecology at the University of Naples Federico II), and Paolo Povero (Professor of Biological Oceanography and Marine Environmental Monitoring, UniGe).
The day will conclude at 6:00 PM with a meeting with artist Massimo Sirelli, interviewed by Maurizio Gregorini, Creative Director of Robot Valley Genoa. The artist will discuss his exhibition romanticROBOT Ordinary Objects from Extraordinary Lives, which will remain on display at Villa Bombrini until April 26 during the villa’s public opening hours. Sirelli will explain how, as one of the most sensitive contemporary artists, he engages with the technologies revolutionizing our lives, emphasizing their playful and friendly aspects through his artistic choices. According to the artist, the works on display capture the portrait of what we are becoming and help us understand the immediate future of humanity.
The second day of the event begins on Saturday, April 20 at 10:30 AM with a discussion aimed at exploring the dimension of the artificial being, the robot, understood as an entity emerging from the interaction between the “mind” and the “body.” Robots and (Artificial) Intelligence is the title of the talk, which aims to foster discussion on the various facets of this complex relationship and the true meaning of intelligent behavior.
The dialogue will feature Ruediger Dillmann (Researcher and Professor of Robotics at the Institute of Technology in Karlsruhe, DE), Marcelo H. Ang (Professor and Director of the Advanced Robotics Center at the National University of Singapore), Giorgio Cannata (Professor at the Department of Computer Science, Bioengineering, Robotics and Systems Engineering – DIBRIS, UniGe), Lorenzo Natale (Coordinator of the Humanoid Sensing and Perception unit at IIT), and Giovanni Berselli (Full Professor of Design Methods for Industrial Engineering at UniGe).
At 3:00 PM, the talk Cities, People, and Robots will host two interview-discussions, exploring the event’s inspirational theme from different perspectives.
In the first discussion, Guido Conforti, author of the book Building the Robot Valley: The Evolution of Valpolcevera from Industry to Robotics and Head of the Research and Innovation Center and Territory Innovation Area at Confindustria Genova, will engage in a three-way dialogue with Andrea Pagnin (IIT, Coordinator of Spoke 5 of the RAISE project) and Fulvio Mastrogiovanni (UniGe, Scientific Director of Robot Valley). They will trace the productive history of the Robot Valley in Genoa: from the transition from “heavy” industry to everything revolving around information technology, including robotics and artificial intelligence.
To close the day’s discussions, in the second part of the talk, Fulvio Mastrogiovanni will interview Berta Paramo, writer and author of the book Robotland: A Travel Guide through the History of Robots. This segment will provide a historical overview of the world of robotics: its origins in myth, narrative, automation, and the fascination with intelligent machines.
LABORATORIES
Robot Valley Genova also features two packed days of workshops and robot demonstrations, curated by the partners of the RAISE innovation ecosystem in Liguria.
There are a total of four distinct workshops running simultaneously in four different rooms at Villa Bombrini, starting at 10:00 AM, 11:30 AM, 2:00 PM, and 3:30 PM on Friday, April 19th, and Saturday, April 20th, with educational activities coordinated by the Festival della Scienza Association and are designed to offer the public a wide range of experiences, aiming to satisfy as many children as possible.
The morning of April 19th is reserved for local schools, while the rest of the schedule (Friday afternoon and all day Saturday) is open to individuals as well. Participation in the workshops is free.
To participate in the workshops individually, it is advisable to book by sending an email to: info@festivalscienza.it
The first workshop is titled MEET AI – Your First Steps into Artificial Intelligence and aims to guide participants through various stages of Artificial Intelligence, from machine learning to mathematics, from optimization to computer vision, and help them better understand how machines think and the impact they have on our lives and the environment.
This workshop is organized by the University of Genoa – Department of Computer Science, Bioengineering, Robotics, and Systems Engineering / Department of Mathematics, in collaboration with MaLGa – Machine Learning Genoa Center. It is recommended for participants aged 11 and up.
The second workshop, curated by the Italian Institute of Technology and suitable for children aged 6 to 10, is titled Seeing is Not Just with the Eyes – New Ways of Looking with All Our Senses and it offers an experience of stepping into the shoes of blind or visually impaired individuals to understand how they use other senses to perform daily activities and how technology aids them. There are no limits to what can be achieved if we find accessible tools and strategies around us.
The third workshop is Polar Robots – Discovering Planet Earth with Robotics and is curated by the CNR – Institute of Marine Engineering and is aimed at an audience aged 8 and up. Young apprentice researchers will get to handle some autonomous marine robotic vehicles used in extreme environments.
These robots are successfully used to collect scientific data in research projects and international campaigns in the Arctic and Antarctic, typically operating in dangerous or inaccessible environments to study the changes that global warming is causing to our planet.
The fourth workshop, organized by the School of Robotics and also designed for the 6 to 10 age group, is titled The Robot Zoo – Learn to Count with Panda mTiny and Bee Bluebot and it aims to introduce children to programming in an engaging way. mTiny will help visually represent mathematical operations, making them more tangible and understandable, while Bluebot will allow them to exercise their memory by working in groups.
ROBOTIC DEMONSTRATIONS
Throughout the duration of the talks and discussions on Friday, April 19, and Saturday, April 20, Villa Bombrini will host robotic demonstrations organized by the Italian Institute of Technology and the University of Genoa that will provide an additional touchpoint between the event’s theme and the public.
The researchers who designed the robots will be available to demonstrate their functionality and explain to visitors the applications, objectives, and future developments their teams are pursuing. These demonstrations will showcase how research in the field of robotics positions Genoa’s Robot Valley among the most renowned international centers.
Access to the robotic demonstrations is free and does not require any reservation.