Marco Cecotti

Robotics & Control Systems Specialist

Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, GBLinkedInGitHubORCIDCranfield staff page

Robotics and control systems specialist with eight years of automotive R&D at Tata Motors and Dyson, delivering EV supervisory controllers, automated vehicle demonstrators, and AUTOSAR/ISO 26262 process improvements. Now Lecturer at Cranfield University and PI of the £267k Driven by Sound project, delivering Cranfield's first automated car.

Work Experience

Lecturer in Driving Automation
Cranfield University
Nov 2019•Cranfield, UK

Lead automated-vehicle R&D at Cranfield; manage Innovate UK projects and a team of two researchers delivering Cranfield's first automated passenger car.

  • Course Director, MSc in Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Engineering: coordinate eleven Module Leaders across seven centres; lead recruitment, marketing, induction and prize-giving
  • Supervised 42 MSc and 5 PhD students
  • PI, Driven by Sound (Innovate UK ref. 10059986), 2024–2025: £267k to Cranfield from a £912k project
Research Fellow in Autonomous Vehicle Guidance & Sensor Fusion
Cranfield University
Jul 2018 - Nov 2019•Cranfield, UK
  • Led EPSRC automated-scooter project after PI's departure; integrated full ROS stack to demonstrate automated driving on pedestrian areas
  • MuCCA (UKRI ref. 103286): developed sensor fusion algorithms for cooperative automated vehicles
Advanced Control Systems Engineer
Dyson Ltd
Apr 2017 - Jun 2018•Wiltshire, UK

Control Systems development for the Dyson EV. Drafted requirements for the Vehicle Supervisory Controller; defined system and software development processes aligned to ISO 26262 and AUTOSAR.

Principal Control Systems Engineer
Tata Motors European Technical Centre
Apr 2015 - Apr 2017•Coventry, UK

Led control system development for the LowCAP range-extender demonstrator (UKRI ref. 101572) and for the automated-vehicle demonstrator within the UK Autodrive project (UKRI ref. 102201).

  • Defined hardware/software control architecture; authored system and component requirements
  • Commissioned range extender on the dyno (with Ashwoods Automotive and University of Bath)
  • Trajectory planning and motion control for automated demonstrator; vehicle testing at Gaydon proving ground
Senior Control Systems Engineer
Tata Motors European Technical Centre
Mar 2013 - Apr 2015•Coventry, UK

Vehicle Supervisory Controller commissioning and validation at the Gaydon proving ground for the Tata Manza range-extended EV demonstrator. Supported tool selection and software quality improvements (coding guidelines, requirements traceability).

  • Verified electrical/software integration and validated driveability features (hill hold, creep, gear change, range extender control)
  • Designed test cases against requirements; contributed to telematic unit integration

Education

PhD in Development of a Remotely-Controlled Electric Vehicle with Characterization of the Ground Grip
Oxford Brookes University
Oct 2009 - May 2013
MSc in Electronics Engineering - Robotics
University of Udine
Sep 2006 - Mar 2009
  • GPA: 110/110 cum laude
BSc in Electronics Engineering
University of Udine
Sep 2002 - Aug 2006
  • GPA: 93/110

Skills

Mobile Robotics:
LiDARcameraultrasoundperceptionmappinglocalisationtrajectory planningmotion controlsensor fusion
Automotive Control:
Vehicle Supervisory Controllerrange extenderMPCAUTOSARISO 26262Automotive SPICEDFMEAMISRA C
Tools & Process:
MATLABSimulinkROSCarla SimulatorCarMakerLabVIEWPythonC++IBM DOORSIBM RhapsodyVector PREEvisionSysMLCANalyzerWiresharkGitdSPACESpeedGoat

Volunteer Experience

Judge (static and dynamic events)
IMechE Formula Student
Jan 2021 - Jan 2023

Volunteered as a judge at Silverstone for three consecutive years.

Academic mentor
Cranfield Autonomous Vehicle Society
Jan 2020

Connect students with guest speakers; lend equipment for practical activities.

Publications

Goal Oriented Trajectory Prediction Conditioned on Reachable Road Context
Proc. IMechE Part D: J. Automobile Engineering
2025-11


https://doi.org/10.1177/09544070251397454

Generating G2 Continuity Reference Paths for Autonomous Vehicles at Roundabouts
IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems
2025-07


https://doi.org/10.1109/TITS.2025.3585504

Lane Centerline Extraction Based on Surveyed Boundaries: An Efficient Approach Using Maximal Disks
Sensors
2025-04


https://doi.org/10.3390/s25082571

Deep-learning-based vehicle trajectory prediction: A review
IET Intelligent Transport Systems
2025-02


https://doi.org/10.1049/itr2.70001

Optimal control of race car with aerodynamic slipstreaming effect
IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology
2024-05


https://doi.org/10.1109/TCST.2024.3395722

NDT RC: Normal Distribution Transform Occupancy 3D Mapping With Recentering
IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Vehicles
2024-01


https://doi.org/10.1109/TIV.2023.3250326

OAST: Obstacle Avoidance System for Teleoperation of UAVs
IEEE Transactions on Human-Machine Systems
2022-04


https://doi.org/10.1109/THMS.2022.3142107

Autonomous Navigation for Mobility Scooters: a Complete Framework Based on Open-Source Software
IEEE ITSC 2019
2019-10


https://doi.org/10.1109/ITSC.2019.8917469

Model predictive tracking controller for a high fidelity vehicle dynamics model
IEEE ITSC 2019
2019-10


https://doi.org/10.1109/ITSC.2019.8917528

Development of an Autonomous Battery Electric Vehicle
SAE Technical Paper 2019-01-5000
2019-01


https://doi.org/10.4271/2019-01-5000

Estimation of slip ratio and road characteristics by adding perturbation to the input torque
IEEE ICVES 2012
2012-07


https://doi.org/10.1109/ICVES.2012.6294285

Languages

Italian (Native)
English (Advanced)
French (Intermediate)
German (Beginner)