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Francisco Fernandes Castro Rego received the Ph.D. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering in 2018 from Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, and École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). His doctoral research focused on distributed state estimation and cooperative control for autonomous vehicles under communication constraints. He previously obtained the M.Sc. degree in Flight Dynamics & Control and Avionics in 2011 through a double-degree program between Instituto Superior Técnico and Delft University of Technology, and the B.Sc. degree in Aerospace Engineering from Instituto Superior Técnico in 2008. During his academic studies, he received merit-based distinctions for academic excellence. Between 2018 and 2023, he was a researcher at the Institute for Systems and Robotics (ISR), contributing to European and national research projects in distributed control, cooperative navigation, multi-agent observers, and trajectory planning in marine environments. His work addressed applications involving autonomous underwater and aerial vehicles, with emphasis on coordination and communication under severe constraints. In 2025, he was a researcher at the Centre for Technology and Systems (CTS). Since 2026, he has been a researcher at INESC INOV. His scientific contributions include publications in leading international journals and conferences on distributed estimation, nonlinear control, coprime factorization-based observers, cooperative path-following, and mission planning for autonomous robotic systems. He has also authored a book chapter on cooperative control and has served as guest editor for special issues in scientific journals. He regularly collaborates with international research groups and serves as reviewer for several peer-reviewed journals and conferences. In addition to research, he has extensive teaching experience in higher education, lecturing courses in Automation, Robotics, and Computer Science. He supervises M.Sc. theses and is actively involved in pedagogical innovation, including the development of teaching materials and the organization of technical workshops. His main research interests include Autonomous Vehicles, Marine Robotics, Multi-Agent Systems, Cooperative Navigation, Path-Following, Distributed Estimation, Networked Control, and Sensor Fusion.
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Identification

Personal identification

Full name
Francisco Fernandes Castro Rego

Citation names

  • Rego, Francisco

Author identifiers

Ciência ID
0411-4718-C4A8
ORCID iD
0000-0001-9128-6435

Knowledge fields

  • Engineering and Technology - Electrotechnical Engineering, Electronics and Informatics - Automation and Control Systems

Languages

Language Speaking Reading Writing Listening Peer-review
Portuguese Advanced (C1) Advanced (C1) Advanced (C1) Advanced (C1)
French Beginner (A1) Intermediate (B1) Intermediate (B1) Beginner (A1)
Galician Intermediate (B1) Advanced (C1) Beginner (A1) Intermediate (B1)
English Advanced (C1) Advanced (C1) Advanced (C1) Advanced (C1)
Education
Degree Classification
2023
Concluded
 Pedagogia no Ensino Superior (Pós-Graduação)
Universidade de Lisboa Instituto da Educação, Portugal
2018/05/28
Concluded
 Engenharia Electrotécnica e de Computadores (Doutoramento)
Universidade de Lisboa Instituto Superior Técnico, Portugal

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne Faculté des Sciences et Techniques de l'Ingénieur, Switzerland
"Distributed State Estimation and Cooperative Path-Following Under Communication Constraints" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
 Aprovado com distinção
2011/05/31
Concluded
 Double Degree Master Program Flight Dynamics & Control and Avionics (Mestrado)
Universidade de Lisboa Instituto Superior Técnico, Portugal

Technische Universiteit Delft Faculteit Luchtvaart- en Ruimtevaarttechniek, Netherlands
"Determination of Inner and Outer Bounds of Reachable Sets" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
 17
2008
Concluded
 1st cycle of studies of the Integrated Master Degree in Aerospace Engineering (Bacharelato)
Universidade de Lisboa Instituto Superior Técnico, Portugal
"n/a" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
 16
Affiliation

Science

Category
Host institution		 Employer
2026 - Current Auxiliary Researcher (Research) Instituto de Engenharia de Sistemas e Computadores Inovação, Portugal
2025/02/11 - Current Researcher (Research) Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias, Portugal
2024/01/30 - 2026 Researcher (Research) Universidade Nova de Lisboa Centro de Tecnologias e Sistemas, Portugal
2020/01/01 - 2023/08/01 Contracted Researcher (Research) CoLAB +ATLANTIC, Portugal
Universidade de Lisboa Instituto de Sistemas e Robótica, Portugal
2018/06/01 - 2020/01/01 Postdoc (Research) Universidade de Lisboa Instituto de Sistemas e Robótica, Portugal

Teaching in Higher Education

Category
Host institution		 Employer
2023/08/01 - 2025/02/11 Adjunct Teacher (Polytechnic Teacher) Instituto Politécnico da Lusofonia, Portugal

Others

Category
Host institution		 Employer
2011/12/01 - 2012/09/30 Bolseiro com a função de investigar técnicas de controlo de formações de veículos. Laboratório de Robótica e Sistemas de Engenharia, Portugal
2011/06/06 - 2011/08/26 Estagiário com a função de desenvolver um plugin para o programa COOLFluiD 2.0 para simular fluidos em regime hipersónico. Von Karman Institute For Fluid Dynamics, Belgium
Projects

Contract

Designation Funders
2022/07/01 - 2025/06/30 RAIECO - Hybrid Underwater Robotic Systems and Artificial Intelligence-Based Seabed Imaging Tools for Marine Ecosystem Studies
DRI/India/0699/2020
Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal

Associação do Instituto Superior Técnico para a Investigação e Desenvolvimento, Portugal

Laboratório de Robótica e Sistemas de Engenharia, Portugal
 Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Ongoing
2020/01/01 - 2023/12/31 Laboratory of Robotics and Engineering Systems
UIDP/50009/2020
10.54499/UIDP/50009/2020
Laboratório de Robótica e Sistemas de Engenharia, Portugal

Universidade de Lisboa Instituto Superior Técnico, Portugal

Associação do Instituto Superior Técnico para a Investigação e Desenvolvimento, Portugal

Agência Regional para o Desenvolvimento da Investigação Tecnologia e Inovação, Portugal
 Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Concluded
2019/01/01 - 2019/12/31 Laboratório de Robótica e Sistemas de Engenharia
UID/EEA/50009/2019
LA/P/0083/2020
10.54499/LA/P/0083/2020
Laboratório de Robótica e Sistemas de Engenharia, Portugal

Associação do Instituto Superior Técnico para a Investigação e Desenvolvimento, Portugal

Universidade de Lisboa Centro de Ciência e Tecnologia do Ambiente e do Mar, Portugal

Agência Regional para o Desenvolvimento da Investigação Tecnologia e Inovação, Portugal

Universidade do Porto Faculdade de Engenharia, Portugal
 Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Concluded
Outputs

Publications

Book chapter
  1. Francisco F.C. Rego; Colin N. Jones; António M. Pascoal. "Advances in remote estimation and control with quantised communications for networked systems subject to severe bandwidth constraints". 29-58. Institution of Engineering and Technology, 2025.
    10.1049/SBRA565E_ch3
  2. Rego, Francisco C.; Hung, Nguyen T.; Jones, Colin N.; Pascoal, Anto´nio M.; Aguiar, Anto´nio Pedro. "Cooperative path-following control with logic-based communications: theory and practice". In Navigation and Control of Autonomous Marine Vehicles, 187-224. Institution of Engineering and Technology, 2019.
    10.1049/pbtr011e_ch8
Conference paper
  1. Francisco Fernandes Castro Rego; Daniel Silvestre. "Explicit computation of guaranteed state estimates using constrained convex generators". 2024.
    10.1109/CDC56724.2024.10885976
  2. Rego, Francisco; Antonio M. Pascoal. Corresponding author: Rego, Francisco. "Cooperative single-beacon multiple AUV navigation under stringent communication bandwidth constraints". Paper presented in 13th IFAC Conference on Control Applications in Marine Systems, Robotics, and Vehicles CAMS 2021, 2021.
    10.1016/j.ifacol.2021.10.096
  3. Hung, Nguyen T.; Rego, Francisco C.; Pascoal, Antonio M.. "Event-Triggered Communications for the Synchronization of Nonlinear Multi Agent Systems on Weight-Balanced Digraphs". Paper presented in 2019 18th European Control Conference (ECC), Napoles, 2019.
    10.23919/ecc.2019.8796277
  4. Rego, F.; Hung, N. T.; Pascoal, A. M.. "Cooperative path-following of autonomous marine vehicles: theory and experiments". Paper presented in 2018 IEEE/OES Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Workshop (AUV), Porto, 2018.
    10.1109/auv.2018.8729809
Journal article
  1. Pedro Fernandes; Ricardo Santos; Francisco Rego. "Experimental Evaluation of UAV Energy Management Using Solar Panels and Battery Systems". Applied Sciences (2025): https://doi.org/10.3390/app151910689.
    10.3390/app151910689
  2. Ahmed Ibrahim; Francisco F. C. Rego; Éric Busvelle. "Comparison of Innovative Strategies for the Coverage Problem: Path Planning, Search Optimization, and Applications in Underwater Robotics". Journal of Marine Science and Engineering (2025): https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse13071369.
    10.3390/jmse13071369
  3. Francisco Rego; Daniel Silvestre. "Cooperative navigation using constrained convex generators". European Journal of Control (2025): https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejcon.2024.101163.
    10.1016/j.ejcon.2024.101163
  4. Francisco Rego; Daniel Silvestre. "A Novel and Efficient Order Reduction for Both Constrained Convex Generators and Constrained Zonotopes". IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control (2025): https://doi.org/10.1109/TAC.2024.3525388.
    10.1109/TAC.2024.3525388
  5. Hugo Policarpo; João P. B. Lourenço; António M. Anastácio; Rui Parente; Francisco Rego; Daniel Silvestre; Frederico Afonso; Nuno M. M. Maia. "Conceptual Design of an Unmanned Electrical Amphibious Vehicle for Ocean and Land Surveillance". World Electric Vehicle Journal (2024): https://doi.org/10.3390/wevj15070279.
    10.3390/wevj15070279
  6. Francisco Fernandes Castro Rego. "Distributed observers for LTV systems". Automatica 155 (2023): https://research.ulusofona.pt/en/publications/37158cfa-1e37-4064-b347-af42f4f552b1.
    10.1016/j.automatica.2023.111117
  7. Nguyen Hung; Francisco Fernandes Castro Rego; Joao Quintas; Joao Cruz; Marcelo Jacinto; David Souto; Andre Potes; Luis Sebastiao; Antonio Pascoal. "A review of path following control strategies for autonomous robotic vehicles". Journal of Field Robotics 40 3 (2023): 747-779. https://research.ulusofona.pt/en/publications/460033db-2e63-4397-a8d4-ba38496efe26.
    10.1002/rob.22142
  8. Frederico Afonso; Martin Sohst; Carlos M.A. Diogo; Simão S. Rodrigues; Ana Ferreira; Inês Ribeiro; Ricardo Marques; et al. "Strategies towards a more sustainable aviation: A systematic review". Progress in Aerospace Sciences (2023): https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paerosci.2022.100878.
    10.1016/j.paerosci.2022.100878
  9. Hung, Nguyen T.; Rego, Francisco F. C.; Pascoal, Antonio M.. "Cooperative Distributed Estimation and Control of Multiple Autonomous Vehicles for Range-Based Underwater Target Localization and Pursuit". IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology 30 4 (2022): 1433-1447. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/tcst.2021.3107346.
    10.1109/tcst.2021.3107346
  10. Francisco Castro Rego; Ye Pu; Andrea Alessandretti; A. Pedro Aguiar; Antonio M. Pascoal; Colin N. Jones. "A Distributed Luenberger Observer for Linear State Feedback Systems With Quantized and Rate-Limited Communications". IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control 66 9 (2021): 3922-3937. https://doi.org/10.1109/TAC.2020.3027658.
    10.1109/TAC.2020.3027658
  11. Rego, Francisco F.C.; Pascoal, António M.; Aguiar, A. Pedro; Jones, Colin N.. "Distributed state estimation for discrete-time linear time invariant systems: A survey". Annual Reviews in Control 48 (2019): 36-56. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.arcontrol.2019.08.003.
    10.1016/j.arcontrol.2019.08.003
  12. Henrique Silva; Francisco Rego; Rafaela Francisco; Luís Monteiro Rodrigues. "Texture analysis is a useful tool to characterize the cutaneous biomechanical profile". Biomedical and biopharmaceutical research : jornal de investigação biomédica e biofarmacêutica 16 2 (2019): 188-194. https://research.ulusofona.pt/en/publications/7c018cd7-9ced-49a9-896f-795ebbdd04fe.
    10.19277/bbr.16.2.211
Thesis / Dissertation
  1. Rego, Francisco. "Distributed State Estimation and Cooperative Path-Following Under Communication Constraints". PhD, Universidade de Lisboa Instituto Superior Técnico, 2018. https://infoscience.epfl.ch/record/257129.

Other

Other output
  1. Editorial. Unmanned marine vehicles for ocean observation. 2024. Shuo Pang; Ye Li; Liang Xiao; Francisco Fernandes Castro Rego; Teng Ma. https://research.ulusofona.pt/en/publications/7d4c83d4-3aa9-47e2-8c75-b2bb34b5addd.
    10.3389/fmars.2024.1422451
Activities

Supervision

Thesis Title
Role		 Degree Subject (Type)
Institution / Organization
2024 - 2024 Development of Optimal Control Strategies for Reusable Rockets
Supervisor
 Engenharia Aeroespacial (Master)
Universidade de Lisboa Instituto Superior Técnico, Portugal
2023 - 2023 Trajectory planning problem for detecting radioactive sources using underwater gliders
Supervisor
 Engenharia Eletrotécnica e de Computadores (Master)
Universidade de Lisboa Instituto Superior Técnico, Portugal
2022 - 2022 Model aircraft dynamics determination and control system design through analysis of experimental data
Supervisor
2022 - 2022 Design and performance assessment of an adaptable small scale UAV
Supervisor
 Engenharia Aeroespacial (Master)
Universidade de Lisboa Instituto Superior Técnico, Portugal
2021 - 2021 Scaled UAV Prototyping and Control
Supervisor
 Engenharia Aeroespacial (Master)
Universidade de Lisboa Instituto Superior Técnico, Portugal
2015 - 2015 Outdoor Navigation and Nonlinear Lyapunov Based Trajectory Tracking
Supervisor
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland

Jury of academic degree

Topic
Role		 Candidate name (Type of degree)
Institution / Organization
2025 Fault-tolerant MPC Control for Passively Safe Trajectory Generation
(Thesis) Main arguer
 David Laranjinho (Master)
Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal
2023 Enhancing Truck Platooning Efficiency and Safety
(Thesis) Main arguer
 Beatriz Baixinho Lourenço (Master)
Universidade de Lisboa Instituto Superior Técnico, Portugal
2019 Evaluation of Non-Cooperative Sensors for Sense and Avoid in UAV Systems Pablo Arroyo Izquierdo (Master)
Universidade de Lisboa Instituto Superior Técnico, Portugal

Conference scientific committee

Conference name Conference host
2013 - Current IFAC World Congress
2013 - Current American Control Conference
2013 - Current Conference on Decision and Control
2013 - Current IFAC CAMS

Course / Discipline taught

Academic session Degree Subject (Type) Institution / Organization
2026 - 2026 Programming Languages I Engenharia Informática (Licenciatura) Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias, Portugal
2025 - 2025 Databases Automação e Sistemas Informáticos (Licenciatura) Instituto Politécnico da Lusofonia, Portugal
2025 - 2025 Introduction to Computer Sciences Computação e Matemática Aplicada (Licenciatura) Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias, Portugal
2024 - 2024 Robotics Fundamentals Automação e Robótica (Curso Técnico Superior Profissional) Instituto Politécnico da Lusofonia, Portugal
2024 - 2024 Computational Mathematics Engenharia Informática e Aplicações (Licenciatura) Instituto Politécnico da Lusofonia, Portugal
2024 - 2024 Object Oriented Programming Automação e Sistemas Informáticos Instituto Politécnico da Lusofonia, Portugal
2024 - 2024 Operating Systems Automação e Sistemas Informáticos Instituto Politécnico da Lusofonia, Portugal
2024 - 2024 Biomedical Informatics Imagem Médica e Radioterapia (Licenciatura) Instituto Politécnico da Lusofonia, Portugal
2024 - 2024 Computational Mathematics Engenharia Eletrotécnica e de Computadores (Licenciatura) Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias, Portugal
2024 - 2024 C Programming Engenharia Eletrotécnica e de Computadores (Licenciatura) Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias, Portugal
2023 - 2024 Integrated Project Automação e Robótica (Curso Técnico Superior Profissional) Instituto Politécnico da Lusofonia, Portugal
2023 - 2024 Discrete Mathematics Engenharia Informática e Aplicações (Licenciatura) Instituto Politécnico da Lusofonia, Portugal
2023 - 2024 Introduction to Programming Automação e Sistemas Informáticos (Licenciatura) Instituto Politécnico da Lusofonia, Portugal
2021 - 2023 Introduction to Robotics Engenharia Eletrotécnica e de Computadores (Mestrado integrado) Universidade de Lisboa Instituto Superior Técnico, Portugal
2019 - 2019 Controlo Engenharia Electrotécnica e de Computadores (Mestrado integrado) Universidade de Lisboa Instituto Superior Técnico, Portugal
2014 - 2015 Control Systems (Bachelor) École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland
2014 - 2015 Model Predictive Control (Master) École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland
2014 - 2014 Probabilités et statistique (Bachelor)

Journal scientific committee

Journal title (ISSN) Publisher
2020 - Current IEEE Transactions on Control of Network Systems (2325-5870) Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
2017/01/01 - Current Automatica (0005-1098) Elsevier
2017/01/01 - Current IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control (1558-2523) Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
2017/01/01 - Current Systems & Control Letters (0167-6911) Elsevier
2017/01/01 - Current IEEE Control Systems Letters (2475-1456) Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
2017 - Current Journal of Marine Science and Engineering (2077-1312) MDPI AG
2020 - 2020 Mathematics (2227-7390) MDPI
Distinctions

Other distinction

2009 Diploma de Mérito
Universidade de Lisboa Instituto Superior Técnico, Portugal
2007 Diploma de Mérito
Universidade de Lisboa Instituto Superior Técnico, Portugal