Leonardo SpA - BA Defence Systems, La Spezia (IT)
Senior FPGA Engineer (FPGA architectures, software and boards)

I led embedded software and FPGA system development in cutting-edge projects, focusing on real-time solutions and hardware-software integration for various armaments platforms:

• For Small Calibers LIONFISH 30, 40 (https://shorturl.at/imntj): managed requirements and stakeholders (electrical and PCB designers, software engineers), architected high-speed interfaces, custom video pipelines, and FPGA accelerators:
  • Engineered and brought up Zynq UltraScale+ MPSoC (Cortex-A53, Cortex-R5, FPGA) based boards, incorporating high-speed interfaces (Gigabit Ethernet, PCIe, FMC).
  • Managed the development of complex Zynq UltraScale+ MPSoC based boards and designed the FPGA architecture for a complete SDI custom video pipeline, optimized for Embedded Linux integration and high-throughput requirements.
  • Developed and implemented video denoising and tracking algorithms on the FPGA fabric, enhancing the system's autonomous target detection capabilities.
  • Designed and generated BSPs (Board Support Packages) to validate high-speed board interfaces and FPGA accelerators.
• Contributed to Naval, Ammunition, and Land Armaments projects, developing with Intel and Lattice FPGA architectures using VHDL.

Across all projects, key contributions included:

• Developed VHDL (DSP, control algorithms...) and SystemVerilog testbenches, performing extensive FPGA behavior simulation on Questa Sim.
• Developed bare-metal C/C++ software for validating boards and FPGA.
• Managed the development of RTOS drivers (including FreeRTOS) for diverse peripherals (sensors: ADC, encoders, resolvers, IMUs; actuators: PWM and EtherCAT based motors) on ARM-based CPU and SoC (Cortex-R5), overseeing software-hardware integration for thorough validation and meeting real-time performance requirements.
• Executed comprehensive board bring-up for complex FPGA and CPU-based boards (e.g., Kria K26), encompassing hardware validation (power, clocks, JTAG) and initial U-Boot/Linux environment builds to achieve full system functionality.
• Extensively utilized Python for project management, leveraging custom modules and vendor-specific scripts for consistency, Git versioning, configuration management, and documentation generation.
• Developed Avalon/AXI-Stream generic VHDL communication modules for cross-domain reusability and FPGA accelerator integration, enhancing system modularity and scalability.
• Ensured hardware compliance to rigorous defense standards like DO-254 during FPGA and electronic board design and development.

Freelance, Livorno (IT)
Design of Administrative Software

I developed custom software solutions for small companies to streamline their order management, accounting, and stock control processes:

• Performed full-stack development of the application, including database design, backend logic, and API integration with Node.js.
• Managed integration and deployment on site.
• Provided documentation.
• Conducted training.
• Offered after-sales assistance.

Freelance, Livorno (IT)
Design of Electronic Boards and Software for Micro-controllers

I developed control software and boards for actuating systems such as automatic gates built by local small companies:

• Developed software for micro-controllers (C/C++).
• Developed software for GPUs (CUDA).
• Designed customized boards.
• Managed installation.
• Offered after-sales assistance.