Horizon 2020 earmarks € 98M for new wave of european robotics

The EU is co-funding 21 new projects in robotics totalling € 98.7 million spread over 2-5 years.

Many of the projects focus on industrial and service robotics — or medical robotics — and their potential for translation. Additional highlights include robots for gardening or asbestos removal, drone inspection, and entertainment robots.

A full list of proposals funded can be found here — many of these projects will be presented at the European Robotics Forum in Ljubljana, Slovenia this March. Their names and acronyms should give hint of the areas of focus:

AEROBI: AErial RObotic System for In-Depth Bridge Inspection by Contact

BabyRobot: Child-Robot Communication and Collaboration: Edutainment, Behavioural Modelling and Cognitive Development in Typically Developing and Autistic Spectrum Children

Bots2ReC: Robots to Re-Construction

ColRobot: Collaborative Robotics for Assembly and Kitting in Smart Manufacturing

DeTOP: Dexterous Transradial Osseointegrated Prosthesis with neural control and sensory feedback

EDEN2020: Enhanced Delivery Ecosystem for Neurosurgery in 2020

EndoVESPA: Endoscopic Versatile robotic guidancE, diagnoSis and theraPy of magnetic-driven soft-tethered endoluminAl robots

INPUT: Intuitive Natural Prosthesis UTilization

MuMMER: MultiModal Mall Entertainment Robot

MURAB: MRI and Ultrasound Robotic Assisted Biopsy

RAMPup: Robotic Automation Modules for Production

RockEU2: Robotics Coordination Action for Europe Two

SafeLog: Safe human-robot interaction in logistic applications for highly flexible warehouses

SoftPro: Synergy-based Open-source Foundations and Technologies for Prosthetics and RehabilitatiOn

SPEXOR: Spinal Exoskeletal Robot for Low Back Pain Prevention and Vocational Reintegration

TrimBot2020: A gardening robot for rose, hedge and topiary trimming

TT-NET: A shared infrastructure to sustainably optimise technology transfer throughout Europe

UP-Drive: Automated Urban Parking and Driving

XoSoft: Soft modular biomimetic exoskeleton to assist people with mobility impairments

HORSE: Smart integrated Robotics system for SMEs controlled by Internet of Things based on dynamic manufacturing processes

ReconCell: A Reconfigurable robot workCell for fast set-up of automated assembly processes in SMEs

Sabine Hauert is President of Robohub and Associate Professor at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory

Sabine Hauert is President of Robohub and Associate Professor at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory