With over 750 events across Europe, this year’s edition of the European Robotics Week broke all records. Throughout the week, Europeans were invited to visit laboratories, join debates, build and program robots, and voice their opinion. This was a unique opportunity for over 30’000 participants to live robotics rather than watch it through lens of the media or popular culture.

Joel Gibbard started out designing prosthetic hands in his bedroom out of sheet metal, but found himself drawn to 3D printing because of its universality and low cost. Now his company, Open Bionics, believes it can cut the cost of a bionic hand by a factor of 20 from the current around EUR 100 000 price tag.

Bridging the gap between cutting-edge research in academia and the vibrant robotics startup ecosystem is no easy task. This Wednesday in the UK city of Bristol, a free public event titled “From Imagination to Market” — the centre piece of European Robotics Week 2015 — took on that challenge by bringing together leading innovators, researchers, startups and strategists. Below are the key moments and insights from the event.

A mouthwatering array of over 750 events has been taking place throughout Europe this week as the continent celebrates Robotics Week 2015. The festivities began with an eye-opening debate on “Robots and Society” in the UK city of Bristol on Tuesday, with experts versed in strategy, business, academia, law and policy. But, for many, the star of the show was Nao, in his guise as robot avatar.