In 2016, the European Union co-funded 17 new robotics projects from the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for research and innovation. 16 of these resulted from the robotics work programme, and 1 project resulted from the Societal Challenges part of Horizon 2020. The robotics work programme implements the robotics strategy developed by SPARC, the Public-Private Partnership for Robotics in Europe (see the Strategic Research Agenda). 

In 2016, the European Union co-funded 17 new robotics projects from the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for research and innovation. 16 of these resulted from the robotics work programme, and 1 project resulted from the Societal Challenges part of Horizon 2020. The robotics work programme implements the robotics strategy developed by SPARC, the Public-Private Partnership for Robotics in Europe (see the Strategic Research Agenda). 

In 2016, the European Union co-funded 17 new robotics projects from the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for research and innovation. 16 of these resulted from the robotics work programme, and 1 project resulted from the Societal Challenges part of Horizon 2020. The robotics work programme implements the robotics strategy developed by SPARC, the Public-Private Partnership for Robotics in Europe (see the Strategic Research Agenda). Every week, euRobotics will publish a video interview with a project, so that you can find out more about their activities.

In 2016, the European Union co-funded 17 new robotics projects from the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for research and innovation. 16 of these resulted from the robotics work programme, and one project resulted from the Societal Challenges part of Horizon 2020. The robotics work programme implements the robotics strategy developed by SPARC, the Public-Private Partnership for Robotics in Europe (see the Strategic Research Agenda).

Market pull for better factory automation and the ever-increasing relevance of software in every domain are triggering a rethink in how we develop software for robotics. Techniques such as Model Driven Engineering (MDE), proven effective in businesses like automotive and aerospace, can be used to this end. Practices such as collaborative development through Open-Source Software (OSS) can also be used. Two projects funded by the European Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme are exploring these opportunities, in a common foundational effort for an EU Digital Industrial Platform for Robotics.

The European Robotics League has closed a successful first season. Funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Programme for research, the ERL brings a common framework for two indoor robotics competitions, ERL Industrial Robots and ERL Service Robots and one outdoor robotics competition, ERL Emergency Robots.  The three competitions are designed to target three clear objectives: the European societal challenge of an aging population, the strengthening of the European robotics industry and the use of autonomous systems for emergency response.

Ocado, the world’s largest online-only supermarket, has been evaluating the feasibility of robotic picking and packing of shopping orders in its highly-automated warehouses through the SoMa project, a Horizon 2020 framework programme for research and innovation funded by the European Union.

The list of the new H2020 project in robotics from Call 3 2016 and the call under Societal Challenges 2016 is ready. The 17 robotics projects funded under Horizon 2020 will work with a wide variety of research and innovation themes: health robotics, autonomous cars, industrial robotics and logistics to events media productions.

Europe’s roadmap for robotics released its latest version on 2 December. The MAR is updated annually as priorities, technologies and strategic developments shape European research development and innovation. This version of the MAR relates to the Horizon 2020 robotics work programme defined for the 2017 call in ICT25, ICT 27 & ICT-28.

Space will soon be within the grasp of everyday people, small countries, researchers or start-up companies thanks to a fleet of low-cost launch vehicles under development across Europe.

The “Goal-based Open-ended Autonomous Learning” (GOAL) project plans to develop a new paradigm in building open-ended learning robots.

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.

The sixth edition of the European Robotics Forum brought together at least 600 scientists, companies, and robotics officials. We were there to capture pitches for the latest wave of robotics projects funded by the European Commission under Horizon2020. We asked roboticists about the big picture behind their project, the challenges ahead, and the desired outcome.

On January 13 the EU announced its list of robotics projects funded under Horizon 2020, the EU funding program for research and innovation. Agriculture is one of four “priority domains” for robotics funding under H2020, and of these newly funded (or refunded) projects, two – Flourish and SWEEPER – are explicitly related to agriculture.

The EU has co-funded 17 new robotics-related projects under Horizon 2020, the mechanism that the European Commission is using to stimulate the region’s global competitiveness in technical innovation. Each of these projects focus on developing critical technologies for commercialized industrial and service robotics applications and all (except one) are managed by a consortium of corporate and academic/research partners. Emphasis is placed on quick technology transfers and rapid commercialization, which is why each project has at least one corporate partner.