SMErobotics consortium looks for partnerships to broaden demonstration activities

The SMErobotics initiative, www.smerobotics.org , consisting of major European robot manufacturers and leading research institutes, aims at creating the technical foundations for productive and intelligent robot solutions that are feasible in small to medium-scale production settings. To that end, we strive to bring cognitive robotics to the shop-floor, thereby enabling the use of automation and robot technology to improve the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The developed technologies will be demonstrated in assembly, woodworking and welding scenarios.
 
This solicitation aims at finding partners to broaden the scope of these demonstration activities.
 
Within this context SMErobotics is looking for teams to transfer the initiative's ideas and results into innovative industrial robot workcells for small and medium sized manufacturing.
 
Teams, typically composed of an end-user, a robot system integrator are invited to propose novel robot applications. Four proposals will be selected to form demonstration projects which will receive up to 250,000 € (each) in funding for the engineering and demonstration of the robot workcell in a real-world manufacturing scenario.
 
Participants in each demonstration project are encouraged to take up suitable software components from SMErobotics which support among others robust assembly by robots, intuitive task description (avoiding programming), self-configuration, error recovery, and seamless human-robot cooperation.
 
This solicitation is open from August 15th to October 14th, 2013. The appointed demonstration projects will be notified by early November, work is expected to start early 2014 with a maximum runtime until the planned end of SMErobotics in December 2015.
 
Please see the project’s website for more information, particularly the full text containing all relevant information, templates and lists of available hardware and software components at www.smerobotics.org/solicitation .
 
Participants of interested teams are cordially invited to attend the information day at Fraunhofer IPA (Stuttgart, Germany) on Sept 13, 2013 (tentatively starting 11:00). Registration for the info day is open until 10th of September. To register please send an e-mail to solicitation(at)smerobotics.org .
 
For specific questions related to SMErobotics, proposal preparation, etc. please do not hesitate to contact the SMErobotics secretariat at solicitation(at)smerobotics.org .