Embodied AI/Robotics Applications for a Safe, Human-oriented Industry

Project Information

EARASHI

Grant agreement ID: 101069994

DOI

10.3030/101069994

Project closed

EC signature date 13 June 2022

Start date 1 September 2022

End date 28 February 2026

Funded under

• Digital, Industry and Space

Total cost

€ 5 235 341,99

EU contribution

€ 4 999 866,00

Coordinated by

COMMISSARIAT A L ENERGIE ATOMIQUE ET AUX ENERGIES ALTERNATIVES
France

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - EARASHI (Embodied AI/Robotics Applications for a Safe, Human-oriented Industry)

Reporting period: 2023-09-01 to 2025-02-28

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

EARASHI aims to improve working conditions, trust and acceptance of collaborative embodied AI in robotic systems, by supporting Industry, especially start-ups/SMEs, in the uptake of advanced digital and eco-responsible technologies (in ADR).This approach will help employees in their daily activities and improve their working conditions, leading to productivity increase. EARASHI adopts a worker-centric approach by considering workforce well-being & health (MSD and stress), design thinking methodology of production machines, worker acceptance and ethics. Thanks to FSTP, EARASHI foresees a total funding of 2M€, spread over 10 challenges. Through investments in early discovery and industrial uptake of new technologies, EARASHI will contribute to strengthen EU capacities in key parts of Digital and future supply chains in production machine, enabling agile responses to urgent needs and open strategic autonomy in digital and future emerging enabling technologies. To do so, EARASHI partners provide 23 technical building blocks and various services which will help the SME in achieving a successful project Selected via 2 open calls, SMEs get access to EARASHI leading-edge technologies and test facilities from RTOs and industrial partners, business support, mentoring by industrial pairs, support in ethics, system integration, and user acceptance, thus lowering both technical and business barriers. The granted projects are expected to bring answers to the 10 challenges defined by EARASHI advisory board, thus to have impact on: Decrease of the number of workers that perceive stress at work / the number of accidents at work / number of workers already suffering from MSD, Increase of the number of ROS-users, Improve the trust in ADR, Support machine retrofit & refurbishment, Standardized, easy, non-hazardous dismantling processes shortened in time and cost, Foster the deployment of eco-design approach. By investing early in and sustaining competitive emerging enabling technologies, EARASHI will contribute to accelerating an eco-responsible digital transition by 2030.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Development of the didactic material and tools, set-up of the associated strategy to deploy human centric approach among the AEs and coach the applicants in various topics such as human factors and user experience, ethics in robotics an AI, cybersecurity.

Set-up and execution of the 2 open calls to select the 10 Application Experiments (AE) benefitting from the FSTP (200 k€ each), disruptive technology and associated expertise, business coaching, human-centric design deployment, eco-design approach, mentoring by industrial pairs, etc.

Partners have established internal & external networks with SME communities, the E-DIHs ecosystem and others to connect, engage and raise awareness of the programme and exciting opportunities enabled by EARASHI open calls and open calls proposed by sister projects and the ADR community.

The results achieved so far are promising with regards to what was initially targeted:
• More than 500 start-ups and SMEs reached during the 2 open calls through brokerage events, EARASHI open call information webinars, participation to webinars organized through the AI-Data-Robotics community, website, press releases, social media communication and EARASHI partners' networking.
• 7 out of the 10 proposed challenges are targeted by the granted projects, associatedwith the improvement of human wellbeing and safety at work in the domain of the manufacturing: i) Robotic assistance for repetitive tasks & heavy duty, ii) Digitalization of procedure, automation of process, enhanced digital planning & AI-human collaboration, iii) enhancing human wellbeing and workplace safety.
• More than 90 proposals were fully submitted for the 2 calls, coming from 18 countries, 7 of them being Widening or Associated countries.
• 9 out of the 10 selected proposals are cross-border.
• 25% of the submitted proposals invove 2 companies, either both techno providers or one techno-provider and one use-case provider.
• 5 projects entered the INPHO Venture 2025 selection process and two were selected to pitch on scene in front of renowed investors, LP and large corportations.
* upload oh the AE project 'HANDFUL' energy data on the EU open research depository Zenodo: https://zenodo.org/records/15045733
• Dissemination of the MDR human-centric design approach through workshops and webinars (organization & participation), fostering further engagement with the ADR community.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

EARASHI aims to improve working conditions (health and safety), trust and acceptance of collaborative embodied AI in robotics system by supporting open call selected beneficiaries in the development and uptake of innovative solutions, thus accelerating an eco-responsible digital transition in the application field of production machine in Europe.
After 30 months, EARASHI has raised
- The attractiveness for Start-ups and SMES of the proposed cascade funding model combining technical and innovation management expertise. This is highlighted by the submission of 92 quality proposals, targeting nearly all the 10 challenges proposed, covering the whole spectrum for improving working conditions.
- The efficiency of the model to build on open tools, platforms and standard by allowing to build a tight consortium, to submit easily a tailored proposal with fast acceptance (7 weeks) and launch of the granted project in short time thanks to the dedicated standard contract.
- The capacity to initiate and boost synergies between innovative companies, advanced technology providers and innovation management partner, inside and outside their region or traditional market place. Indeed it is shown by the fact that 83% of the applicants are cross-border, 100% of the granted projects are cross-border and 60% come from countries not represented by FED4SAE partners.
Thanks to the cascade funding programme, the business coaching is provided to every selected AE, tailored to its needs, the deployment of the human centric approach and the eco-design process, the granted companies progress in their technology maturity development in keeping at best with the Green Deal, and to secure their road-to-market by strengthening their business plan by maintaining their focus on the business vision and the connection with potential customers, suppliers or business partners.
As for their objectives and targeted challenges (Mobile robotic assistance for repetitive tasks, Workers’ stress monitoring and assistance to limit work-related stress, Collaboration between AI and Human supervisors to solve complex problems and Automation for the optimization of intra-factory logistics ), the selected AEs foster the uptake of advanced digital eco-responsible technologies (targeting machine retrofit and refurbishment), support workers in their daily activities and improve their working conditions (safety, health and well-being) leading to a productivity increase, encourage the adoption of a worker-centric approach by considering worker well-being and health at work (e.g. MusculoskeletalDisorders (MSD) and stress), design thinking methodology of production machines, worker acceptance, and ethics.

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