Objective
Improved circular economy relies strongly on improved methods for recycling where automation begins to be an important factor. FlexCycle addresses the domain of soft material recycling. Here automation is largely lacking, because these materials are elastic, hard to handle, and – being “trash” – are often found in unpredictable states of degradation. This makes flexible, adaptive solutions for automation an absolute necessity. This requirement is amplified by the fact that soft materials exist in many consumer products. However, specialized recycling solutions for one product group (e.g. cloth) are usually inalterable and inflexible and cannot be used elsewhere (e.g. for cables). FlexCycle addresses this difficult problem and our main contribution is to develop flexible automation methods that allow for fast and efficient transfer between different domains of soft material recycling. We address three, structurally quite different, use cases: cloth, cables and membranes from fuel cells. The novel concept of across-domain transfer of recycling methods will be achieved by adaptive components in (1) hardware and (2) software: 1) We are developing new kinds of soft, under-actuated end-effectors and other flexible robotic tools, allowing us to handle different materials with minimal hardware-reconfiguration. 2) We are developing a generalized, novel framework for modeling soft material handling by combining a substrate-overarching structural model of soft materials with advanced graph-attention neural networks to infer the desired robotic action(s). The main impact of FlexCycle is, thus, a domain independent automation approach for recycling and reuse of soft materials allowing for reduction in system setup- and programming effort based on these novel models and hardware elements. These advancements will be complemented by a study on the impact of automation in soft material recycling concerning social, economic and environmental aspects in view of the Green Deal.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- engineering and technology environmental engineering waste management waste treatment processes recycling
- natural sciences computer and information sciences software
- social sciences sociology industrial relations automation
- engineering and technology electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering electronic engineering robotics
- engineering and technology environmental engineering energy and fuels
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.2.4 - Digital, Industry and Space
MAIN PROGRAMME
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HORIZON.2.4.5 - Artificial Intelligence and Robotics
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-RIA - HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-CL4-2024-DIGITAL-EMERGING-01
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
16163 Genova
Italy
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.