Robotics for Infrastructure Inspection and MAintenance

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - RIMA (Robotics for Infrastructure Inspection and MAintenance)

Période du rapport: 2020-01-01 au 2021-06-30

“Reinforcing the leadership of Europe in Inspection and Maintenance robotics by connecting technology to industrial/sectorial needs and fostering cross border cooperation” summarizes RIMA’s general vision.
Under this vision, the main objective of RIMA is to set up mechanisms speeding up the appropriation of robotics technologies by SMEs. The principle of the mechanism relies on the concept of Digital Innovation Hubs (DIHs). DIHs are “one stop shop to get support in understanding digital technologies and support on how to finance/nurture the necessary investments”. The objectives of RIMA are the following:
Objective 1: Establish the RIMA Digital Innovation Hubs Network promoting the appropriation of robotics, encouraging good practices, sharing experiences, linking stakeholders in the I&M value chain and in line with regional policies. RIMA will organize the offer of services such as technology scouting, feasibility studies, technology & innovation transfer, matchmaking, establishing new communities, organizing marketplaces and raising awareness for human talents and job market mobility.
Objective 2: Financially and technically, support cross-border experiments involving SMEs. RIMA will implement fifty innovative experimentations in robotics for I&M with European SMEs. Implementation of experimentations will rely on interaction with sectorial organizations to reach a large number of SMEs in focused domains (oil & gas, water supply and sanitation, nuclear, transport among others). Two calls for proposals will be organized and experts who have confirmed their independence and neutrality will make the selection of the best proposals for experiments. DIHs from the RIMA network will offer their services to make the experiments successful.
Objective 3: Establish courses about robotics for Inspection and Maintenance dedicated to SMEs for increasing the awareness of end users in the relevant technologies. RIMA will include several activities to design and offer training services. This will help the building of trust and acceptance of robotics technologies by the EU SMEs.
Objective 4: To connect the EU I&M robotics to other domains – share best practices. RIMA promotes communication actions designed to stimulate I&M stakeholders to interact with the DIH network and participate in the opportunities offered by the project. A special focus will be given in the communication with organisations outside RIMA to encourage them to join the network during and after the project and take advantage of the network set up. In addition, as one of the actor implementing Digitizing European Industry (DEI), RIMA will organize regular interactions with other initiatives of this objective to share best practices and experience.

Since the beginning of the project the main activities and achievement are the following
- set up the tools to manage the project: admin web portal creation, boards and committees, data and quality processes.
- setting up the communication and dissemination tools: public web portal, social media accounts, flyers, leaflets, communication chart (logos, colour codes, templates).
- Organization of a two open calls, selection of external experts to evaluate the proposals submitted, selection of applicants to be funded checking of eligibility (see WP5)
- Selection of the experimentations of the first open call to be funded, signature of a sub grant agreement with applications selected (see WP5)
- Mentoring of the 1st open call experimentations by DIHs including ethical check and training support (see WP6, WP4 and WP7)
- Consolidation of services activity of the DIH network (see WP2, WP3, WP4 and WP6)
- Organization of a market study (see WP3 and WP1)
- Description of models to ensure the financial sustainability of the network of DIHs (see WP2 and WP3)
- Communication about the RIMA approach and opportunities with stakeholders (see WP2, WP8 and WP9)
- Investigation of candidates DIHs to join the network, definition of criterions to take part
- Ethical checks and control of alignment of RIMA’s activities with ethical principles (see WP7)
- Steps on the constitution of a body of knowledge on regulations in robotics (see WP7)
- Day to day project management, communication with partners, distribution of funds, elaboration of a second amendment to the grant agreement to modify the form of the open call and organize a market study on inspection and maintenance robotics (see WP1).
- Communication with other initiatives of the work programme and with the EC (see WP1)
All deliverables due for this period have been submitted (nine in total) except for D7.2 on cybersecurity issues. All milestones have been passed except for MS3 marking the completion of TD experiments. The delay of this deliverable and this milestone do not have any impact on RIMA’s planning. The project is on time, the action plan is followed as planned.

After the second period, the complete impact of RIMA is yet to be assessed and argued. Some intermediate results can be stated with some perspectives beyond the end or RIMA. Impact of RIMA has two folds:
(1) The constitution of the network of organizations dedicated to the deployment of robotics in inspection and maintenance of infrastructures with an activity organized in terms of services
(2) The innovation, the creation of new products, of new businesses resulting from the activity of the network

Since January 2019, DIHs in RIMA have consolidated the organization of their activities dedicated to SMEs and larger companies in the form of services. One of the advantage of this service approach is that it highlights and structures activities around innovation, based on suppliers and end users’ needs. Services are organized to satisfy needs of end users, SMEs, industrials, and to take into considerations market. This helps to express and organize a bottom up approach, driven by end user needs as opposed to the top down approach of research not necessarily related to applications. It is important to consider that top down and bottom up approaches are complementary and not antagonists.
Creation of new products, new businesses, innovation resulting from the activity of the network
Constitution of the network structuration of the activities of services were important stages in RIMA. This second period was the opportunity to start demonstrating the impact of this activity of services. The analysis exploits the interactions between the network of DIHs and the SMEs selected during the first open call of RIMA. Since most of these experimentations are still going on or were hardly terminated at the term of the second period, the results on the impact of the services offered by RIMA network is still fragmented and partial. We however know already that most of the running experimentations were able to raise the maturity level of their solutions up to TRL 6 or TRL 7 and that all are investigating ways to go to the market.
Concrete demonstration of RIMA network impact still needs to be further investigated. That will be analysed thoroughly during the third and last period of activity of RIMA and with more difficulties beyond the term of RIMA project.
The RIMA intermediate results offers reasonable perspective to draw conclusion and identify best practices to facilitate this uptake of robotics in the industry in Europe in adequacy with the specificities of each regional ecosystems and constraints.

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Periodic Reporting for period 2 - RIMA (Robotics for Infrastructure Inspection and MAintenance)

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