Project description
Robots take on the hard job of handling soft materials
The future factory floor will be lined with intelligent and dexterous robots. While the advent of industrial robots has already revolutionised manufacturing, current robots mostly handle rigid objects and interact with them in repetitive operations. What happens in sectors where soft, flexible, and easily damaged items require a gentle grasp and adaptive movements? The EU-funded MERGING project has the answer. It will deliver a new gripper equipped with electro-adhesive skins that can adapt without any damage to the objects to handle, even delicate fabrics or components. The use of electro-adhesion increases the direct gripping forces and allows greatly reduced clamping forces.
Objective
MERGING will deliver a turnkey robotic solution to automate handling of flexible and fragile objects.
Our ambition is to provide manufacturers with an end-to-end solution to automate the handling of soft objects. The solution will consist of a fingered gripper equipped with an electro-adhesive skin that conforms to the objects to handle, even delicate fabrics or components, without any damage. Electro-adhesion increases the direct gripping forces and thus allows greatly reduced clamping forces. Our solution includes perception and supervision functions to adapt the system's behaviour in real time to the execution conditions and for robot system programming accessible to non-specialists.
Our main motivations are to build a versatile, easy-to-use and low-cost system. To demonstrate this and the possibilities of scaling up, we will design our system using proven laboratory technologies (TRL 4), then carry out proof of concept in realistic environments (TRL 6) in three different applications and sectors: fabric handling for lingerie manufacturing, technical fiber handling for composite bus panel manufacturing, plastic bag handling for the food industry.
MERGING is a four-year project involving the entire value chain of soft object gripping automation.
The CEA leads the project and provides the robotic technologies in collaboration with EPFL (electrical adhesion), AIMEN (perception), LMS (supervision), and SHADOW then OMNIGRASP (capture) and IPC (materials). CEA, EPFL, AIMEN and LMS will respectively use AI technologies for robotic demonstration programming, electro-adhesive skin control, perception and control of the complete system. SELMARK, VDL and THIMONNIER introduce cases of use of fabric, composite and polymer handling respectively. CASP and OPTEAMUM are respectively responsible for the software and hardware integration and the exploitation of the results. OMNIGRASP will release the pliers with electro-adhesive skin after the end of the project.
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: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
This project's classification has been validated by the project's team.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
This project's classification has been validated by the project's team.
- engineering and technology electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering electronic engineering signal processing
- engineering and technology mechanical engineering mechatronics
- engineering and technology electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering electronic engineering sensors
- engineering and technology electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering electronic engineering robotics
- engineering and technology other engineering and technologies microtechnology
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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H2020-EU.2.1.5. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies - Advanced manufacturing and processing
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.2.1.5.1. - Technologies for Factories of the Future
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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.
RIA - Research and Innovation action
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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) H2020-NMBP-TR-IND-2018-2020
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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.
75015 PARIS 15
France
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.