Periodic Reporting for period 2 - VOJEXT (Value Of Joint EXperimentation in digital Technologies for manufacturing and construction)
Berichtszeitraum: 2021-07-01 bis 2022-09-30
VOJEXT is an innovation action project co-funded by the European Union Horizon 2020 (grant agreement No 952197) under the domain of the Factories of the Future. VOJEXT started on July 1st 2020, and will be running until December 2023, driven by 19 partners from European countries.
The project aims at providing a next generation of mobile cobots linked to a technological framework that supports Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) and cognitive autonomous systems. VOJEXT uses the Value Of Joint EXperimentaTion (VOJEXT) and engages with artists for dynamizing science-driven industry approaches, enabling the design, development and demonstration of affordable, market-oriented, easy-to-repurpose mobile cobots and improved human-robot interaction. VOJEXT focuses on the industrial sector, specially in the manufacturing and construction domains, as well as aims at involving SMEs and mid-caps that wish to integrate and experiment with more advanced digital and robotic practices in these sectors. Through this approaches, VOJEXT aims at enabling more favourable business environment, and link with the Digital Innovation Hubs (DIH) to support more effective sociotechnical and business ecosystems.
The following six specific objectives support the overall strategic goal:
• To develop an advanced Cyber-Physical System (CPS) with high-level reasoning that supports an effective and efficient management, control and supervision of the manufacturing production process; involving precise manipulation of objects/devices.
• To provide a beyond state-of-the-art modular mobile cobots for human-robot collaboration.
• To foster a ground-breaking standardised perceptual system allowing accurate and safe navigation, movements, and human-robot collaboration by taking advantage of CPS deployed in the operational environments.
• To design a proactive safety preservation and ergonomic optimisation approach with adaptability/personalisation to gender, age, cognitive and physical capacities; linked to co-working environments.
• To integrate, test and validate the VOJEXT components, in additional experimental pilots as use case demonstrators, to be awarded through two open calls.
• To strengthen the European industry, stimulating the adoption of advanced technologies in the field of cognitive and autonomous systems and robotics, by SMEs and mid-caps through DIHs.
The experimental pilots validate the technical VOJEXT developments in five (5) industrial sectors: plastic, textile, electronics, automotive, construction and creative artisans’ environments; mainly focusing on the manufacturing and construction industrial domains. The demonstrators are located in four (4) European countries (Spain, Hungary, Italy and Turkey), as well as additional scenarios that are integrated in the through the open calls.
The project aims at providing a next generation of mobile cobots linked to a technological framework that supports Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) and cognitive autonomous systems. VOJEXT uses the Value Of Joint EXperimentaTion (VOJEXT) and engages with artists for dynamizing science-driven industry approaches, enabling the design, development and demonstration of affordable, market-oriented, easy-to-repurpose mobile cobots and improved human-robot interaction. VOJEXT focuses on the industrial sector, specially in the manufacturing and construction domains, as well as aims at involving SMEs and mid-caps that wish to integrate and experiment with more advanced digital and robotic practices in these sectors. Through this approaches, VOJEXT aims at enabling more favourable business environment, and link with the Digital Innovation Hubs (DIH) to support more effective sociotechnical and business ecosystems.
The following six specific objectives support the overall strategic goal:
• To develop an advanced Cyber-Physical System (CPS) with high-level reasoning that supports an effective and efficient management, control and supervision of the manufacturing production process; involving precise manipulation of objects/devices.
• To provide a beyond state-of-the-art modular mobile cobots for human-robot collaboration.
• To foster a ground-breaking standardised perceptual system allowing accurate and safe navigation, movements, and human-robot collaboration by taking advantage of CPS deployed in the operational environments.
• To design a proactive safety preservation and ergonomic optimisation approach with adaptability/personalisation to gender, age, cognitive and physical capacities; linked to co-working environments.
• To integrate, test and validate the VOJEXT components, in additional experimental pilots as use case demonstrators, to be awarded through two open calls.
• To strengthen the European industry, stimulating the adoption of advanced technologies in the field of cognitive and autonomous systems and robotics, by SMEs and mid-caps through DIHs.
The experimental pilots validate the technical VOJEXT developments in five (5) industrial sectors: plastic, textile, electronics, automotive, construction and creative artisans’ environments; mainly focusing on the manufacturing and construction industrial domains. The demonstrators are located in four (4) European countries (Spain, Hungary, Italy and Turkey), as well as additional scenarios that are integrated in the through the open calls.
Results of the first period set up the pillars of the project set into motion the initial VOJEXT infrastructure, initiated the testing of mobile robot navigation, and enabled the grasping strategies in laboratory environments, thus allowed the modular development of the components during the second period of the project.
During the second period VOJEXT partners focused on refining all the manufacturing processes being digitalized, preparing the set-up of all the experimental testbeds for the demonstrators, building the needed robots for, designing and enabling the grasping strategies in a customised manner for all the experimental pilots and developing all the technical modules that need to be integrated to connect the CPS environment (high level control supporting planning, complex tasks and physical interaction from abstract specifications) with the robots activities (low level control more concerned with the role of sensors and manipulators and focusing on the dynamics of realistic domain).
Also, in the second period, VOJEXT successfully finished the 1st cycle of open calls and launched the 2nd open calls to integrate and support 15 new SMEs towards new paths on digital transformation on industrial companies. Also, VOJEXT prepared and launched three residences with artist enabling art-driven innovation as well as dialogue between science, technology and art which results and impact will be demonstrated during the third period of the project.
During the second period VOJEXT partners focused on refining all the manufacturing processes being digitalized, preparing the set-up of all the experimental testbeds for the demonstrators, building the needed robots for, designing and enabling the grasping strategies in a customised manner for all the experimental pilots and developing all the technical modules that need to be integrated to connect the CPS environment (high level control supporting planning, complex tasks and physical interaction from abstract specifications) with the robots activities (low level control more concerned with the role of sensors and manipulators and focusing on the dynamics of realistic domain).
Also, in the second period, VOJEXT successfully finished the 1st cycle of open calls and launched the 2nd open calls to integrate and support 15 new SMEs towards new paths on digital transformation on industrial companies. Also, VOJEXT prepared and launched three residences with artist enabling art-driven innovation as well as dialogue between science, technology and art which results and impact will be demonstrated during the third period of the project.
VOJEXT results expect to create impact by demonstrating its results and scale them through open calls, as well as enable motivation of large and small companies, along with specialized suppliers, service providers, universities, and associated institutions in DIHs to move towards the factories of the future. Also, VOJEXT shall bring together a critical mass of skills and talent; characterized by a high level of interaction among these entrepreneurs, researchers, and innovators.
Moreover, VOJEXT underpins Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) by involving artists and societal actors (researchers, workers, policy makers, business, etc.) for the whole research and innovation process to better align the robot/cobot enabled manufacturing and construction processes, its outcomes and the values, needs and expectations of these sectors and society. The VOJEXT project experimental path and effective implementation, is supported by the S+T+ARTS approach, using art-driven innovation. For this purpose, VOJEXT engages artistic research and innovation methodologies by hosting two S+T+ARTS residencies that will be selected through open calls in S+T+ARTS format and will invite artists, as art-science partners, to collaborate with VOJEXT technology, robotic, academic and industrial partners.
VOJEXT Project website: https://vojext.eu/
Moreover, VOJEXT underpins Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) by involving artists and societal actors (researchers, workers, policy makers, business, etc.) for the whole research and innovation process to better align the robot/cobot enabled manufacturing and construction processes, its outcomes and the values, needs and expectations of these sectors and society. The VOJEXT project experimental path and effective implementation, is supported by the S+T+ARTS approach, using art-driven innovation. For this purpose, VOJEXT engages artistic research and innovation methodologies by hosting two S+T+ARTS residencies that will be selected through open calls in S+T+ARTS format and will invite artists, as art-science partners, to collaborate with VOJEXT technology, robotic, academic and industrial partners.
VOJEXT Project website: https://vojext.eu/