Boosting improvements and maximising societal affect. Position of Digital Innovation Hubs in Inspection & Upkeep robotics

By Jovita Tautkevičiūtė

Robotics4EU is a 3-years-long EU-funded challenge which advocates for the broader adoption of AI-based robots in 4 sectors: healthcare, inspection and upkeep of infrastructure, agri-food, and agile manufacturing. Thus, one of many methods through which Robotics4EU raises consciousness about non-technological features in robotics is delivering a sequence of workshops to contain the analysis neighborhood, trade representatives and residents.

The workshop “Boosting improvements and maximising societal affect. Position of Digital Innovation Hubs (DIHs) in I&M Robotics” which occurred on the twenty third of February, 2022 analysed the position and contribution of Digital Innovation Hubs (DIHs) to the widespread adoption of robotics in society. How can they improve the implementation of robotics by SMEs and startups into their day by day operations? How can they assist to shut the information hole of non-technological problems with robotics in Inspection & Upkeep (I&M)?

These questions had been analysed by 5 specialists: Ebert von Vonderen, Ladislav Vargovcik, Maria Roca, Roi Rodriguez de Bernardo and Christophe Leroux, through the displays and panel discussions of the workshop.

Digital Innovation Hubs

What’s Digital Innovation Hub (DIH) and what position does it play? Ebert van Vonderen & Ladislav Vargovcik from DIH Robotics Hub Košice defined what DIH is and the way it works with varied stakeholders: universities, DIH community, SMEs. Generally, DIH serves as a bridge between analysis organizations and trade – expertise and providers suppliers, end-users and SMEs. Within the case of DIH Robotics Hub Košice, technical schools of Košice College, Prototyping and Innovation Heart established the DIH.

Construction of DIH Robotics Hub Košice

A DIH serves as a one-stop-shop for SMEs to convey their questions. DIHs want to make sure that SMEs have easy accessibility to expertise innovation, are supplied with related providers and coaching for expertise adoption. Because of the efforts of the RIMA community, DIHs are unfold over Europe and work together for I&M potentialities, competencies, and share the obtainable alternatives throughout Europe.

Why are Robotics DIHs necessary for SMEs? They sort out many challenges that come up for firms, aiming to spice up innovation, improve and contribute to robotics implementation. A number of the challenges talked about by Ebert van Vonderen:

• Excessive expertise ranges wanted, complicated duties in I&M
• Excessive Investments wanted
• Competitors, profitability, ROI (profitability is in lots of instances an issue)
• Ecosystem maturity, variations throughout Europe
• Resistances from communities
• Creation of sustainable options

An instance of DIH Robotics Hub Košice’s cooperation with INETEC, excessive tech firm that specialises in robotics, devices and software program was introduced. Magic Lancer II – a robotic for nuclear inspection, was developed underneath the cooperation of DIH Robotics Hub Košice.

Screenshot of the Magic Lancer II presentation

How you can improve the uptake of expertise?

Christophe Leroux, representing RIMA (Robotics for Inspection & Maintainance) Community defined that RIMA Community connects and evokes key stakeholders in I&M robotics and goals to speed up innovation and uptake of robotics between these stakeholders. Its foremost function is to assist digitalise European Business. Though the market is estimated with an enormous potential for innovation (450 bn EUR/yr), the bottleneck is the adoption of robotics to market – no actual connection between trade and analysis organisations.

RIMA Community directs its efforts to determine a community of DIHs (at the moment, it connects 13 DIHs), focussing on robotics in I&M, fund SEMs to assist experimentation, arrange programs to facilitate the uptake of applied sciences and develop new expertise, and inform individuals of funding alternatives for enterprise improvement.

RIMA community helps SMEs by organising open calls. 15 modern options had been supported, with the purpose to have a social-economic affect win EU with new merchandise, providers, enterprise, established jobs, together with the discount of prices and dangers. RIMA Community supplies the next providers to SMEs and analysis organisations:

• Advising (on funds, expertise)
• Proof of Idea
• Help for tech switch
• Help for testing
• Entry to Incubator’s
• Entry to worth chain actors
• Coaching and training
• The market examine, offering data to community companions

RIMA Community Goals

ICT innovation for manufacturing SMEs

Maria Roca, I4MS Venture Supervisor, introduced I4MS (ICT Innovation for Manufacturing SMEs). It’s the initiative promoted by the European Fee to foster the digital innovation of producing SMEs in Europe with the intention to increase their competitiveness within the digital period. The I4MS aim is to contribute to the variation of European SMEs to the present digital transformation challenges by funding & mentorship, coaching and entry to bodily and digital expertise platforms. I4MS connects a neighborhood of 1700 members, 42% of them – SMEs. In accordance with Maria Roca, the organisation has recognized that geographical protection of Europe is uneven and Japanese European international locations must be represented higher within the community. Additionally, there’s a hole in SMEs ’ understanding of expertise benefits and community capability to contemplate SMEs’ pursuits.

Screenshot from Maria’s Roca presentation on I4MS and Open Name Calendar

Roi Rodriguez de Bernardo, Program Supervisor at FundingBox introduced the AI4EU platform and funding alternatives for SMEs. AI4EU is a collaborative H2020 Venture that goals to:

• mobilize the complete European AI neighborhood to make AI guarantees actual for the European Society and Financial system, and
• create a number one collaborative AI European Platform to nurture financial progress.

AI4EU goals to be a catalyst between analysis and trade. The platform presents obtainable funding alternatives and varied instruments (analysis, training, ethics, providers).

Talking of the funding alternatives, Roi set the scene by capturing Europe’s place within the world AI market. The AI Enterprise market is rising worldwide with an estimated progress of the AI market from 40,2% CAGR from 2021 to 2028. The rising deal with AI can be evident within the EU technique. AI technique, set by EC presents yearly 1bn EUR funding for a interval of 2021-2028, anticipating to leverage 20bn EUR investments. The funding is targeted on SMEs adopting AI with some instances of funding for startups or expertise suppliers creating AI options that might be adopted by SMEs.

Screenshot from Roi Rodriguez de Bernardo presentation presenting Funding alternatives and open calls

Panel dialogue

The dialogue began with the query of whether or not the EU is usually a powerhouse of robotics in I&M and cleared the path within the race with the USA and China, additionally adhering to our values? It was recognized that record-high funding within the trade in 2021 reveals that it’s potential. Though the USA and China didn’t have in mind the moral features EU holds, they’re beginning to develop regulation as effectively. It appears that evidently the trail set by the EU is adopted now by different massive markets.

Contemplating moral or socio-economic features of most significance within the discipline, Maria Roca recognized the administration of information for SMEs as a bottleneck. The issue lies within the hindrances to sharing information with different firms. Additional, within the case of AI, moral features are evaluated in all EU funded initiatives. From the attitude of DIH’s offered providers, RIMA’s consultant Christophe Leroux defined that moral and security features are taken under consideration in facilitated experimentation. In observe, moral evaluation is performed for every experimentation, involving specialists within the discipline of ethics. Every day, RIMA’s work consists of mentorship on moral points and pointers.

The methods of enlarging the networks had been additionally mentioned. Maria Roca recognized coaching as a foremost device to draw members and showcase what they’ll obtain in collaboration and participation of their open calls. Networking, as a core enterprise of DIHs, additionally covers the organisation of native occasions with specialists. Additionally, collaboration with social scientists was emphasised as essential within the discipline of AI. Annelli Rose, consultant of the Robotics4EU challenge famous that interdisciplinary collaboration is in step with the EU priorities, the place the change is foreseen to have a breeding floor.

Zooming in to the subject of robotics in I&M the social facet of adoption was analysed. Christophe Leroux defined that there’s attractiveness for robotics adoption to assist sure operations as a result of there’s not a lot worry of dropping jobs. Robots are seen as supporting their work, for instance as deploying robotics in explosive, harmful and dangerous environments. Robots will not be taking away jobs, however taking away the hazard. Christophe Leroux additionally emphasised that there’s a progress within the area of AI robotics in I&M and the principle points are associated to belief and security.

Upcoming workshop

The upcoming workshop on the twenty third of March 2022, 11-14 CET “How to ensure regulation helps and never hinders I&M robotics? Coverage points in Robotics for Inspection & Upkeep”. We’ll talk about how cooperation amongst regulators and the robotics neighborhood may be fostered and what are probably the most urgent authorized challenges for the I&M utility space of robotics. We might be investigating how to make sure the accessibility of goal data and improve the capability of regulators to understand technical features, dangers and alternatives of robotics in I&M. We hope to depart the workshop with trade insights and particular areas for enchancment for the long run, which as a challenge we are going to proceed to discover in our actions. Register right here.

tags: c-Industrial-Automation