Robotics Community Gave a Thumbs Up for Public Private Partnership in European Robotics

The European Robotics Public Private Partnership (PPP) is the teaming up of the robotics industry, research, academia and the European Commission to launch a joint research, development and innovation programme in order to strengthen the position of European robotics as a whole. The programme will be jointly developed by the private side (robotics manufacturers, component manufacturers, systems integrators, end users, research institutes, universities) and the public side (the European Commission). 

At the information day on June 12, 2012 organized by EUnited Robotics and euRobotics Coordination Action, the current status of the PPP was presented to the European robotics community specifically targeting the industry, providing them with the opportunity to get informed, ask questions and voice their opinion. The meeting gathered 37 key players of various robotics organisations and was a successful step towards achieving the set goal.

Thilo Brodtmann, director of EUnited Robotics, emphasised the importance of the European robotics community joining forces as a whole in order to maintain and strengthen Europe's leading position in robotics technology.  

Governance structure of Robotics PPP
Rainer Bischoff, Executive Chair of EUROP, the European Robotics Technology Platform, presented concrete plans to establish a legal entity (euRobotics aisbl) for robotics research and industry in Europe acting as private partner with the European Commission (EC) as the public partner. There will be a balanced representation of both industry and academia in this PPP which not only aims at further strengthening the link between the two, but will also ensure their direct involvement and influence in preparation of EC calls for robotics research and innovation.

Please refer to the presentations listed below for more details.  

Positive feedback of the participants
Discussions following the presentations were very positive and engaging. Research institutes indicated the need for having a separate category representing their voice in the structure of the PPP since they have integrated aspects of both industry and academia and are mainly engaged in applied research and technology transfer. A valid point which will be discussed and considered.

The meeting was concluded by many organisations expressing their support for the European Robotics Public Private Partnership and signing a letter of support.

Further steps
There will be the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the Robotics PPP by Commissioner Neelie Kroes on 18 September 2012, which will be a special event in Brussels. There are also plans to update the Strategic Research Agenda for Robotics (SRA) engaging an expert roadmapping specialist and involving the robotics community.

What you can do to get involved
Please sign the letter of support (below) indicating your organisation's interest and support for the Robotics PPP and send it to fariba.khatami@eu-nited.net

In case of any questions please do not hesitate to contact us (elmo.schreder@eu-nited.net, or fariba.khatami@eu-nited.net) 

You can download all presentations plus other information about the Robotics PPP Info Day (12 June 2012) below:

• Agenda (12 June 2012, Robotics PPP Info Day for industry)
• PPP Brochure
• Letter of Support (Letter of Intent)

Presentations:

1.  Introduction - Thilo Brodtmann (Director of EUnited Robotics)

2.1  From FP7 towards Horizon 2020, Prof. Dr. Herman Bruyninckx (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, EURON Coordinator) on behalf of Libor Král (Head Unit E5, European Commission)

2.2  Success Stories, Prof. Dr. Herman Bruyninckx on behalf of Prof. Dr. Bruno Siciliano (University of Naples)

3.1  Robotics 2020 - Vision and Objectives - Dr. Rainer Bischoff (Coordinator Cooperative Research, KUKA Laboratories GmbH, EUROP Chairman)

3.2  Robotics 2020 - The Industry View - Dr. Bernd Liepert (CTO KUKA, EUROP President)

3.3  Robotics 2020 - The Academic View - Prof. Dr. Herman Bruyninckx 

3.4  Beyond Robotics 2020 - The FET Flagship Robot Companion - Dr. Uwe Haass (General Manager CoTeSys, Technical University of Munich)

4.0  From EUROP to euRobotics aisbl - Dr. Rainer Bischoff

5.0  Stakeholder Comments and Discussions

6.0  Next Steps and Closing - Dr. Rainer Bischoff

List of supporters so far:

1. Adele Robots,SL - Celestino Alvarez, CEO
2. Albatros Marine Technologies, SL. - Eduard Vilanova, Director
3. Aldebaran Robotics - Dr. Bruno Maisonner, CEO
4. ALSTOM Inspection - Dr. Ekkehard Zwicker, CEO
5. Augsburg University, Institute for Software & Systems Engineering - Prof. Dr. Wlfgang Reif
6. BlueBotics - Dr. Nicola Tomatis, CEO
7. Bristol Robotics Laboratory (BRL) - Prof. Dr. Chris Melhuish, Director
8. Carl Cloos Schweisstechnik GmbH - Dr. Robert Buchmann, Managing Director
9. CEA List - Philippe Benoist, Acting Director
10. COMAU - Fulvio Rusina, Advanced Engineering Director
11. Danish Technological Institute - Dr. Claus Risager, Head of Robot Technology
12. Eindhoven University of Technology - Dr. A.J.H.M. Peels, President
13. Fraunhofer IFF - Dr. Norbert Elkmann, Head of Business Unit Robotics Systems
14. Fraunhofer IPA - Prof. Dr. Alexander Verl, Head of Institute
15. GÜDEL Group - Rudolf Güdel, CEO
16. IK4 Research Alliance - Jose Miguel Erdozain, Managing Director
17. Ingenia Motion Control - Marc Vila, CEO
18. Institute for Systems and Robotics (ISR) - Victor Alberto Neves Barroso, Director 
19. Instituto Sperior de Engenharia do Porto - Prof. Edaurdo Alexandre Pereira da Silva, Robotics Unit Manager
20. Instituto de Engenharia de Sistemas e Computadores do Porto (INESC Porto) - Prof. Mario Jorge Moreira Leitao, Director
21. ITIA-CNR - Dr. Federico Vicentini
22. IXION Industry & Aerospace - Enrique Garcia
23. KU Leuven - Prof. Dr. Herman Bruyninckx
24. KUKA AG - Dr. Till Reuter, CEO
25. Locomotec UG - Dr. Erwin Prassler, CEO
26. Microlog Tecnologia Y Sistemas, SL - Rafael Sanchez Yago, CEO
27. Örebro University,Center for Applied Autonomous Sensor Systems - Dr. Dimiter Driankov, AASS Reserach Dirctor
28. Politecnico di Milano - Dr. Giovann Azzone
29. Poznan University of Technology - Dr. Krzysztof Koslowski, Chair of Control and Systems Engineering
30. Profactor GmbH - Dr. Andreas Pichler, General Manager
31. REIS Robotics - Dr. Michael Wenzel, CEO
32. Robotnik automation, SLL - Roberto Guzman, CEO
33. RURobots - Geoff Pegman, CEO
34. Sapienza Universita di Roma, Dipartimento di Ingegneria Informatica (DIAG) - Prof. Claudio Leporelli
35. SCHUNK - Dr. Roko Tschakarow, Business Director Mobile Gripping Systems
36. Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna - Dr. Maria Chiara Carrozza, Rector
37. Siemens - Ludger Meyer, Regional Manager, Siemens Corporate Research and Development Deutschland
38. Simon Listens, Non Profit Organization for Research and Training - Stieger Franz, Chairman
39. Shadow Robot Company Ltd. - Rich Walker, Managing Director
40. Tecnalia Research & Innovation, Dr. Agustin Saenz, Business Development Manager
41. UNINA - Prof. Dr. Bruno Siciliano
42. University of Oulu - Prof. Dr. Juha Röning
43. University of Bonn, Autonomous Intelligent Systems Group - Prof. Dr. Sven Behnke
44. Vienna University of Technology, Automation & Control Institute - Prof. Dr. Markus Vincze
45. YASKAWA - Armin Schlenk, General Manager Marketing HQ
46. YDreams Robotics, S.A. -  Dr. Edmundo Nobre, VP