Industrial leadership in AI, Data and Robotics – advanced human robot interaction (AI Data and Robotics Partnership) (IA) -

Expected Outcome

Projects are expected to contribute to all the following outcomes:

• To reach the point where human robot interaction, extended in time and scope beyond the current state of the art, adds value and improves the quality of outcome for complex tasks; for example service tasks, or complex industry processing tasks or tasks in a healthcare setting. Where the focus is on tasks where robotics can add capabilities that extend human ability but which require human interaction to be achieved. These tasks will require varying levels of interaction and communication, dependent on the current state of the task, but will essentially require close interaction over extended periods of time.
• Validate AI, Data and Robotics at scale by demonstrating the potential of integrating these technologies to address challenges in key industries and develop solutions that address human robot interaction at all levels from physical interaction to social interaction in a variety of working environments.
• Make and exploit major advances in technology, to maintain Europe’s excellence and ensure sovereignty of these key technologies expected to affect society by contributing to addressing major societal challenges by enhancing interactions between robots and people. Boost the innovation potential for wide uptake of AI, Data and Robotics by significantly improving the ability of robots to work in collaboration with humans as equals.

Scope

Proposals should demonstrate the added value of integrating AI, Data and Robotics technologies through large-scale validation scenarios reaching critical mass and mobilising the user industry, Focus should be given to attracting new user industries, to boost the uptake of AI, Data and Robotics in major sectors and stimulate the involvement of end-users where appropriate. Besides major industries, these Actions should also involve SMEs and/or start-ups with high potential to foster innovation that advances the nature and level of interaction between people and robots, especially dealing with paradigmatic shifts in working practice that create improvements for industry and society. Proposals should target sectors and application domains with wide-scale deployment potential and maximum contribution to the European economy.

Multidisciplinary innovation activities should address one of the following:

• Development of innovative solutions to address major application-driven challenges, involving a large set of SMEs/ midcaps developing innovative solutions in order to boost the innovator community in Europe. This action also aims to expand the deployment of software engineering dedicated to human robot interaction. Especially to extend and adopt the practices of the Digital Industrial Platform for Robotics, and to stimulate the development of robust middleware that can be deployed in service and industrial applications and to expand the number and variety of high quality sharable industrially deployable modules related to human robot interaction at all levels, fostering the widespread deployment of such technologies in the targeted application sector and beyond.

Financial Support to Third Parties: Projects should use FSTP to stimulate the engagement of SMEs in the delivery of high quality, robust, sharable modules for use in human robot interaction in service and industrial tasks. Minimum 50% of the EU funding requested by the proposal should be allocated to the purpose of financial support to third parties.

• Large scale pilots bringing major industries from key application sectors in Europe – facilitating collaboration between these major companies and innovative SMEs/Start-ups/academia/tech-transfer organisations with the goal is to exploit re-usable tools, systems, sub-systems and solutions in various use-cases/sectors where human robot interaction is a critical necessity. Pilots should show scalability/versatility, and enable economies of scale.

Financial Support to Third Parties: Projects may involve FSTP in order to stimulate the engagement of SMEs in testing and validating innovative solutions in the pilots. A maximum of 50% of the EU funding requested by the proposal may be allocated to the purpose of financial support to third parties.

Proposals should involve appropriate expertise in all the relevant disciplines, such as engineering, computer sciences, mathematics, Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH), neuroscience, psychology, cognitive sciences, philosophy, biology, etc. and in particular should involve the relevant expertise to address the human factors aspects of robot human collaboration at all levels of interaction.

Proposals should clearly delineate the expected contributions from the main beneficiaries as well as from the third parties, to ensure their coherence and impact.

Security, privacy and safety should be taken into account to minimise risks to users both in terms of physical harm and in terms of digital privacy and security.

Proposals should include a clear business case and exploitation strategy.

Proposals should contribute to making human robot interactions using AI and robotics solutions meet the requirements of Trustworthy AI, based on the respect of the ethical principles, the fundamental rights including critical aspects such as robustness, safety, reliability, in line with the European Approach to AI. With these principles being adopted from the early stages of development and design through to deployment by using appropriate models of human robot interaction.

Proposals are expected to embed mechanisms to assess and demonstrate progress (with qualitative and quantitative KPIs, benchmarking and progress monitoring, as well as illustrative application use-cases demonstrating well defined added value to end users), and share communicable results with the European R&D community, through the robotics elements of the AI-on-demand platform and/or the Digital Industrial Platform for Robotics, public community resources, to maximise re-use of results, either by developers, or for uptake, and optimise efficiency of funding; enhancing the European AI, Data and Robotics ecosystem through the sharing of results and best practice.

This topic implements the co-programmed European Partnership on AI, data and robotics.

Activities are expected to start at TRL 3-5 and achieve TRL 6-7 by the end of the project – see General Annex B.

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