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SOFTMANBOT

Advanced robotic technology for soft material handling in manufacturing industries

Field
European
Date
01/10/2019 - 31/03/2023
Industry
  • INDUSTRIAL PROCESSES/ CONSUMER GOODS/ GARMENTS
Budget
7558651,25
Funded by

European Commission - H2020

Website
Video

PROJECT INFORMATION

DESCRIPTION

Today, most strategic industries handle flexible and deformable products, such as footwear, toys, clothing or tires. The need for automation of these tasks is a technological challenge yet to be met, since, due to the number of different materials used and the variety of products, there is no robust robotic solution applicable to the industry. Many operations with deformable products are currently performed manually by operators (e.g. removal of injected flooring from its mold).

This task, among others, has the disadvantage of causing short and long term injuries to operators due to the constant repetition of movements and the force required to perform it. The SOFTMANBOT robotic system will assist the human in performing these tasks. To this end, four pilot demonstrators will be carried out involving four key manufacturing sectors: footwear, toys, textiles and tires.

The overall objective of the project is to develop and demonstrate an innovative and universal approach to robotic handling of flexible and deformable materials using advanced manufacturing technologies for the automation of robust and flexible handling of soft products.

Impact

The automation solution will work closely with human operators to assist them in the execution of challenging touch-based tasks, thereby boosting productivity and quality of work, which will greatly contribute to the recovery of production in Europe.

Success stories

The solution is being implemented in the insole production line of Plastiner, a partner company in the Valencian Community.

Entities

INESCOP / AIJU/ CLERMONT AUVERGNE (FR) / INDUSTRIA JUEMA AUXILIAR / SORBONNE UNIVERSITY (FR) / DECATHLON (IT) / IIT (IT) /ZIMMER (GE) / STAM (IT) / MICHELIN (FR) / PTH URBAN

Contact information

Francias Aran Ais
R&D&I Coordinator

INESCOP

Technological capabilities

Robotics
Collaborative robots