In recent years, the European Commission has established a significant investment in robotics – so far amounting to nearly €800M. Their goal is to increase Europe’s market share in industrial robotics and professional service robotics. Diverse application areas including manufacturing, surgery and underwater and space robotics have been identified as worthy of support.
The profile and visibility of laboratory robotics within the Commission, however, is still quite low. In fact, only one of the projects funded so far involve laboratory robotics. This means that investments are being made and a range of technologies potentially relevant to laboratory robotics are being developed without good knowledge of current success and future needs.
With the support of ELRIG our intention is to draft a white paper on laboratory robotics. This document would highlight the economic and social value of laboratory automation, list trends and suggest opportunities for emerging technologies. It would be used to raise the profile of this important area within the Commission, the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) in robotics and the broader robotics research community, with the goal of providing opportunities to access funding for projects.
Are you interested in getting involved or learning more?
If so, please email patrick.courtney@acm.org.
Dr. Patrick Courtney
Links to relevant documents :
“Roadmap” Document 1 Document 2
To view the Research & Innovation Participant Portal click Here
To view the current workplan click Here