SIMBIOTS

SIMBIOTS: Facilitate the introduction of robotics to new processes and applications within the industry. SIMBIOTS is co-funded by the Regional Catalan Agency ACCIÓ through the RIS3CAT 2016 and the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The project focuses on the implementation of safe workspaces shared between robots and operators. Robots are expected to work autonomously and/or cooperatively guaranteeing the safety of the workers, allowing the elimination of physical barriers. Finally, the project also aims to improve ergonomics and productivity when implementing collaborative robots which work together with operators.

The foundation of my PhD thesis is aligned to SIMBIOTS, which is a project coordinated by the Institut de Robòtica i Informàtica Industrial. Therefore, it is the ideal platform to validate our research and to get access to valuable resources we are going to use along the completion of the thesis. The rest of the consortium, consist of four partners which will focus on developing some of those resources we could use. PAL Robotics, the manufacturer of one of the robotic platforms we are using (Tiago robot), will work on upgrading and certifying the robot to be used in industrial environments. EURECAT, is in charge of designing the trajectory planner for the robot. PROMAUT, will take care of the integration of the different work packages. Finally, ZANINI represents the potential user of the project’s outcomes and will provide us with some real case studies to validate our research.