Nanocomposites are promising for many sectors, as they can make polymers stronger, less water and gas permeable, tune surface properties, add functionalities such as antimicrobial effects. In spite of intensive research activities, significant efforts are still needed to deploy the full potential of nanotechnology in the industry. The main challenge is still obtaining a proper nanostructuring of the nanoparticles, especially when transferring it to industrial scale, further improvements are clearly needed in terms of processing and control. The OptiNanoPro project will develop different approaches for the introduction of nanotechnology into packaging, automotive and photovoltaic materials production lines. In particular, the project will focus on the development and industrial integration of tailored online dispersion and monitoring systems to ensure a constant quality of delivered materials. In terms of improved functionalities, nanotechnology can provide packaging with improved barrier properties as well as repellent properties resulting in easy-to-empty features that will on the one hand reduce wastes at consumer level and, on the other hand, improve their acceptability by recyclers. Likewise, solar panels can be self-cleaning to increase their effectiveness and extend the period between their maintenance and their lifetime by filtering UV light leading to material weathering. In the automotive sector, lightweight parts can be obtained for greater fuel efficiency. To this end, a group of end-user industries from Europe covering the supply and value chain of the 3 target sectors and using a range of converting processes such as coating and lamination, compounding, injection/co-injection and electrospray nanodeposition, supported by selected RTDs and number of technological SMEs, will work together on integrating new nanotechnologies in existing production lines, while also taking into account nanosafety, environmental, productivity and cost-effectiveness issues.

The VOJEXT project aims at providing a favourable business and technological framework to enable matchmaking and encourage producers and adopters (mainly SMEs including small crafters) of Cognitive autonomous systems for human-robot interaction, specially “cobots”, dynamizing science-driven industry approaches for the European industry. For this purpose VOJEXT will design, develop, validate and demonstrate affordable, market-oriented, agile, multipurpose and easy-to-repurpose, autonomous, mobile and dexterous robotic systems as the main component of a smart, agile and scalable cognitive CPS for industry; under the vision of providing Value Of Joint EXperimenttion (VOJEXT) in digital technologies to manufacturing and construction industry; while having DIHs as drivers of innovation based economic development in Europe. t VOJEXT will demonstrate its value by deploying the solution through a 42-months work plan scaling the project to at least 5 additional different markets; starting with 5 experimental pilots (and 9 SMEs) in the plastic textile, electronics, automotive, construction and creative architecture for urban regeneration, VOJEXT cover traditional and non-traditional areas for AI-robotics and cognitive ICT developments; aiming to extend to 15 experimental pilots, integrating 20 more SMEs through open calls. The open calls will foster scientific and business driven innovation together Digital Innovation Hubs led by UPM-AIR4S (Spain), together with other 3 DIHs – Fortiss (Germany), PIAP (Poland) and EMC2 (France). These Open Calls will gather the most innovative SMEs, that will bring new challenges into project’s pilots and propose alternative scenarios. Moreover, the project will carry out with 2 S+T+ARTS residencies, that will allow artists stimulate the creation of new product in different contexts and support creative craft experimental pilots in Italy. DIHs will create a new niched oriented offering based on VOJEXT technical areas and for crafting sector.

APRIL project aims at implementing and deploying market oriented, low cost and multipurpose robots that supports semi-automatic tasks in manufacturing production lines that use flexible or deformable materials in industries of any size or domain. APRIL will use fine grasping, innovative computational vision technology, gathering of sensors’ information, as well the development of modular and different middleware layers and interfaces. APRIL will provide innovative sensoring and computational vision supporting detection of slips, estimate weight, dynamic center of mass, or regulating grasping forces while manipulating deformable objects of different types (e.g. paper, chicken breast, shoes’ insoles, viscoelastic textile materials, cables, etc.). A federated approach, wireless communication, usage of multipurpose hands and placement of various sensors, will connect all robots to a cloud based knowledge base that will contain the needed information to perform the different jobs. APRIL system will be deployed in six different demonstration use cases across Europe. Robots integrated in the manufacturing processes will operate on several critical steps that affect production, packing and quality assurance on the different manufacturers involved as pilot sites. On one hand, introduction of APRIL system will produce an expected increase on safety and related health conditions of working environments. On the other hand, APRIL will enable an increase on productivity and quality of the final products; thus leading to a greater competitiveness of European industry. The project will be implemented in 40 months by 15 partners from 8 European countries.