Seeking research partner for robotic manipulation in hazardous environments

SI Robotics is forming an international consortium for the POLNORIS Applied Research and Innovation Programme.

The proposed project will develop robotic manipulation technologies for hazardous, unstructured and difficult-to-automate industrial environments. The core research challenge is enabling robots to perform contact-rich physical tasks involving force, friction, tool use and interaction with previously unseen objects without requiring extensive task-specific programming.

The project is expected to combine advanced robotic actuation, force-aware and compliant control, contact-based learning, perception, teleoperation and progressively increasing levels of autonomy. Target applications include robotic maintenance, inspection, material handling, surface preparation, operation of tools and mechanisms, and intervention in environments where human work is dangerous or physically demanding.

SI Robotics will contribute its proprietary robotic platform, BLDC motors, compact actuators, force-controlled joints, embedded control systems, manipulators, end-effectors, system integration capabilities and access to industrial validation environments.

We are particularly interested in cooperation with a research organisation from Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein with expertise in one or more of the following areas: robotic manipulation, contact-rich manipulation, robot learning, force and impedance control, tactile sensing, perception, autonomous systems, human-robot interaction or verification and validation of robotic systems.

The objective is to move beyond laboratory demonstrations and validate the developed technologies on real robotic hardware in representative industrial environments. The project should generate both scientific results and technology that can be transferred into deployable robotic systems for European industry and critical infrastructure.

We are open to shaping the final research scope jointly with the selected partner.