Robotics4EU's presence at its final event — the European Robotics Forum (ERF) 2024, in Rimini (Italy) — couldn’t have been more successful. All the partners came together for one final showcase of the project. If you didn’t visit us from the 13th to the 15th of March, here’s what you missed:

Responsible Robotics fully represented at Booth 26

During the three days of the event, the Robotics4EU stand showcased three years of work to the robotics community, translated into various outcomes. We conducted a demonstration of the third and final version of the RoboCompass, attracting many individuals to the tool; we presented a summary of the Responsible Robotics Advocacy report for the first time, sharing a synopsis of the numerous recommendations compiled in the document and sparking fruitful conversations and debates; we debuted the final version of TALKaBOTit, which generated immense interest among event participants and led to us giving away all copies we had brought on the first day; we made available our well-known VR Exhibition, presenting the 4 new robots recently integrated into this virtual space for the first time; and we had the opportunity to describe all the remaining outcomes produced over these 3 years. Several contacts were established, and a high number of participants showed strong interest in utilising the various tools and resources produced by the project.

Workshop “Implementing Responsible Robotics in Society” 

On March 13th, our latest workshop was organized at ERF2024 in Rimini by Yu Cheng, Roger Søraa, Lucas De Bont, and Mette Simonsen.

The main question addressed was: How can we ensure that robots developed are mature enough for society? Additional questions included: How can you introduce Responsible Robotics practices in your organization? How can we encourage the industry to adopt more responsible practices as a whole?

Workshop Description:

The workshop was designed to provide valuable insights into implementing Responsible Robotics and how to incorporate Social Sciences and Humanitarian dimensions in robotics development. In this session, we presented key findings, policy recommendations, and practical tools from the Robotics4EU project, followed by an interactive discussion with a panel consisting of representatives from two SINTEF groups: Manufacturing and Digital, University of Florence, CTAG, and DiH2 Network.

Intended Outcome:

Participants were inspired to further their work within the Social Sciences and Humanitarian dimensions in robotics development. Through the workshop discussion, topics of common interest were explored regarding responsible robotics. Participants left the room with a deeper understanding of responsible robotics and practical tools, including the RoboCompass and the TALKaBOTit board game.

The speakers and topics were as follows:

1. Filippo Cavallo, Professor in Biomedical Robotics, Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Florence; Chief Research Officer and Founder of Co-Robotics: “Assistive Robotics and Elderly Independence: Emotional Needs & Caregiver Views”.
2. Angel Dacal Nieto, Factory of the Future Area Manager at CTAG, unfortunately, was not able to make it to Rimini; he was represented by Marcos Villar Garcia, Advanced manufacturing process engineer, CTAG; Professor at the University of Vigo: “Human-centric factories experiences”.
3. Ali Muhammad, Assistant Professor, University of Southern Denmark: “A Pan-European Network of Robotics DIHs for Agile Production”.
4. Aksel Andreas Transeth, Acting Researcher Manager, SINTEF Digital (euRobotics member): “Robotics in I&M, search and rescue, and manufacturing: Dynamic object handling and snake-like vehicles”.
5. Gabor Sziebig, Research Manager, SINTEF Manufacturing AS (euRobotics member): “Robotics in Construction-Humans and robots working along in a dynamic environment”.

Author: Joana Martinheira (LOBA) & Yu Cheng (NTNU)