The European Robotics Forum
We were delighted to take part in the European Robotics Forum 2022 (ERF 2022) as platinum sponsors. The ERF is one of the most important and influential events in the robotics community in Europe. This year, the event took place in the Ahoy Convention Centre in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, and included workshops on pertinent topics such as robotics in healthcare, robotics and sustainability, AI and industry, and cybersecurity. The PAL Robotics team had the opportunity to host and contribute to a number of workshops, as well as exhibit our humanoid robots: ARI and TIAGo++, and our intralogistics robots TIAGo OMNI Base, TIAGo Stackable Boxes, and TIAGo Conveyor. We were grateful to finally be able to get together again in person and we thank the organisers for their great work! Read on for our highlights of the event.
Event opening reception
We were glad to sponsor the opening Industry Networking Reception at the ERF 2022 at Ahoy convention centre, where social robot ARI (the face of euRobotics) greeted and welcomed all our guests. The event started with a welcome speech by Stefano Stramigioli, Professor at the University of Twente and VP at euRobotics, who presented our CEO, Francesco Ferro. Francesco highlighted the strong traditions of euRobotics, that we firmly believe in at PAL Robotics, the goal of service robotics in improving people’s lives, and the journey of robotics, from research to adding value in the real world.
We aimed to lead interesting and fulfilling discussions on the latest and most exciting developments in the robotics field in the past year that we’ve been involved in, including the state of the art in humanoid robotics and robots for the agri-food sector. This year, we also shared developments in making our robots more user-friendly, with a hands-on workshop.
Humanoids, hands-on robotics, and robots in agri-food: Workshops hosted by PAL Robotics at ERF 2022
AI and robotics in agri-food: The present and the future
29 of June from 8:30 to 9:50
We enjoyed welcoming expert speakers to this workshop from backgrounds such as AI and industrial robotics. Our EU Projects Coordinator, Gizem Bozdemir, hosted this workshop which highlighted robotics and AI developments and projects in agri-food and their potential to transform operations.
Following interesting presentations, the panel discussion included: Duncan Russell (Ocado Technology), Andrea Gasparri (Roma Tre University), Alberto Sanfeliu (The Technical University of Catalonia), Daniel Serrano (Eurecat), Dmytro Romanov (Norwegian University of Life Sciences), Tamás Haidegger (Óbuda University), Vivi Nousi (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)), sharing their projects and points of views inside the Agri food sector. This workshop was hosted by Gizem Bozdemir and Carolina Andrade (PAL Robotics) who acted as a moderator.
Have you ever touched a robot? Try it out!
29 of June from 9:50 to 11:40
This session focussed on learning how to use different robots through a user-friendly panel where anyone can easily learn how to operate a sophisticate robot. In this workshop, Carlos Vivas, PAL Robotics’ Business Manager, with the assistance of Robotics Software Engineer, David Ter Kuile, taught those attending how to PAL Robotics’ platforms ARI, TIAGo++ and TIAGo OMNI Base through the user-friendly WebGUI platform.
Humanoid & legged robots: Future expectations
29 of June from 15:50 to 17:10
In this workshop, our CEO, Francesco Ferro, opened the discussion on the future role of humanoid and legged robots in society.
The panel discussion included: Daniele Pucci (Fondazione Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia), Nicolas Mansard (LAAS-CNRS), Lars Dalgaard (Danish Technological Institute), Jean-Baptiste Mouret (INRIA) and Francesco Ferro (PAL Robotics), approaching different points of views and projects in relation to humanoids and Legged robots.
Francesco closed this session by sharing the developments of PAL Robotics’ TALOS in the EU project MEMMO, TIAGo++ and EU project CANOPIES, REEM-C and the project Eurobench, and lastly, new developments to SOLO 12 and Kangaroo robots.
Healthcare, sustainability and AI technology: Workshops we joined as guest speakers at ERF 2022
HEALTHCARE: Robotic technology leading to better healthcare for all
28 of June from 10:20 to 11:40
The main topic shared in this session was how robotic technology can help with the development of the healthcare sector. Our Head of Collaborative Projects, Sarah Terreri, shared developments of PAL Robotics’ TIAGo Base in the DIH-HERO project, Fast AV, to help in hospitals. We were very happy to join this workshop hosted by Francoise Siepel.
ELSE: The Reluctant Entrepreneur: Why should I start a robotics company?
28 of June from 10:20 to 11:40
The emphasis here was on starting a robotics company and the challenges and opportunities involved. Francesco Ferro represented PAL Robotics as a company, explaining the development of the different ranges of robots that PAL Robotics offers to clients. We would like to thank Geoff Pegman, we were delighted to participate in his workshop.
SUSTAINABILITY: Social Robots: The Duality of Sustainability and Societal Applications
29 of June from 9:50 to 10:30
In this engaging workshop, expert speakers shared their knowledge and developments towards building a more sustainable environment within the robotics sector. Francesco Ferro, representing PAL Robotics, discussed sustainable social robots and applications, including the principles of sustainable robot design. This workshop was organised by Amit Kumar Pandey, and we were very happy to take part.
A Future with Avatar robots at the exhibition floor
29 of June from 9:50 to 11:40
This panel discussion, organised by Douwe Dresscher, emphasised the importance of avatar robots in our society, including topics such as avatar assistance, avatars helping in crisis situations, and security. Francesco Ferro took part in the panel discussion.
INNOVATION AND B2B: DIH-HERO Success Stories of Innovation Coaching and Matchmaking
29 of June from 11:40 to 13:00
Maren Bödding hosted this workshop, where she shared some of their recent success stories. Sarah Terreri, our Head of Collaborative Projects, also presented the SANDRo and Fast AV projects that the team at PAL Robotics has worked on together with DIH-HERO.
ROBOTICS AND AI / DATA: The need of AI and Robotics
29 of June from 15:50 to 17:10
This workshop on AI/DATA and Robotics was hosted by Niki Kousi. In this session, Carlos Vivas, our Business Manager, shared AI developments from the EU projects that our robots take part in in the fields of healthcare and industry, such as SHAPES, SPRING, OpenDr, and Evolved-5G.
ELSE: The drive towards integration of Robot Companions in future societies
30 of June from 8:30 to 9:50
This workshop session focussed on robot companions or cobots and their contribution to society. PAL Robotics’ Francesco Ferro, shared some of our collaborative projects such as: SeCoIIA, Evolved-5G, and SHAPES with the development of each project where our company works towards the integration of cobots for healthcare and industry. We are very grateful to Paolo Dario for inviting us to this workshop.
Agile Production: Mobile Manipulators – the Gap between Reality and Expectation
30 of June from 10:20 to 11:40
Mathias Brandstötter put together a group of relevant speakers to share their insights about mobile manipulation, and PAL Robotics was very happy to take part in this session. Sarah Terrreri, our Head of Collaborative Projects, shared PAL Robotics’ experience with manipulation tasks in the Healthcare sector.
Our robots at the ERF 2022!
This year our Robotic team at the ERF 2022 were: ARI, TIAGo Base, TIAGo OMNI Base, TIAGo Conveyor and TIAGo++, which travelled to Rotterdam with us for the event.
Let’s talk Collaborative
We take part in many collaborative projects, which we shared during the event. Here are some of our current projects we are involved in that were featured at this year’s ERF:
- CANOPIES has the goal of developing a Human-Robot prototype in crop farming (Agri-Food) within a table grape vineyard.
- SHAPES works on the deployment of digital solutions to support independent living for older individuals and includes pilots of robot ARI in homes.
- SPRING is working on the adaptation of Socially Assistive Robots including ARI in different user cases in a hospital environment.
- SCAFo covers fleet management for the food processing industry and includes our robot TIAGo Base, with the development and testing of the solution over 17 months.
- Evolved 5G includes testing Network Applications (NetApps) as well as, validating, and certifying in an experimentation platform.
- OpenDR has the main goal of harnessing deep learning to provide advanced perception and cognition abilities in robotics.
Collaborate with us?
If you’re searching for new project partners, don’t hesitate to ask us more – at PAL Robotics we are passionate about the value of collaborative projects for sharing knowledge and innovation. We are always looking for new opportunities to collaborate, so contact us today to find out more!
To read more news about our work and research, don’t forget to check our blog!
We would like to thank all of our partners, workshop hosts, workshop speakers, and European robotics colleagues once again for what was a great ERF event!
Would you like to know how last year’s ERF event went? Read about it here.