PAL Robotics’ CEO Francesco Ferro appointed to the Board of Director of Adra
We are proud to announce that PAL Robotics’ CEO Francesco Ferro has been appointed to the new Board of Directors of the Adra – AI-Data-Robotics-Association (AI, Data, Robotics Association) in the General Assembly election representing PAL Robotics through euRobotics. In a public-private partnership with the European Commission, Adra drives innovation and acceptance of new technologies. Under the leadership of President Marina Bill (Group Vice President of ABB), Adra covers three areas of competence – Robotics (euRobotics aisbl) , Big Data (BDVA – Big Data Value Association), and Artificial Intelligence ( CLAIRE, ELLIS – European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems and European Artificial Intelligence Association).
The directors for industry, alongside our CEO Francesco Ferro, are Rich Walker, Director of Shadow Robot, and Anne Waltenberger, Global Head of CX Marketing at ABB, Konstantina Bereta, Senior Researcher at MarineTraffic, Nozha Boujemaa, Global VP, Digital Ethics & Responsible AI at IKEA, and Seppo Tikkanen, Senior Ecosystem Lead at DIMECC Oy, Emanuela Girardi, CEO at AI Value CA Group, Stefan Leijnen, Senior Advisor for Research, Innovation and International Affairs at Nederlandse AI Coalitie | NL AIC, and Clemens Wasner, CEO at EnliteAI GmbH.
For the directors for research, the General Assembly elected as directors Jon Agirre Ibarbia, Head of Strategic Research Programmes for Manufacturing and Robotics at Tecnalia, Christophe Leroux, Manager European Affairs at CEA Paris-Saclay, and Juha Röning, Professor at the University of Oulu, Freek Bomhof, Senior Consultant at TNO, Edward Curry, Professor of Data Science at the University of Galway, and Director at Insight SFI Research Centre for Data Analytics, and Stefan Van Baelen, Senior Manager Public Funding at Imec, Fredrik Heintz, Professor at Linköping University, Morten Irgens, Vice President of Research at Kristiania University College, and Petri Myllymäki, Professor at the University of Helsinki.
About Adra (The AI, Data and Robotics Association)
The AI, Data, and Robotics Association (Adra, asbl) was founded on May 21, 2021, by five European organisations: BDVA, CLAIRE, ELLIS, EurAI and euRobotics .
Adra was created as the private side of the European Partnership on AI, Data and Robotics, one of the European Partnerships in Cluster 4 (digital, industry, and space) in Horizon Europe. The Partnership was officially launched when Adra signed an MoU with the European Commission on June 23, 2021.
To deliver the greatest benefit to Europe from AI, Data and Robotics, this Partnership aims to drive innovation, acceptance and uptake of these technologies.
By 2030, European sovereignty is expected in the development and deployment of trustworthy, safe and robust AI, Data and Robotics, compatible with EU values and regulations.
Both of the Horizon 2020 partnerships, Big Data Value PPP and SPARC PPP, achieved high impact by enhancing cohesion and engagement within the Data and Robotics ecosystems and communities. This Partnership builds on the work of these prior partnerships and the broader European AI community.
This Partnership is the European focal point for AI, Data and Robotics, and the entry point for organisations willing to collaborate and shape directly with the European Commission the direction these three domains of application will take.
PAL Robotics’ AI, data and robotics related activities
AI
At PAL Robotics we develop various AI applications in our robots together with our partners, many of which are within EU research projects to foster new use cases in robotics. Our robots provide embodiment to different AI solutions to allow them to go further and interact with users in real-world scenarios, such as in healthcare and ambient assisted living. Our challenge is to have more and more service robots in the real world collaborating and interacting with humans in daily tasks.
Data
At PAL Robotics, our solutions integrate with the environment of our users and customers, creating various ecosystems that generate large amounts of data – and connect to – our various robotic platforms. As an example, our social humanoid robot ARI is suitable for Smart Cities and IoT – this can include data analysis and gathering biometric data and environmental data. Another example is our StockBot inventory tracking and data-collection robot for use in retail that handles data for improving the efficiency that helps contribute to cost savings for retailers.
Robotics
PAL Robotics’ research has led to the creation of several biped and wheeled humanoid robots. Today the team at PAL Robotics is focused on: bipedal legged robots for R&D – such as TALOS and Kangaroo (torque control robots), independent mobile robots for logistics and inventory tracking – such as TIAGo Base and StockBot, mobile manipulators for assistive and industrial applications – such as TIAGo, and social humanoid robotics, such as ARI, for interaction with people and use in public spaces.
About PAL Robotics: enhancing people’s quality of life through service robotics
Our mission is to enhance people’s quality of life through service robotics and automation technologies. Since 2004, we have designed and manufactured highly integrated and reliable solutions for service industries and research institutions worldwide.
We help our clients incorporate robotics into their organisations, fully adapted to their project and or business needs. We are also involved in numerous collaborative projects and we provide expert solutions for industry, logistics, healthcare and retail. We are a leader in humanoid robotics developments in Europe and we are one of the founding members of the euRobotics Association.
Visit the PAL Robotics website to find out more about us, the research projects we take part in, and our robotic platforms. To ask more don’t hesitate to contact us. To stay up-to-date with PAL Robotics and our work, remember to visit our blog.