Social industrial collaborative environments integrating AI, Big Data and Robotics for smart manufacturing

"Global economic crises and the COVID19 pandemic have dictated manufacturing firms to rethink their production and business models. Production systems need to adopt both human and automated resources that can work together seamlessly. As a response, CONVERGING aims to Develop, deploy, validate and promote smart and reconfigurable production systems including multiple autonomous agents (collaborative robots, AGVs, humans) that are able to act in diverse production environments. The diversifying factors will be a multi-level AI based cognition (line, station, resource levels) which will exploit the collective perception (Digital Pipeline) of these resources, allowing them to interact with each other and seamlessly coexist with humans under a ""social industrial environment"" that ensures trustful, safe and inclusive user experience

The project proposes the development of systems that can:

1. Perceive: Identify and recognize processes/resources/environment and their status by introducing Big Data, Real Time Integration & Communication Architecture, Digital Twins and Human in the Loop techniques

2. Reason: Analyze the production system status and autonomously formulate plan of actions using AI, Planning and Reconfiguration Algorithms as well as Resource Autonomy solutions

3. Adapt: Automatically modify h/w and control systems to execute the formulated plans through the use of Robotics and Autonomous Systems, Smart Devices and Adaptable Mechatronics

4. Collaborate: Seamlessly work with humans or other resources establishing a social industrial environment which exploits Smart Human Machine Collaboration, User experience assessment and User centric workplace design

5. Innovate: Expand its capabilities and Openness via an Open Pilot Network as well as links to local and international innovation ecosystems

CONVERGING will demonstrate its results in the Automotive, Aircraft Production, White Goods and Additive Manufacturing products processing sectors.

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