Founded in 1996, Gesellschaft für Hebe- und Handhabungstechnik (EFS) is a German specialist for handling systems and an innovation and technology leader in this market sector. The design and production is done according to customer specifications.

EFS will contribute their specific knowledge about the design of collaborative workspaces in terms of safety, ergonomic aspects and official regulations and standards that need to be fulfilled. As a built-to-order manufacturer, it can also support the design of the robot structure and arm modules.

Founded in 2009, Premium Aerotec is a market leader as a component supplier for the aircraft industry. It produces structures of aluminium, titanium or carbon and develops new manufacturing techniques, which have a deep impact on the development of new aircrafts.

In the assembly of big parts for the aircrafts repetitive tasks like the gluing of several hundred clips in un-ergonomic positions stress the workers. Highly automated systems are not suitable for the production because of the high number of variants. Therefore Aerotec is to implement a process where the worker is assisted by a robot, to reduce process time, and improve quality as well as work conditions.

Alfa Precision Casting (APC) is part of the industrial division of Alfa Group, a corporation that has been in the market for more than 90 years. APC is specialized in the manufacturing of metal parts by the investment casting technology, with three different activity areas:

• Steel investment casting, basically oriented to the automotive industry, as well as to other sectors like elevators, machine-tool components, etc
• Aluminium and superalloy investment casting, basically oriented to the aeronautic and defence sectors
• Precision machining of low series of cast parts

APC develops in-house the whole investment casting process, from tooling design and fabrication to the manufacturing and finishing of the parts, including quality control. For this purpose, the company is equipped with cutting-edge manufacturing technology: wax injectors, lining chain and robot, autoclave for wax removal, pre-heating ovens, melting furnaces, cleaning machines, heat treatment furnaces, dimensional checking devices and non-destructive control equipment with x-ray diffraction and dye penetrate facilities.

Woll-Maschinenbau is a German company which develops and produces special machinery, assembly lines and manufacturing equipment worldwide. Its customers mainly belong to the automotive, pharmaceutical, food and electronic industries.

As a manufacturer of special machinery, the high number of variants and the small batch sizes is a challenge, especially for the automation of welding processes. These welding tasks are usually done manually, because a big effort is necessary for the automation. WOLL wishes to design a more efficient process. A collaborative workspace shared between human and machine is a suitable solution to achieve a flexible and customized automation.

STODT is a Dutch non-profit independent manufacturing application centre, set up to help businesses improve their production and engineering processes and thereby achieve lasting higher returns. For professional training, consulting, engineering, prototyping or innovation, STODT supports small and mid-sized companies in achieving better performance in cost control, time-to-market, product quality and craftsmanship, with focus on machining, mechatronics and automation.

A DFKI SpinOff Company.

Founded in 2012 as a spin off company of the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), Ground Truth Robotics offers world class robotic solutions for rough terrain and hostile environments. Being the exploitation partner of DFKI Robotics Innovations Center, GTR provides the necessary reimplementation, hardening, and development of promising concepts and ideas, before offering them to the market. By this GTR completes the value chain of DFKI.

The Centre for Advanced Robotics at Queen Mary (ARQ) is a cross-faculty multidisciplinary research centre at Queen Mary University of London. ARQ aims to bring Queen Mary robotics activities under one roof, increasing visibility, facilitating collaboration, public engagement and moving towards critical mass. ARQ’s activities spans across the School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science (EECS), the School of Engineering and Material Science (SEMS), School of Biological and Chemical Sciences and Medical faculty.