FourByThree proposes the development of a new generation of modular industrial robotic solutions that are suitable for efficient task execution in collaboration with humans in a safe way and are easy to use and program by the factory workers.

The project was active for three years, December 2014-2017.

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News

Official FourByThree kick-off meeting in Brussels

January 12, 2015

Next Thursday, January 15th 2014, the official kick-off meeting of the FourByThree project will be held in Brussels. All 15 partners involved will send a representative, who will be in charge of presenting their organization’s profile as well as their contribution to the project, and explaining the work packages they are involved in. Project Officer Jan Ramboer will attend the meeting.

This gathering will also be an excelent chance to resume questions that arised last month in the plenary meeting, including some technical aspects. In the picture, a family photo from this first meeting in IK4-TEKNIKER’s facilities in Eibar, Gipuzkoa, Spain.

FourByThree plenary meeting in Eibar

December 17, 2014

Today and tomorrow, December 17th and December 18th 2014, a plenary meeting of the FourByThree project will be held in Eibar, Gipuzkoa, Spain. Project leader IK4-TEKNIKER hosts the meeting, which includes presentations on each of the work packages as well as a tour to the research centre’s facilities. Another visit to Alfa Precision Casting’s facilities is planned. This will be the starting point to discuss the pilot implementations of the project.

The plenary meeting will be an excelent occasion for partners to gather a general view of the FourByThree project and to start working on its first stages. In mid-January 2015, the official kick-off meeting of the project will take place in Brussels.

15 European partners will build the robots of the future

December 1, 2014

The European project FourByThree kicks off today, December 1st 2014. It is an alliance made up of 15 European partners who will design, build and test pioneering robotic solutions able to collaborate safely and efficiently with human operators in industrial manufacturing companies. The project, which will last for 36 months, has a total budget of 6.9 million euros and is partly funded by the EU within the European Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, Horizon 2020.

FourByThree responds to the demand that robots used in industry do not only provide accuracy and efficiency, but are also able to ensure safety when collaboration between operator and robot is required, even when the workspace is shared. Thanks to the development of innovative hardware and software, the robotic solutions proposed by FourByThree will be modular, safe, usable and efficient.

The 15 partners that make up the project are research centres, industrial and technological companies and a university (King’s College London), located in Spain, Germany, Italy, Finland, Holland and the United Kingdom. The project coordinator is Spain-based research alliance IK4-TEKNIKER. In mid-January 2015 the official project launch meeting will be held in Brussels.

Technology watch

Yaskawa presents HC10 – Human Collaborative robot

October 25, 2016

Source: Yaskawa

El mercado de robots colaborativos, cobots, crecerá un 60% anual hasta 2022

October 20, 2016

Source: Manutención y almacenaje

Rápido retorno de la inversión, precios más asequibles y aumento de la inversión en automatización, son los principales impulsores del rápido crecimiento de los robots colaborativos o cobots, para los que MarketsandMarkets pronostica un espectacular crecimiento en los próximos seis años.

El mercado mundial de los robots colaborativos puede crecer un 60,04% anual entre 2016 y 2022, partiendo de un volumen de negocio de 110M$ US en 2015 a 3,3 BN$US en 2022, según las previsiones de la consultora tecnológica MarketsandMarkets en su informe “Collaborative Robots Market by Payload (Up to 5 Kg, Up to 10 Kg, & Above 10 Kg), Application, Industry and Geography – Global Forecast to 2022“.

Yumi, el cobot de ABB

La creciente demanda de este tipo de robots, o cobots, la basa la consultora en un mayor retorno de la inversión; su bajo precio que está atrayendo a las Pymes y el aumento de las inversiones en automatización en las industrias. Se espera que el mercado en la industria de la automoción, muebles y equipamiento crezca rápidamente, especialmente en Asia Pacífico señalan. Ya en 2015 la industria de la automoción representó la mayor parte del mercado de los robots colaborativos, se espera su introducción también en el metal mecanizado, alimentos y bebidas, plásticos, etc., gracias a la seguridad que proporcionan.

Las normas ISO han impulsado el mercado europeo

Por regiones, Europa presentó la mayor cuota en 2015 para diferentes aplicaciones, debido en parte a la definición de normas de seguridad desarrolladas por ISO (International Organization for Standartization) y RIA (Robotic Industries Association). El segundo gran mercado fue el de Asia Pacífico, que se espera supere a Europa en 2018.

La consultora ha hecho un estudio exhaustivo de acuerdo a diferentes parámetros por tipo de compañía, designación y región, con los datos de las principales empresas como ABB (Suiza), Kuka (Alemania), Fanuc (Japón), Robert Bosch (Alemania), Universal Robots (Dinamarca), Rethink Robots (EUA), Energid Technologies, (USA), Precise Automation (USA), MRK Systeme (Alemania) y otros.