Gearing Up and Accelerating Cross‐fertilization between Academic and Industrial Robotics Research in Europe:: Technology Transfer Experiments from the ECHORD Project

347 Pages·2014·43.7 MB·English

by  Florian Röhrbein

Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics 94
Florian Röhrbein
Germano Veiga
Ciro Natale Editors
Gearing Up and Accelerating
Cross-Fertilization between
Academic and Industrial
Robotics Research in Europe
Technology Transfer Experiments
from the ECHORD Project
Second Edition
Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics 94
Editors
Prof.BrunoSiciliano Prof.OussamaKhatib
DipartimentodiIngegneriaElettrica ArtificialIntelligenceLaboratory
eTecnologiedell’Informazione DepartmentofComputerScience
UniversitàdegliStudidiNapoli StanfordUniversity
FedericoII Stanford,CA94305-9010
ViaClaudio21,80125Napoli USA
Italy E-mail:[email protected]
E-mail:[email protected]
Forfurthervolumes:
http://www.springer.com/series/5208
EditorialAdvisoryBoard
OliverBrock,TUBerlin,Germany
HermanBruyninckx,KULeuven,Belgium
RajaChatila,ISIR-UPMC&CNRS,France
HenrikChristensen,GeorgiaTech,USA
PeterCorke,QueenslandUniv.Technology,Australia
PaoloDario,ScuolaS.AnnaPisa,Italy
RüdigerDillmann,Univ.Karlsruhe,Germany
KenGoldberg,UCBerkeley,USA
JohnHollerbach,Univ.Utah,USA
MakotoKaneko,OsakaUniv.,Japan
LydiaKavraki,RiceUniv.,USA
VijayKumar,Univ.Pennsylvania,USA
SukhanLee,SungkyunkwanUniv.,Korea
FrankPark,SeoulNationalUniv.,Korea
TimSalcudean,Univ.BritishColumbia,Canada
RolandSiegwart,ETHZurich,Switzerland
GauravSukhatme,Univ.SouthernCalifornia,USA
SebastianThrun,StanfordUniv.,USA
YangshengXu,ChineseUniv.HongKong,PRC
Shin’ichiYuta,TsukubaUniv.,Japan
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·
Florian Röhrbein Germano Veiga
Ciro Natale
Editors
Gearing Up and Accelerating
Cross-Fertilization between
Academic and Industrial
Robotics Research in Europe
Technology Transfer Experiments
from the ECHORD Project
Second Edition
ABC
Editors
FlorianRöhrbein CiroNatale
DepartmentofInformaticsVI DipartimentodiIngegneria
TechnischeUniversitätMünchen Industrialeedell’Informazione
Boltzmannstr.3 SecondaUniversitàdegli
85748Garching StudidiNapoli
Germany ViaRoma29
fl[email protected] 81031Aversa
Italy
GermanoVeiga [email protected]
InescPorto
FeupCampus
RuaDr.RobertoFrias,378
4200-465Porto
Portugal
[email protected]
ISSN1610-7438 ISSN1610-742X (electronic)
ISBN 978-3-319-03837-7 ISBN978-3-319-03838-4 (eBook)
DOI10.1007/978-3-319-03838-4
SpringerChamHeidelbergNewYorkDordrechtLondon
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2013951244
(cid:2)c SpringerInternationalPublishingSwitzerland2014
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Foreword
Roboticsisundergoingamajortransformationinscopeanddimension.Fromalargely
dominantindustrialfocus,roboticsisrapidlyexpandingintohumanenvironmentsand
vigorouslyengagedin itsnew challenges.Interactingwith,assisting, serving,andex-
ploringwithhumans,theemergingrobotswillincreasinglytouchpeopleandtheirlives.
Beyonditsimpactonphysicalrobots,thebodyofknowledgeroboticshasproduced
isrevealingamuchwiderrangeofapplicationsreachingacrossdiverseresearchareas
andscientificdisciplines,suchas:biomechanics,haptics,neurosciences,virtualsimula-
tion,animation,surgery,andsensornetworksamongothers.Inreturn,thechallengesof
thenewemergingareasareprovinganabundantsourceofstimulationandinsightsfor
thefieldofrobotics.Itisindeedattheintersectionofdisciplinesthatthemoststriking
advanceshappen.
TheSpringerTractsinAdvancedRobotics(STAR)isdevotedtobringingtothe re-
search community the latest advances in the robotics field on the basis of their sig-
nificance and quality. Through a wide and timely dissemination of critical research
developmentsinrobotics,ourobjectivewiththisseriesistopromotemoreexchanges
and collaborationsamong the researchers in the communityand contribute to further
advancementsinthisrapidlygrowingfield.
The monographby Florian Röhrbein,GermanoVeigaand Ciro Natale is an edited
collection of fifteen authoritative contributions in the area of robot technology trans-
fer from industry to academia which stemmed from the results of ECHORD (Euro-
peanClearingHouseforOpenRoboticsDevelopment),alarge-scaleintegratingproject
fundedbytheEuropeanCommissionwithinthe7thFrameworkProgrammefrom2009
to2013.
ECHORD developed the metaphor of the structured dialogue into a powerful in-
teractioninstrumentbetweenthestakeholders.Thiswasparticularlyimportantforthe
broadgoal-directeddiscussionofafutureresearchanddevelopmentagendathatreflects
industryneedsand interests of researchers.To thatpurpose,the ECHORD Coordina-
tion Committee was assisted by an Advisory Board, consisting of nine distinguished
internationalexpertsfrombothresearchandindustry,whogaverecommendationsfor
generalresearchparametersandareas,goals,andnewchallengesduringthecourseof
theproject.Excerptsfromtheirtestimoniesarecollectedinthenextsection.
Theresultsdescribedinthevolumeareexpectedtoshedanewlightoninnovation
andtechnologytransferfromacademiatoindustryinthefieldofrobotics.Afineaddi-
tiontoSTAR!
September2013 BrunoSiciliano
Naples,Italy STAREditor
Testimonies
“Economichealth is a Europewide priority.Europeis proudof its recordin robotics
research covering a broad portfolio of topics. Research is expensive and clearly it is
important for present and future economic growth, jobs and the developmentof new
markets that the fruits of research programmes, and associated skills and expertise,
are productively harnessed. The ECHORD initiative has provided a foundation for a
pragmaticmechanismtolinkacademicandindustrialintereststostimulaterealoppor-
tunitiesontheroadtodevelopingnewproducts.”
ChrisMelhuish
DirectorofBristolRoboticsLaboratory,UniversityofBristolandtheUniversityofthe
WestofEngland
“Robotics stems from a tension between technology and science ... The tension
echoes the challenge of promoting coherent research and development programs in
robotics. How to gather theorists and practitioners? How to stimulate a synergy be-
tween academia and industry? These are the fundamental questions to be answered
to give roboticsa realimpacton the society.ECHORD has introducedthe innovative
conceptofsmallandeasytomanageexperimentsgatheringoneacademiclabandone
company.”
Jean-PaulLaumond
DirecteurdeRecherche,LAAS-CNRSToulouse
“Academia, by its very natureis the naturalbasin where these ideas come to life, but
then it is in the industry that these find their application. Following this reasoning
ECHORD is one of the most innovative ideas that have occurred in the last period,
allowing a huge dock of diverse experiments to establish new industry-academia re-
lations, permitting to carry out research in various areas of robotics from industry to
service.”
GianPaoloGerio
PerformanceEngineeringManager,COMAUS.p.A.BURobotics&Service
“Collaborationbetweenacademiaandindustryisrecognizedasanimportantcontribu-
tortotechnologyinnovationinbroadrangeofdomains.Thisfactiscertainlymostcrit-
ical in robotics, a field that is both multidisciplinary and technology-driven... From
VIII Testimonies
the initial joint exploration of a new robotic application, through the research devel-
opmentand validation,to the rich bilateraltransfer of knowledge,ECHORD enabled
meaningfulpartnershipswithmanysuccessfuloutcomes.Theprojecthasbeenalsovery
successfulatdisseminationbothinthepublicmediaandintheresearchcommunity.”
OussamaKhatib
ProfessorofRobotics,StanfordUniversity
“AnimportantpointforthesuppliersofequipmenttoECHORDwastheopportunityto
exposeyoungresearcherstotheirequipment.Often,theseyoungscientistsoftodaymay
bethedecision-makingengineersoftomorrow,givingusabetterdegreeofaccesstothe
communityofusersofindustrialrobotsthroughimprovedfamiliaritywithourproducts.
Thisaspectisnotonlyacompetitiveone... butinthiswaywecanbeoptimisticthat
newapplicationsofindustrialrobotswillbedevelopedwithahigherintensity.”
BjörnMatthias
SeniorPrincipalScientist,RoboticAutomationABBAG
“The structured dialogue has further helped to strengthen relations between industry
and academia. Especially the visits to research labs around the world and the intense
discussionsatmanyvenueshelpedtobringtogetherresearchersandpractitioners.With
theseelements,theECHORDprojecthasdefinedanewformatforEuropeanpublicly
fundedprojects.”
LotharBaum
RobertBoschGmbHCorporateResearch
“IbelievethatECHORD generatedatechnologypushinroboticsthatwasneverseen
before.Itgeneratedalotoffollow-upcollaborationsandIamsurethatitsimpactwill
lastformanyyears.Iwouldliketocongratulateonthecoordinatorsfortheirvisionand
dedication,theEuropeanCommissionfortakingtheriskwithanovelfundingmodel,
andalltheengineersandresearchersfortheiroutstandingresults.”
RolandSiegwart
ProfessorforRoboticsandVicePresidentforResearchandCorporateRelations,ETH
Zürich
“As discussed in this volume, the human robot co-worker is a key enabler for future
robotapplications.Particularlyinan advancedmaturedsocietylike Europe,onemust
removefencesforrobotstoworksidebysidewithhumans.Yet,atpresent,European
Testimonies IX
safety regulation does not allow removing fences. Countries that could solve social
acceptance of human robot co-workers will acquire a fruit of novel working style of
humansaswellasrobotsintheagingsocietyofthefuture.”
HirochikaInoue
ProfessorEmeritus,TheUniversityofTokyo
“The experiments reported in this book describe the improvements in moving robot
demonstratorstowards practical usability, in addition to promising technologybreak-
throughsintheareasofsensors,actuators,advancedcontrol,reasoningandtaskbased
systems that make robots safe to use with people in complex and dynamic environ-
ments. I highly recommend this book to readers who are interested in knowing how
innovationcanworkinthefieldofrobotics.”
AlexZelinsky
ChiefDefenceScientistofAustraliaDefenceScience&TechnologyOrganisation
Preface
Thisvolumeisaneditedcollectionof15high-valuescientificcontributionsstemming
fromtheresultsof15smallscaleprojects,theso-called‘experiments’,selectedamong
thosefundedwithintheECHORDproject‘EuropeanClearingHouseforOpenRobotics
Development’supportedbythe EuropeanCommissionunderthe SeventhFramework
Programme.
The idea of such a research project originates from several discussions within the
European robotics community about the possibility of advancing European robotics
researchthroughaunique,newapproach–onewhichinvolvesintenseinteractionbe-
tween academia and industry. Even though Europe has a very strong robot industry,
significant world-class research potential, as well as technological knowledge spread
throughoutEurope,findingcommongroundbetweenrobotmanufacturersandresearch
institutionshasbeendifficultinthepast.
The ECHORD project was started with the goal of bridging this gap. Looking at
previous successful collaborations between robot manufacturers and research institu-
tions, one can identifythree factorswhich led to successful technologytransfer:(i) a
concreteproblemwas bothrelevantto a manufacturerand scientifically interestingto
researchers;(ii)thespecificcompetencesofbothsideswerereallychallenged;(iii)the
manufacturer provided state of the art equipment, so that the researchers’ work was
carriedoutonthemanufacturers’equipment.
Usingthisasabasis,ECHORDdevelopeditstwomainconcepts–the‘experiment’
and the ‘structured dialogue’. In order to fuel the knowledge exchange between re-
searchers and manufacturers the path that would reap the most benefits would be to
emulatetheimportantaspectsthatmadethepreviouscollaborationssuccessful,inother
words,dowhattheydidright,evenexpand,andimproveonit.Experimentsweresmall-
scalefundedprojectslasting12to18months,inwhichresearchersandmanufacturers
collaborated on a specific, concrete challenge – using state-of-the-artequipmentpro-
videdbythemanufacturer.Thestructureddialoguecanbeseenasaniterativeprocess
of successive information gathering and consensus finding between all stakeholders.
The guiding principle was “information aggregation and densification”. Ideas gath-
ered in polls, web consultations, expertmeetings and lab tours, were synthesised and
re-distributedtostakeholdersalongwithspecificquestionsfordiscussionandthensum-
marisedinawhitepaperofworkinghypotheses.
Thechaptersinthisvolumeareatestimonytothefactthatsuchafundingstrategy
can actually be effective and, excitinglyenough,this is the case independentlyof the
particularapplicationathand.Infact,the15chapterscoveralmostallthetopicsnowa-
daysconsidered‘hot’withintheroboticscommunity,fromreliableobjectrecognition