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SecondHands is the Robotic Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation project

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SecondHands is the robotic Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation project, with the aim to design a robot that can offer help to a maintenance technician in a pro-active manner. The project researchers and developers see this robot as a second pair of hands that can assist the technician when he/she is in need of help. To operate within environments designed primarily for industrial efficiency, but centered around a human workforce, a robot should possess a rich repertoire of human-like skills, and probably a humanoid or human-like form, specifically in order to use the same methods of access.

The project revolves around four fundamental concepts:

  • the design of a new robotic assistant;
  • a knowledge base to facilitate proactive help;
  • a high degree of human-robot interaction;
  • advanced perception skills to function in a highly dynamic industrial environment.

SecondHands aimed to develop a robot assistant that is trained to understand maintenance tasks so that it can either pro-actively, or as a result of prompting, offer assistance to automation maintenance technicians performing routine and preventative maintenance. Conceptually the robot’s task is to provide a second pair of hands to the maintenance technician, such that once the robot has been trained, it can predict when it can usefully provide help and knows which actions to take to provide it.

In general, industrial automation is designed to incorporate as little flexibility as necessary to perform its core function – the basic concept of a production line. In an industrial environment, flexibility is traded for simplicity and repeatability in order to leverage efficiency. However, even these simple and efficient automated systems still require maintenance, as they cannot maintain themselves. The industrial sites that house these systems are often designed with only secondary consideration given to maintenance tasks and the necessary access by a human. There is usually no consideration of enabling an access to a robot.

The project was developed under the auspices of a consortium of researchers and computer scientists from a number of organizations, including Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL); Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT); Sapienza, University of Rome; University College London (UCL); and Ocado Technology, the technology division of the U.K.’s online-only grocery giant Ocado.

More project information on the Secon Hands project web site here https://secondhands.eu

Project Video Url on YouTube https://youtu.be/-KF5XSSTn_o

Second Hands YouTube Playlist https://secondhands.eu/index.php/gallery/

Slides summarizing the project objectives https://secondhands.eu/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/SecondHands_ERF_Vienna_2015_WithLogos.pdf

More showcases from the trials can be found here https://venturebeat.com/2020/05/05/eu-robotics-project-gives-maintenance-workers-a-second-pair-of-hands/

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Reskilling workforces to emerge from COVID-19 crisis

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COVID-19 has forced many workers to review ways of collaborating with their companies, and managers are finding that, after an adaptation period, this could be confirmed in the long run.

Although this evolution of the way of working was in place even before the current crisis, thanks to the possibilities dictated by technological innovations, the pandemic has accelerated the process. Leaders are now called upon to understand how to reposition the workforce for these changes.

According to an analysis by McKinsey, there are six steps that companies can follow to retrain their staff:

1) quickly identify the skills that are missing and that will serve to re-emerge: it is crucial to map the necessary value drivers and the key roles that need to be retrained, what changes in activities, behaviour and skills are required.

2) develop the skills of the employees for the new business model: the first step is to build a set of skills and a tool kit that will be useful regardless of the specific role of an employee, focusing more on the digital, cognitive, social and adaptability areas.

3) start tailor-made learning paths: with the evolution of the operating model, it is essential to iterate the strategic planning of the workforce to determine the right skills to be developed quickly and on time.

4) initiate, test and correct the aim: the mere fact of starting learning paths makes companies more aware of needs, allows them to test the effectiveness of courses and new skills to mature and improve the quality of training.

5) act as a small company: research shows that small companies (with less than a thousand employees) have greater ease of introducing training innovations and retraining their staff, thanks to their flexibility and a clearer vision of the needs, which allows him to reason faster on priorities.

6) protect the learning budget: use the training budget to enhance skills a key strategic lever to adapt to the next normal. Make training more digital and more accessible to your employees. If necessary, it also uses external training partners.

As evident most of the issues raised by McKinsey apply very well to the activity the NewMetro Consortium is carrying out. The implementation of the Project, which includes as fundamental input the cooperation with all Stakeholders, industries and relevant associations in particular, will be of tremendous impact to solve many of the matters analysed there.

You can read the entire McKinsey study here.

 

Source: https://mck.co/3fVs3wV

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Cancel the 5th International Conference MECHATRONICS: Ideas for Industrial Applications

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In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Organizing Committee of the 5th International Conference MECHATRONICS: Ideas for Industrial Applications has made the decision to cancel the conference within 9-10 September 2020. We made this very difficult but necessary decision to ensure the safety and health of all potential participants during the serious COVID-19 pandemic worldwide.

Equally importantly, by the end of May 2021, we will notify you of the new date and venue of the conference and the updated schedule, including the opportunity to submit abstracts and articles.

While we deeply regret any inconvenience caused by the cancellation of the conference, we will try to make the postponement another opportunity to make the conference more fruitful and successful. At the same time, we hope that you will be able to join us on the new date. Therefore, we would like to ask for further interest and active participation.

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Duty. Devotion. Donation. The 3D printers in the battle with the invisible enemy.

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The academic community of Informatics and Telecommunication Department, University of Ioannina could not stay aloof to the everyday battle that the hospital personnel is giving against COVID-19. With an absolute sense of responsibility and inspired by a sense of solidarity, University of Ioannina participates in the mobilization that latterly takes place by many research organizations in the direction of producing useful sanitary material, utilizing the resources and equipment of its laboratories.

A group of professors, PhD candidates and students of the Department of Informatics and Telecommunications give an everyday battle with time, utilizing 3D printers, resources and other infrastructures of the Department for production of adequate number of protecting masks, which are granted for the needs of University Hospital of Ioannina and other regional hospitals. 

In the time being, the estimated daily production is about 16-20 masks and further improvements will be held in the near future in order to maximize the daily production rate. Being an ongoing process and under the state of time pressure, continuing upgrading of printing parameters and materials design are inevitable in the direction of saving time. 

Moreover, the prospect of printing other disposable materials, which probably will be in shortage in case the number of people affected by coronavirus increases in the region is examined in collaboration with the University Hospital of Ioannina and the Pulmonary Clinic.

It is the Department’s deep belief that Research, Technical Knowledge and Technology that academic institutions hold should be provided to the community’s disposal to cater its needs and contribute to its wellbeing, much more when times and circumstances call for it.

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European Union to digitize the public administration

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The development of digital technologies will represent enormous growth opportunities for the European Union.

According to a recent study by McKinsey, the European Commission in its digital strategy 2020 will allocate investments in AI development of over 20 billion euros per year until 2030, compared to 3.2 billion euros in 2016.

With the advancement of digital technologies, the expectations of businesses and citizens have also increased. However, McKinsey’s analysis shows a lack of digital and technological skills so that the public administration can respond to the need.

McKinsey has classified the critical skills needed in the public sector on three dimensions: technological skills, skills on digital citizenship (for example, digital literacy) and traditional skills (such as problem-solving). And these skills are amongst the ones that the New Metro project is focusing onto.

 

As for technological skills, 1.7 million additional employees will be needed. Besides, the public sector will also have to step up efforts to develop digital citizenship skills significantly. Consequently the proper educational path is required across Europe.

Finally, some traditional skills such as problem solving and creativity, will retain or increase their importance, requiring further development.

To bridge the skills gap and operate in the future in an increasingly digitized and automated world, governments will need to focus on three main activities: recruiting, upskilling and re-skilling. These too are all elements which New Metro is taking into deep consideration.

Recruiting

Improving existing recruitment practices in the public sector will significantly contribute to bridging the future skills gap. It is especially true of highly specialized technical skills such as blockchain development and sophisticated analysis of the data that drives the digital economy. In the current crisis, the public sector could emphasize its appeal to digital specialists by leveraging its skills for the common interest.

Upskilling

All employees should receive regular training to develop their digital citizenship skills and traditional skills.

Governments could complement existing in-person training programs with flexible and scalable e-learning formats to offer more widely accessible training for necessary digital skills, such as digital literacy and collaboration.

Re-skilling

Governments must systematically evaluate which public sector jobs will be most affected by digitization and automation so that they can offer re-skilling.

Since there is greater complexity in terms of re-skilling than upskilling, external partnerships with universities, employment agencies, and other educational institutions will be crucial for the development of adequate training platforms for employees.

You can read the entire McKinsey study here.

Source: https://mck.co/3dba7vW 

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Coronavirus: Italian 3D printers convert a snorkelling mask into a respirator.

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After the 3D printed respiratory valves discussed in another of our posts, an Italian company specialized in 3D printing, has found a way to convert a scuba diving mask into a respirator.

The idea initially flashed to a doctor, became a prototype in seven days, and named “Charlotte Valve”.

The company relaizing it says: «We contacted a well-known sports apparel company, and in a short time, as the creator, manufacturer, and distributor of the Easybreath snorkeling mask, the company immediately became available to collaborate by providing the CAD drawing of the mask we had identified. The product was dismantled, studied, and the changes to be made were evaluated. The new component for the connection to the respirator was then designed and printed in a short time via 3D printing. The prototype as a whole has been tested on one of our colleagues directly at the Chiari Hospital, hooking it to the respirator body, and has proven to be correctly working. “

The mask can be connected directly to oxygen via the wall socket and is useful in emergency rooms, where patients remain for three days waiting for a bed.

They continue: «Anyone can print it for free, provided it is not used for commercial purposes». The Charlotte valve has in fact been patented to avoid any speculation on the price of the component. Still, this patent will remain free to use because the goal is that all hospitals in need can take advantage of it. The company decided to freely share the file for the realization of the fitting in 3D printing.

However, it should be noted that neither the mask nor the valve connection is certified and their use is subject to a situation of mandatory necessity.

The mechatronics technologies at the basis of such implementation are a clear demonstration of how important they are not only in emergency situations like these but in our everyday life and for a myriad of industrial applications and products.

 

source: https://bit.ly/2WfHp6p

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Coronavirus: Italian 3D printers do their part in the battle

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The story, all Italian, told by the BBC (here the article) is exciting.

A hospital in Brescia (north of Italy) had 250 patients with coronavirus in intensive care, and its valve supplier was unable to produce all the valves necessary to cover the need. When an Italian journalist realized this, she put the hospital in contact with the General Manager of Isinnova, a 3D printer company. They went to the hospital for a quick visit and, three hours later, they had produced and tested a 3D printed prototype on a patient.

covid 19

The result? One hundred respiratory valves printed in 24 hours.

Isinnova has also joined forces with another local 3D printer company to meet demand. These companies are working for free, and the operators have been working non-stop for days but with a single thought: to help save lives, and mechatronics is at the basis of such technology and production capabilities.

Source: https://bbc.in/2KExDVN

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Coronavirus: the concrete contribution of Mechatronics Sicilian Companies

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The world is under attack by Coronavirus, and mechatronics is not watching.

A fantastic example of the contribution that mechatronics can and is giving to the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic is the District of Mechatronics in Sicily, which includes 110 companies in the electronics, mechanics, automation and information technology sectors located in every part of the island.

A stock of 230 thousand 80 ml bottles of hand sanitizers in two or three days, 1,000 filtering masks in TNT cotton per day to reach 10,000 per day in 48 hours; 600 3D protective covers per week to reach 1,500 pieces per week. These are the numbers of the production made by 8 of the 110 companies that have been able to immediately convert their factories to do their part in this battle.

The prototypes of the “made in Sicily” devices and the related technical datasheets have been sent to the Regional Manager of Civil Protection. The words of Antonello Mineo, president of the Mechatronics District: “We are overwhelmed with requests from private individuals, but we want to give priority to Civil Protection, to provide support to the many doctors and nurses who are engaged in a relentless fight against COVID-19 and who unfortunately don’t have the necessary quantities of safety devices.” And he adds: “In 48 hours we created a net to be immediately ready to make the prototypes and to acquire the raw material to start the first production batches. Many other companies are already calling us to join the supply chain. This operation aims at giving a concrete response to the emergency.”

Source: https://bit.ly/3eWByLs

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In Italy the demand for specialized technicians is growing, and Technical Institutes can be the answer

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The transition to Industry 4.0 requires a large number of ICT professionals, such as Data Scientist and Innovation Manager.

Having advanced ICT systems is fundamental for the competitiveness of Italian companies, to maintain high product quality and provide value-added services to customers, with rapid production and delivery times. Also, it is essential to work towards increasing the efficiency of the production process.

Two fundamental factors to complete the transition to industry 4.0 must be kept in mind: the presence of ICT services and skills within companies/industries and the desire to continually innovate the approach to production, services and customers.

Consequently, in addition to “classic” profiles, such as ICT technicians, which represent the basis for applying technologies to new operating and analysis methods, new profiles are making their way, requiring a series of transversal skills and, in some cases, process experiences that can be only matured over time.

Data in hand, in Italy about 50% of job offers for IT, telematics, electronic and telecommunication technicians have difficulties in being satisfied, and about 25% are even closed without obtaining applications.

The education system today is not able to produce a sufficient number of profiles for the ICT sectors to meet the needs of the Italian industry. In reality, it is also reasonable because when there is a sector transformation, there is a physiological delay due to the training course (3 or 5 years) compared to when a very marked need arises.

The Technical Institutes provide an excellent compromise to form interesting profiles with shorter times compared to an academic cycle. To date, 90 Technical Institutes are active in Italy, even if they are chosen as a post-diploma course still by a too-small number of graduates. It seems necessary to give more awareness to young people to the potential of the market for these highly specialized figures and the skills they can obtain in the Technical Institutes.

 

source: https://bit.ly/3aqiAtn

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Industry 4.0: in Italy the demand for specialized technicians is growing

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Industry 4.0 is rapidly changing Italian companies, starting with SMEs.

Sabrina De Santis, Federmeccanica’s Education Director interviewed by Il Sole 24ore, the leading Italian business newspaper, says that it is “A revolution that requires new and higher skills, digital skills, some capability in statistics to read the data, lots of problem solving, to name a few, alongside with traditional, technical-scientific ones.”

Federmeccanica’s awareness of the urgency of tackling the training issue comes from this considerations.

“For this reason – De Santis adds – we are partners of the European New Metro project (www.newmetro.eu) – where also the Ministry of Education and the Mechatronics Technical Schools Network are also involved. The New Metro project is developing a new curriculum at EU level, which contaminates more traditional knowledge and new skills aiming at training “super experts” to be employed in our factories.

The process has now reached an irreversible point, and it is crucial that the entire Italian technical and scientific-professional training chain supports it. Focusing on the data, a recent analysis by Confindustria has shown that, in the next three years, the “core” sectors of “Made in Italy” manufacturing will need about 200 thousand professionals, number that at the moment the training chain is not able to guarantee.

The central theme is “high skills”, and they not only concern Italy: from now to 2025, a considerable number of new professionals will be needed in Europe to support Industry 4.0. And soft skills will also take on high importance: from creativity to problem-solving, from the ability to work in team to autonomy/responsibility in the execution of tasks.

 

Source: https://www.ilsole24ore.com/

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