Open Call for up to €248,000 in equity-free funding
The DIH² project actively supports innovative solutions and fresh ideas that enhance manufacturing in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) through the use of robotics. It will fund up to 26 qualifying consortia consisting of at least one SME and one Technology Solution Provider through an Open Call process - with the next one starting in early 2021.
What does it take to qualify?
The Open Call funding process is open to Manufacturing Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and slightly bigger companies with up to 500 employees and a maximum of €100 million in turnover, as well as to systems integrator and technology providers specialised in technology transfer or integration to end users (this includes research and technology organisations, competence centres, Mid-Caps or start-ups). Initially SMEs and Technology Solution Providers are invited to apply individually. After a selection process, they form a consortium consisting of at least one SME and one Technology Solution Provider and then apply for funding of a project that could advance the use of robotics in manufacturing.
We’ve already funded 11 projects
Our first 11 winners were drawn from a range of sectors including food processing, clothing manufacturing, electronics, medical devices and stone processing. A short case on each appears below and provides a good idea of what it takes to qualify.
Successful Open Call consortia in 2020
Each of the following consortia showed that they offer the right robotic stuff when it comes to innovation in SME manufacturing and they will each receive up to €248,000 in equity-free funding. Discover what made them successful.
FIREFIT: Saving time, money and reputation in the Food Industry.
Quality control of processed and packaged foods can be an expensive, wasteful process that involves removing product from the production line and destroying it during testing. Any sub-standard product not detected in this costly process then goes to market, potentially damaging the brand.
RoboWeldAR: Cognitive robotic welding for smarter shipbuilding.
European market share of the global shipbuilding market is small. Because low wages and government subsidies in Asia distort the competitive landscape. However, the introduction of RoboWeldAR could boost Europe’s market share by providing an automated welding solution for
STAR: Stiching and taping assisted by robots in acoustic panel manufacture.
Ways to automate specialised acoustic panel manufacturing were limited. Until now. Industry partners VEN and MAL teamed up to develop and invest in STAR, which will digitise, sensorise and robotise the taping and stitching process required in bespoke acoustic panel manufacture. And part
JS 2 SF: Robotically optimised stone-cutting factory rocks harder.
Keeping a production line both flexible and profitable is a real challenge. Which is why Renier Natuursteen, an SME manufacturing company that produces natural stone products for the building industry teamed up with Optidrive, a technology company and robot integrator. Their experiment
SMB: Modular automated production of customised audio headsets. Sounds good.
How do you take the first steps toward developing a standardised modular automation solution? The SmartMachine Base (SMB) set out to achieve just this and to validate it in a manufacturing use case: the assembly of customised wireless in-ear audio headsets. This is the shared goal of technology
FEATS: Giving efficiency a lift with automated manufacturing transport.
The development of a standard interface for an automated manufacturing transport system was the brainchild of Dalmasys Lda. (Dalma) and Durit Metalurgia Portuguesa do Tungsténio Lda. (Durit). They put together the FEAT consortium to come up with an automation solution capable of optimising
A2CS: Automation lends humans a hand in electronic manufacturing.
The Agile and Adaptable Cobotic System(A2CS) consortium conceived an experiment that combines computer vision technology, robotics and AI to address manufacturing challenges. Their idea is to create flexible, reconfigurable, reusable systems, specifically for electronic product assembly and
CONTRA 2.0: Getting different machines working together as an automated team.
A common feature of factories is the great diversity in the age of their machines, their function and type, and the range of, often incompatible, communication technologies they use. This becomes a problem when a company plans to integrate its infrastructure with the Manufacturing Execution
HWFlexCell: Keeping manufacturing SMEs competitive with affordable automated welding.
Smaller manufactures typically struggle to compete with big players when it comes to factory automation. Technical solution provider Flex Hex intends to level the playing field with a plug & play, automated welding solution, FlexCell. The solution consists of a cell that integrates several hexapods,
AGILPLAS: Providing the vital raw material for plastics manufacturing automation – information.
Plastic manufacturing does not always flow smoothly. In fact, production processes often get clogged and can come to a sudden and expensive halt if a problem is not identified in time. This challenge inspired SME plastic injection manufacturer, XIMA, and technology provider, BOSONIT, to
W2: Improving agility alongside production management systems compatibility.
In modern production facilities we no longer shout to each other. Rather, all information needed for effective plant operation is, usually, collected in absolute silence. By sensors. Inspired by this reality, the W2 consortium chose to call its experiment ‘work-whispers,’ a digitalisation exercise that uses new and existing automation hardware to monitor production data and machine stat