Call for proposals

HORSE project Application Experiments

 

Objective and description

Project HORSE - Smart integrated Robotics system for SMEs controlled by Internet of Things based on dynamic manufacturing processes (http://www.horse-project.eu/), co-funded from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under agreement No 680734, foresees as an eligible activity the provision of financial support to third parties, as means to achieve its own objectives.

 

HORSE aims to bring a leap forward in the manufacturing industry proposing a new flexible model of smart factory involving collaboration of humans, robots, AGV's and machinery to realize industrial tasks in an efficient manner. The main strategy builds on existing technology and research results in robotics and smart factories and integrates them in a coherent and flexible software framework.

 

The HORSE framework is driven by and validated with end-users - manufacturing companies- in two steps:

·         in the first, the framework was jointly developed together with the selected end-users (Pilot Experiments);

·         in the second, its suitability and transferability to further applications will be validated with new end-users recruited via this Open Call.

 

The project calls for contributions that validate the framework in real industrial settings involving nearly autonomous robotics or human-robot collaboration. The experiments are also expected to extend the framework by providing new functionalities (software components) or integrating new robots and other machinery (hardware components). The main goals of the experiments are to validate, extend and refine the framework as well as to maximize the impact of HORSE on the European manufacturing sector. This will be achieved by demonstrating the reusability/generalisability of the use cases to be proposed and by detailing the impact in the specific industry.

 

The Open Call mechanism offers funding opportunities to small, focused projects – “experiments” with a runtime of a maximum 9 months and a budget of maximum 200,000?. Funding will support experiments in real industrial settings involving near autonomous robotics technology or cooperation between humans and robots on a production line with no barriers using the HORSE framework. The goal of the experiments is to validate the HORSE framework by adopting it or some of its elements in manufacturing SMEs, to extend the framework by developing new components and integrating additional hardware support or to increase the potential reach of the framework by adapting it to new areas.

 

Eligible activities

Funding will support Application Experiments in real settings involving near autonomous robotics technology or cooperation between humans and robots on a production line with no barriers using the HORSE framework.

 

The project calls for contributions that validate the framework in real industrial settings involving nearly autonomous robotics or human-robot collaboration. The experiments are also expected to extend the framework by providing new functionalities (software components) or integrating new robots and other machinery (hardware components). The main goals of the experiments are to validate, extend and refine the framework as well as to maximize the impact of HORSE on the European manufacturing sector. This will be achieved by demonstrating the reusability/generalisability of the use cases to be proposed and by detailing the impact in the specific industry. It is of utmost importance for the proposals to tackle human safety issues properly. The safety of the developed system needs to be ensured and validated according to the legal requirements in place (involving safety certification if needed).

 

Considering the purpose of the Open Call it is crucial that the experiments, regardless of the area of application, utilize the HORSE framework to the fullest extent possible. This means that that the proposed experiments need to use the HORSE middleware for communication between the components and the Manufacturing Process Management Software component for modelling and executing the process. The applicants are strongly encouraged to reuse process-specific modules developed within the HORSE project. If development of new components is needed full compatibility with the framework needs to be ensured.

 

Eligible applicants

Because of the expected scope and impact of the experiments the Call welcomes in particular consortia of partners offering complementary, multi-disciplinary competences.

 

Consortia should consist of the end user (a manufacturing SME) and other partners depending on the needs, e.g. research institutions, system integrators and hardware providers.

 

In HORSE, financial support may be provided to any legal entity possessing a validated Participant Identification Code (PIC). At the moment of submission, though, the entity can apply with the provisional PIC. Once these conditions are met, financial support can be given to natural persons, public or private bodies, research organizations, non-profit organizations, small and medium enterprises, international organizations, international organizations of EU interest, established in an EU Member State or in an Associated Country.

 

Budget and duration

The total available budget is EUR 1,400,000. The maximum funding per proposal is limited to EUR 200,000 for an application experiment in total.

 

The non-profit third parties will be funded 100% of their respective direct cost (including 25% indirect costs). Funding for the for profit making third parties is limited to 70% of the respective direct costs (including 25% indirect costs).

 

The runtime is of a maximum 9 months.

 

There are no restrictions regarding the number of proposals in which an entity can participate. However, the funding for the beneficiary (as defined by the EC) of shifts between partners in an experiment concerning this matter will be part of the contract.

 

Deadline for proposals’ submission

The deadline of this call is 28 February 2018, 17:00 (Brussels local time).

The proposal will be submitted via a web platform at http://opencalls.horse-project.eu.

 

Further information

Please find attached the call documents.

 

More information: http://horse-project.eu/Open-Calls or please contact opencalls@horse-project.eu

 

 

Kind regards,

Rosemary

 

Rosemary STREVINIOTI

Head of Brussels Office
European Office of Cyprus
Rue du Luxembourg 3, 2nd floor
B-1000 Brussels
Tel./Fax: +32 (0) 2 280 22 85
E-mail: strevinioti.rozamaria@ucy.ac.cy

 

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