AIRTIFICIAL AEROSPACE & DEFENSE ENGINEERING SA

Their core work

Airtificial is a Spanish aerospace and defense engineering company based in Sevilla that designs and builds specialized test equipment and automated systems for the aviation industry. Their work centers on physical test rigs and robotic benches used to validate aircraft cockpit controls — specifically active inceptors, the fly-by-wire side-stick and control systems that provide haptic feedback to pilots. In the ROSSI project they developed a robotic system capable of simulating a pilot's physical inputs to test these controls automatically, replacing manual testing with a programmable mechanical surrogate. They also work on factory automation concepts for aerospace manufacturing, as demonstrated in their earlier MAF project.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Their H2020 journey shows a clear progression from broad aerospace manufacturing automation toward a highly specific hardware niche. The earlier MAF project (2018–2020) had no recorded keywords and a modest budget, suggesting exploratory or preparatory work in automated factory concepts. By 2020, with ROSSI, they had sharpened into a concrete specialty: robotic physical testing of fly-by-wire cockpit controls, with a budget nearly three times larger. The trajectory points toward increasingly precise, hardware-intensive instrumentation work within the Clean Sky 2 program.

They are moving deeper into specialized test equipment for fly-by-wire systems, which positions them as a potential supplier or technical partner for any consortium needing physical validation infrastructure for next-generation aircraft cockpit components.

How they like to work

Airtificial consistently leads projects rather than joining as a supporting partner — both of their H2020 projects were coordinated by them, which is unusual for a non-SME private company with a modest funding track record. Their consortium footprint is extremely narrow: just one unique partner across two projects, all within Spain. This suggests they prefer tight, controlled collaborations over large multi-partner consortia, and may operate as a primary technical executor rather than a consortium builder.

Their collaboration network is minimal — one recorded partner in one country across their entire H2020 history. This either reflects a deliberate focus on Clean Sky 2 direct-award-style contracting or limited experience building multi-partner consortia beyond their core technical work.

What sets them apart

Airtificial occupies a narrow but valuable niche: physical robotic test systems specifically for active inceptors in fly-by-wire aircraft, an area where very few companies have demonstrated Clean Sky 2 project leadership. Their Sevilla location places them in Spain's aerospace cluster, near Airbus operations, which likely informs both their technical vocabulary and their access to program opportunities. A consortium building an aviation avionics or flight control validation project would find them a rare source of hands-on robotic bench expertise that most research institutions cannot provide in-house.

Highlights from their portfolio

• ROSSI
  The largest and most specific of their projects (€748,086), ROSSI represents a concrete hardware deliverable — a robotic system that physically simulates pilot inputs to automate the testing of active inceptors, a critical fly-by-wire component.
• MAF
  Their first Clean Sky 2 project as coordinator, MAF established their foothold in EU-funded aerospace automation work and likely served as the foundation for the more advanced ROSSI project that followed.