PILZ INDUSTRIEELEKTRONIK SL

Their core work

Pilz Industrieelektronik is the Spanish subsidiary of the Pilz Group, a globally recognized specialist in industrial safety automation — safety relays, controllers, sensors, and safe motion systems. In H2020 projects, they bring deep expertise in safety engineering for human-robot collaboration, ensuring that collaborative robots, exoskeletons, and mobile platforms meet rigorous safety standards in real manufacturing environments. Their core contribution is making human-robot workplaces compliant, safe, and certifiable, which is essential for any robotics project aiming at industrial deployment.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Their earliest project (FourByThree, 2014) focused on customizable robotic solutions for safe HRC in manufacturing — a hardware-oriented, traditional safety engineering role. By 2018-2022, SHERLOCK and ODIN show a clear shift toward AI-enhanced safety, digital platforms, and adaptive perception systems that dynamically model the workspace. The trajectory is unmistakable: from static safety compliance toward intelligent, context-aware safety systems that can adapt in real time to changing human-robot environments.

Pilz is moving from traditional safety certification toward intelligent safety systems that use AI perception and digital twins — positioning them for Industry 5.0 human-centric manufacturing.

How they like to work

Pilz consistently joins as a specialist participant, never as coordinator — a pattern typical of a focused technology provider that contributes deep domain expertise rather than managing consortium logistics. With 43 unique partners across 12 countries from just 3 projects, they operate in large, diverse consortia (averaging ~15 partners per project). This makes them an accessible and experienced consortium partner who integrates well into complex multi-national teams.

Despite only 3 projects, Pilz has built a broad European network of 43 partners across 12 countries, reflecting participation in large-scale Innovation Actions and Research projects. Their network spans major robotics and manufacturing research hubs across the EU.

What sets them apart

Pilz brings something rare to robotics consortia: they are not a robotics lab or integrator, but a dedicated safety automation company with decades of industrial certification experience. This means any consortium involving collaborative robots, exoskeletons, or mobile platforms in real factory settings gains immediate credibility on safety compliance — often the bottleneck between prototype and deployment. For coordinators building proposals, having Pilz on board signals to reviewers that the safety dimension is covered by a recognized industry authority.

Highlights from their portfolio

• SHERLOCK
  Largest funding (EUR 347,550) and broadest scope — combining collaborative soft robotics, exoskeletons, AI cognition, and VR training in a single workplace safety framework.
• ODIN
  Most recent project (2021-2024) showing the pivot toward digital platforms and dynamic world modelling, signaling Pilz's current strategic direction.
• FourByThree
  Their entry into H2020 robotics research, establishing Pilz's role as the safety specialist in customizable HRC manufacturing systems.