QBROBOTICS SRL

Their core work

qbrobotics is an Italian SME that designs and manufactures soft robotic systems — robots built with compliant, adaptive materials rather than rigid structures. Based near Pisa in Italy's robotics corridor, they develop soft grippers, actuators, and hands for applications ranging from prosthetics and rehabilitation to industrial handling and environmental monitoring. Their technology bridges the gap between academic soft robotics research and commercial products, supplying hardware components and integrated systems to research consortia and industrial users.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their early H2020 period (2016-2018), qbrobotics focused squarely on soft robotic hands and prosthetics, contributing compliant actuator technology to rehabilitation-oriented projects like SoftPro and SoftHand Pro-H. From 2019 onward, their focus diversified sharply: they moved into industrial applications (soft grippers for manufacturing and e-waste recycling in ReconCycle), mobile robotics with haptic sensing (THING), and environmental monitoring (NI). This trajectory shows a company taking a core technology — soft actuation — and systematically expanding it into new application domains beyond its medical origins.

qbrobotics is moving from medical soft robotics toward industrial automation and environmental monitoring, suggesting future collaborations should target circular economy, field robotics, or smart manufacturing applications.

How they like to work

qbrobotics operates exclusively as a participant — they have never coordinated an H2020 project, which is typical for a technology SME that provides specialized hardware components to larger consortia. With 40 unique partners across 10 countries in just 7 projects, they work in moderately large consortia and do not appear locked into a single partnership cluster. Their participation in two ERC Proof-of-Concept projects (SoftHand Pro-H, SoftHandler) indicates close ties to ERC-funded academic groups, likely as the commercialization partner spinning lab research into products.

qbrobotics has collaborated with 40 distinct partners across 10 countries, building a broad European network from a specialist SME position. Their location near Pisa — home to major robotics labs at Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna and the University of Pisa — places them at the center of Italy's soft robotics ecosystem.

What sets them apart

qbrobotics occupies a rare niche as one of very few European SMEs that actually manufactures soft robotic hardware — most soft robotics expertise sits in universities. Their ERC-POC involvement shows they serve as a commercialization bridge, turning academic breakthroughs into usable products. For consortium builders, they bring something hard to find: a company that can deliver physical soft robotic prototypes, not just research papers.

Highlights from their portfolio

• ReconCycle
  Largest funding (EUR 446K) and most keyword-rich project, applying soft robotics to e-waste recycling — an unusual and commercially promising application domain.
• SoftPro
  Largest overall project (EUR 342K to qbrobotics), establishing foundational open-source soft robotics technologies for prosthetics across a major consortium.
• THING
  Expanded qbrobotics beyond manipulation into quadrupedal locomotion and haptic exploration of subterranean environments — a significant capability stretch.