Imagine factory robots that aren't bolted to the floor — they roll around on wheels, have two arms like a person, and can see what's happening around them. When a production line needs to change what it's making, these robots just drive to a new spot and start a different job, no reprogramming needed. They work safely alongside people, dividing up tasks on the fly. The project proved this works with real demonstrations in car and aircraft factories.
Traditional factory robots are bolted in place, expensive to reprogram, and need safety cages separating them from workers. When production needs change — new product models, smaller batch sizes, seasonal shifts — manufacturers lose days or weeks reconfiguring rigid automation. Low-cost labour is no longer viable for EU manufacturers due to rising wages, energy, and logistics costs, yet full automation fails when product variability is high.
The project built mobile dual-arm robots that autonomously navigate factory floors, dock at workstations, and perform assembly tasks alongside human workers without safety barriers. Key deliverables include: an Open Production Station (final version), a CAD-based simplified programming tool that auto-generates robot code, perception and navigation modules, safe human-robot interaction systems, and dynamic workload balancing software — all validated through final demonstrators in automotive and aeronautics factories.
If you are an automotive manufacturer dealing with frequent model changeovers and rising labour costs — this project developed mobile dual-arm robots that can autonomously navigate your shopfloor, switch between workstations, and share tasks with human operators. The system was validated with a final automotive demonstrator proving the complete production scenario across 8 consortium partners.
If you are an aerospace company struggling to automate assembly of complex parts that change often — this project built mobile robots with perception and dexterous tooling that adapt to product variability without dedicated fixtures. A final aeronautics demonstrator proved the robots can handle the precision and safety demands of aircraft manufacturing.
If you are a contract manufacturer losing time to retooling and line reconfiguration — this project created an open production station with automatic task programming from CAD files and dynamic workload balancing across robots and humans. The simplified programming tool generates robot code for new tasks automatically, cutting setup time for product switches.
The project received EUR 4,510,700 in EU funding across 8 partners to develop the full system. Actual per-unit deployment costs are not published in the project data. For pricing, you would need to contact the consortium partners who built the hardware and software components.
The system was designed around a service-oriented network architecture where multiple robots communicate and dynamically reallocate tasks. Both the automotive and aeronautics final demonstrators validated complete production scenarios. Scaling to a full line would require additional mobile robot units and network infrastructure.
The intellectual property is shared among the 8 consortium partners across 5 countries (DE, EL, ES, FR, LU). With 6 industrial partners including 1 SME, licensing discussions would likely involve multiple parties. Contact the coordinator at the University of Patras for IP access.
The system uses perception-enabled navigation with visual docking for autonomous movement, plus a CAD-based programming tool that automatically generates robot code for new tasks. Environment and process reasoning modules let the robot correct its actions based on what it sees in real time.
Safe human-robot collaboration was a core objective. The project delivered dedicated safe interaction modules and collision-avoidance systems in their final versions. The robots use cognitive abilities to detect humans and their intentions, eliminating the need for physical safety barriers.
The simplified programming tool generates robot programs automatically from CAD data and assembly sequences. Based on available project data, the exact setup time reduction was not published, but the system eliminates the need for expert robot programmers to manually code each new task.
The THOMAS consortium is strongly industry-driven: 6 out of 8 partners are industrial companies, giving it a 75% industry ratio — well above average for EU research projects. The partnership spans 5 countries (Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Luxembourg), combining southern European research strength with central European manufacturing expertise. The University of Patras coordinated, with 1 dedicated research organization rounding out the team. The presence of 1 SME alongside larger industrial players suggests a mix of agile technology developers and established end-users. For a business buyer, this consortium composition signals technology that was developed with real factory needs in mind, not just academic theory.
Coordinator is the University of Patras (Greece). Use Google AI Search to find the project coordinator's direct contact details.
Want a one-page brief on how THOMAS mobile robotics could fit your production line? Contact SciTransfer — we connect manufacturers with the research teams behind EU-funded technology.
