Imagine your factory makes 50 versions of the same product. Every time you switch versions, someone has to reprogram the robots — which costs time and money. VERSATILE built dual-arm robots that can see their surroundings, grab different parts, and be reprogrammed quickly by workers without coding skills. They tested this on real assembly lines at PSA (car dashboards), Airbus (wing parts), and BIC (shaver handles).
Mass customization is killing traditional automation. When lot sizes shrink and product variants multiply, reprogramming rigid robotic cells for each variant costs nearly as much as a new automation project. Manufacturers are stuck choosing between expensive manual labor and inflexible robots that can't keep up with product changes.
The project delivered final demonstrators across 3 pilot cases — automotive dashboard assembly, aerospace wing part assembly, and consumer goods packaging. Concrete outputs include a mobile dual-arm robot with advanced manipulation, automatic programming tools, robotic perception for semi-structured environments, and a synchronization and control system — each progressing from first prototype to final prototype.
If you are an automotive manufacturer dealing with dozens of dashboard variants on the same production line — this project developed dual-arm robots with automatic programming tools that were demonstrated assembling vehicle dashboards at PSA. The system adapts to different product variants without full reprogramming, tested across 3 industrial pilot cases.
If you are an aerospace manufacturer struggling with manual assembly of complex wing components — VERSATILE built mobile dual-arm robots with advanced perception that were demonstrated assembling aircraft wing parts at Airbus. The robots handle semi-structured environments where parts aren't always in the exact same position, reducing reliance on manual labor for intricate assembly.
If you are a consumer goods producer losing time to constant packaging line changeovers — this project delivered a final demonstrator for handling and packaging shaver handles at BIC. The plug-and-produce coordination lets you swap product types with minimal downtime, validated across 13 demo deliverables from first prototypes through final demonstrators.
The project's EU contribution is not available in the dataset, so specific cost figures cannot be provided. Dual-arm robotic cells are a significant capital investment, but the key value proposition is reducing the per-variant reprogramming cost. Contact the coordinator at Tecnalia for pricing of pilot implementations.
The project delivered final demonstrators at 3 real industrial sites — PSA (automotive), Airbus (aerospace), and BIC (consumer goods). The plug-and-produce coordination system was designed specifically for scaling across multiple robotic cells. With 7 industry partners in the 10-partner consortium, the path from demonstrator to production deployment was a core design goal.
IP is shared among the 10 consortium partners across 5 countries, with Tecnalia (Spain) as coordinator. As an Innovation Action with 70% industry partners, commercial exploitation was a primary objective. Licensing terms would need to be negotiated directly with the relevant partners.
VERSATILE specifically developed a plug-and-produce coordination system and an automatic programming tool — both reaching final prototype stage. These were designed to reduce integration complexity. The system was validated in 3 different industrial environments (automotive, aerospace, consumer goods), demonstrating adaptability across sectors.
The project closed in December 2019 after completing all 3 final demonstrators. Based on available project data, Tecnalia and the 7 industry partners would have continued exploitation activities. Contact the coordinator for current status of commercial offerings derived from the project results.
A core deliverable was the automatic programming tools, which progressed from first prototype to final prototype. The entire project was built around the idea that traditional robot programming is too rigid and expensive for high-mix production. The easy programming tools were designed so that operators can set up new product variants without deep robotics expertise.
The VERSATILE consortium of 10 partners across 5 countries (Belgium, Greece, Spain, France, Italy) is heavily industry-driven at 70% — exactly what you want for technology that needs to work on real factory floors. The consortium includes 7 industry partners and 2 SMEs alongside 2 universities and 1 research organization. Tecnalia, a major Spanish applied research center, coordinates the effort. The presence of end-users like PSA (automotive), Airbus (aerospace), and BIC (consumer goods) as pilot sites means the technology was tested against real production requirements, not just lab conditions. This industry-heavy composition signals that the results are closer to market-ready than typical research projects.
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