Demonstrating New Generation Robotics and Smart Manufacturing to SMEs in the NPA Region

Programme 2021 - 2027 Interreg VI-B Northern Periphery and Arctic

Date of latest update: 2025-09-24

Description

Description (EN):

The main challenges for companies operating in the Interreg NPA area are their remoteness from the market, weak international competitiveness and labor supply, low productivity, insufficient capacity, labor-intensive manual work methods, and the need to develop products, processes, and services following the principles of sustainable development. The obstacles to growth and the low utilization rate of smart manufacturing are mainly due to the insufficient knowledge of suitable technological solutions, the benefits they bring, the lack of application know-how, and the low willingness to invest in companies in the robotics and automation domain. The RoboDemo project responds to this challenge by involving new generation robotics and I 4.0 technologies that provide key solutions to the challenges described above I 4.0 technologies like cobots, mobile robots, advanced drones, and intelligent automation solutions have recently proved to have a great cost-benefit ratio to invest in. Moreover, traditional technologies require a lot of knowledge and time to program actions, whereas I 4.0 technologies are faster to program and deploy. The overall project aim is to develop and pilot an efficient and cross-national technology transfer model that supports companies in the NPA area. This will be done by combining areas of consortium expertise to promote the adoption of smart manufacturing and I 4.0 technologies for business development. A technology transfer service concept developed by Centria is used as the base for the development tool (see Annex for description). It includes rapid technology experiments and demonstrations with transferrable devices on the SME's premises or in an industrial operating environment. Technological solutions can also be illustrated with the help of simulation software. The resulting outputs will be increased competitiveness and innovation within manufacturing companies.

Actual Achievements (EN):

The start-up phase of the project has been successfully completed. The partners have recruited and assigned their project personnel of RoboDemo. Staff from the partner organisations have got to know each other and two face to face meetings have been organised during the first reporting period, the first one in Finland and the second in Ireland. In addition, an established remote meeting routine has been established where partners meet every two weeks using the Teams platform. Eduuni platform for secure file sharing has been deployed between partners. The project has created common communication materials in accordance with the financier's guidelines. Information about the project has been added to each partner's website and a poster has been created and displayed. The project has been marketed to businesses in the project area through social media channels and by contacting them personally. Demonstration processes under the project activities have thus already started during the first reporting period. The development needs assessment form has been developed in cooperation with partners and piloted for the first company cases. The partners have worked together to create a risk analysis (1st deliverable, attached) and an initial communication plan, which will be further developed during the second reporting period. After the start-up phase completed in reporting period 1, the project partners have been able to communicate and initiate their company cases. Staff from the partner organisations have got to know more about each others competences and equipment during a two days partner meeting, which we arranged on purpose for sustainability, time efficiency and practical reasons at the same week as the NPA annual event. The partner meetings took place in both Luleå and in Skellefteå, Sweden. During only one week, the partners were able to visit the premises of LTU (PP 2) and T2 (PP 4), a frisbee manufacturer in Skellefteå, and the NPA annual event. The lead partner also joined the lead partner meeting, organised by the NPA on the second day of the event. The method of organising an online RoboDemo Teams-meeting every two weeks has proven to be a good practice and will be continued. Eduuni platform is used for compiling and sharing the information of each partners company cases, as well as other project documentation. Memos of each meeting are saved to Eduuni so that they support the partnership and cross border collaboration. The first steering committee meeting was convened in August, where the project and the progress were introduced to the members of the committee. The project has been marketed to businesses in the project area through social media channels and by contacting them personally. Demonstration processes under the project activities have thus already started during the first reporting period. The preliminary development needs assessment form has been used as a base for conversations with the companies. During the third reporting period, RoboDemo partners have speed up the demonstration processes. The first demonstration videos have been published in project's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@interregnparobodemo. More videos are under editing process. In collaboration with partners, a questionnaire to identify the needs of businesses has been reviewed, as well as an approach for conducting a needs assessment. These have resulted in project deliverables 1.2.1 and 1.2.2 (attached to this report). LP participated in the website training, after which a mini-website was created for the project, where project content and outputs will be collected in addition to social media channels. https://www.linkedin.com/company/interreg-npa-robodemo/. In addition, organisational project pages are still online. All partners have addressed the amount of indirect state aid, which has been calculated for each company case (the General Block Exemption Regulation (EU) 2021/1237, Article 20a). The extent of each demonstration has been measured in a way that the value will not exceed 22 000 €. If a partner has given the demonstrations in a seminar or workshop for multiple companies at the same time, the value for the company would be the participation fee of such event, which is not significant. The LP participated in the webinar on horizontal principles (by the Interreg NPA) and shared the information from the webinar with partners. Each partner first completed step 1 of the assignment with their own good practices, followed by a workshop to jointly decide on a common set of practices for the project. The summary of step 1 is attached to this report and the results of step 2 have been stored in JEMS in the project files according to the financier's instructions. PP3 and LP have written and presented and published a scientific publication in IEEE/SICE 2024 International Symposium on System Integration. The steering committee had their 2nd meeting after the second reporting period ended. All the project activities have proceeded as planned.

Project outputs: Optimized technology transfer model(EN)
Smart manufacturing technology applied in companies' production processes
(EN)
Robodemo transnational partnership(EN)

Thematic information

Knowledge and technology transfer

Priority: (VI-B_NPaA_1) Strengthening the innovation capacity for resilient and attractive NPA communities

Priority specific objective: RSO1.1. Developing and enhancing research and innovation capacities and the uptake of advanced technologies

Priority policy objective (Interreg specific objective): PO1 A more competitive and smarter Europe by promoting innovative and smart economic transformation and regional ICT connectivity

Type of intervention: 028 Technology transfer and cooperation between enterprises, research centres and higher education sector

Partners (6)

Lead Partner: Centria-ammattikorkeakoulu Oy

PIC (Participant Identification Code): 997172708

Partner’s ID if not PIC: 1097805-3

Department: Centria Research and Development

Address: Talonpojankatu, 67100 Kokkola, Finland

Department address: Talonpojankatu , 67100 Kokkola, Finland

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Higher education and research organisations

Website: https://centria.fi

Total budget: EUR 450 000.26

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 292 500.16

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 65.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 157 500.10

GBER schemes / de minimis: GBER Article 20a

Sligo Leitrim ITS Regional Development Projects DAC

Name: Sligo Leitrim ITS Regional Development Projects DAC

Department: AIM Centre

PIC (Participant Identification Code): 885903620

Partner’s ID if not PIC: 3728113CH

Address: IT Sligo, F91YW50 Sligo, Ireland

Department address: N/A, NA NA, Ireland

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Infrastructure and (public) service provider

Website: https://www.aimcentre.ie/

Total budget: EUR 348 000.00

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 226 200.00

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 65.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 121 800.00

GBER schemes / de minimis: GBER Article 20a

Trä och teknikcollege I Skellefteå AB

Name: Trä och teknikcollege I Skellefteå AB

Department: T2 college

Partner’s ID if not PIC: SE559084852801

Address: Forskargatan, 93177 Skellefteå, Sweden

Department address: N/A, N/A N/A, Sweden

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Education/training centre and school

Website: https://t2college.se/

Total budget: EUR 108 153.65

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 70 299.87

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 65.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 37 853.78

GBER schemes / de minimis: GBER Article 20a

UiT- Norges arktiske universitet

Name: UiT- Norges arktiske universitet

Department: Department of Industrial Engineering

PIC (Participant Identification Code): 999874643

Partner’s ID if not PIC: 970 422 528

Address: Hansine Hansens veg, 9019 Tromsoe, Norway

Department address: Lodve Langes gate, 8505 Narvik, Norway

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Higher education and research organisations

Website: https://uit.no/startsida

Total budget: EUR 346 239.00

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 173 119.50

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 50.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 173 119.50

GBER schemes / de minimis: GBER Article 20a

Luleå tekniska universitet

Name: Luleå tekniska universitet

Department: Department of Computer Science, Electrical and Space Engineering / Signals and Systems / Robotics and Artificial Intelligence

PIC (Participant Identification Code): 999876874

Partner’s ID if not PIC: SE202100284101

Address: Regnbagsallen, 971 87 Luleå, Sweden

Department address: Regnbagsallen, 971 87 Luleå, Sweden

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Higher education and research organisations

Website: http://www.ltu.se

Total budget: EUR 200 000.07

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 130 000.04

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 65.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 70 000.03

GBER schemes / de minimis: GBER Article 20a

Luleå Tekniska Universitetet

Name: Luleå Tekniska Universitetet

Department: Department of Computer Science, Electrical and Space Engineering / Signals and Systems / Robotics and Artificial Intelligence

PIC (Participant Identification Code): 999876874

Partner’s ID if not PIC: SE202100284101

Address: Regnbagsallen, 971 87 Luleå, Sweden

Department address: Regnbagsallen, 971 87 Luleå, Sweden

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Higher education and research organisations

Website: http://www.ltu.se

Total budget: EUR 200 000.07

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 130 000.04

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 65.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 70 000.03

GBER schemes / de minimis: GBER Article 20a

Partners map

Partners and Projects info

Advancing Innovation in Manufacturing, AIM Centre

Demonstrating New Generation Robotics and Smart Manufacturing to SMEs in the NPA Region

Partners and Projects info

T2 Training for Skills

Demonstrating New Generation Robotics and Smart Manufacturing to SMEs in the NPA Region

Partners and Projects info

UiT The Arctic University of Norway

Demonstrating New Generation Robotics and Smart Manufacturing to SMEs in the NPA Region

Partners and Projects info

Luleå tekniska universitet, Hälsovetenskap

Demonstrating New Generation Robotics and Smart Manufacturing to SMEs in the NPA Region

Partners and Projects info

Centria University of Applied Sciences

Demonstrating New Generation Robotics and Smart Manufacturing to SMEs in the NPA Region

Partners and Projects info

Lulea University of Technology

Demonstrating New Generation Robotics and Smart Manufacturing to SMEs in the NPA Region

Lead partner

Project partner

Summary

Project name (EN): Demonstrating New Generation Robotics and Smart Manufacturing to SMEs in the NPA Region

Project acronym: RoboDemo

Project ID: NPA0100011

Project start date: 2022-12-01

Project end date: 2025-11-30

Project status: closed

Relevant linked projects:

Serviisi (EN) | During the national Serviisi project, Jouni Vähäsöyrinki developed and initiated the Centria technology transfer model. (EN), Robosol (EN) | In the Interreg Nord RoboSol project the technology transfer model was introduces to project partners. (EN), Horizon 2020; Trinity Robotics (EN) | In the Horizon 2020 Trinity Robotics project remote robot control was developed and tested between Centria and UiT among other activities. (EN)

Relevant mentions and prizes:

Total budget/expenditure: EUR 1 452 392.98

Total EU funding (amount): EUR 719 000.07

Total EU funding (co-financing rate): 65.00%

Co-financing sources:

ERDF: Amount, EUR 719 000.07. Co-financing rate, 65.00%.
Others: Amount, EUR 173 119.50.

Investments, deliverables, policy contributions

(bullets are inserted automatically and may be incorrectly placed)

Deliverables:

Project Start-up and risk analysis
Implementation plan report on development needs..
A template and an operating model to survey the development needs
Communication plan report
An agile technology transfer model
Demonstration, Simulation and Piloting Actions
Demonstration videos
Documentation of a jointly developed and defined technology transfer model
Implementation of the operating model as part of the partner organizations operations
A mainstreamed technology transfer operating model

Contribution to wider strategies and policies:

EuropeanGreenDeal Robotics and related data-driven production of the Industry 4.0 is a way to manage the low carbon goals of the companies and their industrial products.
Other Twin transition. Through the RoboDemo project activities sustainable digital transformation possibilities can be explored.
Other European Single Market. Through increased use of smart manufacturing technologies some companies can have the ability to manufacture parts that earlier have been imported from off shore locations.

Programme Common Output Indicator:

RCO 116 - Jointly developed solutions, Measurement unit:
RCO 084 - Pilot actions developed jointly and implemented in projects, Measurement unit:
RCO 087 - Organisations cooperating across borders, Measurement unit:

Programme Common Result Indicator:

RCR 104 - Solutions taken up or up-scaled by organisations, Measurement unit:
RCR 003 - Small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) introducing product or process innovation, Measurement unit:

Information regarding the data in keep.eu on the programme financing this project

Financing programme

2021 - 2027 Interreg VI-B Northern Periphery and Arctic

Last month that data in keep.eu was retrieved from the Programme's website or received from the Programme

2025-09-24

No. of projects in keep.eu / Total no. of projects (% of projects in keep.eu)

65 / 65 (100%)

No. of project partnerships in keep.eu / Total no. of project partnerships (% of project partnerships in keep.eu)

310 / 310 (100%)

Notes on the data

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Demonstrating New Generation Robotics and Smart Manufacturing to SMEs in the NPA Region

Description

Thematic information

Partners (6)

Partners map

Summary

Investments, deliverables, policy contributions

Information regarding the data in keep.eu on the programme financing this project

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