The Industry Ready Robotics and Automation funding call from the Made Smarter Innovation programme aims to develop industrially ready solutions deployable within manufacturing production environments.
Launching 18th January 2023 with a funding pot up to £6m.
This funding call will focus on driving industrially ready robotic solutions for deployment within all types of manufacturing factory settings. Aimed at late-stage higher Technology Readiness Level (TRL) developments, projects will be able to run for up to 12 months and culminate in trials within a production environment. Projects must be an innovative development or novel application of robotics and automation that overcomes a technical barrier.
Robotics is one of the key Industrial Digital Technologies (IDTs) that will help grow UK manufacturing productivity. The scope of this call will span both hardware solutions such as fixed or mobile robots, as well as software innovations to improve system integration.
Improving the flexibility, agility and future re-deployment opportunities will be a key innovation theme, with project applications encouraged in topics such as modularity, no-code programming, and optimised gripper design. Development of innovative solutions to maximise the potential of collaborative robots (co-bots) as well as to improve the safety of Human Machine Interface (HMI) will also be within the scope of the call.
Applications will need to demonstrate clear post-project scalability and routes to commercialisation of the solution beyond the initial deployment. It is envisaged that projects of up to £4m will be eligible to apply, with collaborations comprising multiple manufacturers and technology developers encouraged.
The call is scheduled to launch on 18th January 2023 with chosen projects required to commence October 2023. Call details will be published nearer the time on the MSI webpages: Made smarter innovation challenge – UKRI and Building collaborative UK R&D partnerships – Made Smarter
Following the competition launch we are hosting two collaboration events in the following locations to provide networking and collaboration opportunities.
