Insight Media

📢 We are excited to announce the launch of the latest edition of Projects Magazine. Produced in partnership with EFFRA, this issue features groundbreaking zero-defect manufacturing research, exclusive interviews, and insights into Europe's industrial future. Dive in for a human-centric, sustainable vision! 🌍🤖 #EFFRA2024 #Manufacturing #Innovation #Sustainability #ProjectsMagazine https://lnkd.in/ezxz4wiT SINTEF Chris Decubber ENGINE Siemens Rainer Brehm openZDM HyperCOG European Project OPTIMAI Project MADE - Competence Center Industry 4.0 Fluently: the essence of human-robot interaction FLASH-COMP EIT Manufacturing The Futures Agency Gerd Leonhard PeneloPe EU ZDZW project Thierry Breton

👏 Great to see that 2.-0 LCA consultants, our fellow partners in the HyperCOG European Project, have published a paper about one of their fascinating contributions to the project. Their team developed and integrated a life-cycle analysis (LCA) node into the decision support system of the HyperCOG solution, allowing for the calculation of the “footprint” / “cost” of the production each week.

Every year around this time, The Insight Media team changes gear for a few weeks as we work with a very special school in London to produce their yearbook. No work packages, grant proposals, data analysis, random sampling or peer reviews on this job – just lots of pictures of very happy children and staff enjoying a brilliant education and excellent care. Phoenix School is in Tower Hamlets, London, and is a very well-renowned special school for children and young people with autism. It has three main sites and works in mainstream schools in the area as well. The school has an aspirational approach to learning for its students, with a lively and engaging curriculum, which includes a variety of sensory and therapeutic interventions as well an exciting mix of classroom lessons and off-site visits and activities. This comprehensive approach encourages robust collaborations with various agencies, parents, and families to address the diverse needs of students. By fostering positive home-school connections through efficient communication and providing supportive training for families, this integrated method ensures a holistic support system for the children. And part of that approach is the annual yearbook, which joyfully reflects on the many activities the students do over the year as well as celebrates their many achievements through pictures and stories from teachers and students. We have worked with the school to produce this book since it started and have been into the classrooms and playgrounds to take photographs, speak with amazing, dedicated staff and ask the children about their life at school. It’s a real privilege to be part of this annual celebration of Phoenix School life and always a joy to hand over the many boxes of books at the end of the summer term and see the joy on the faces of the students and their families as they leaf through the pages. And then, for us here at Insight, it’s back to the real world and our laser focus on research dissemination and communication, working with our brilliant partners – and, who knows, one day we may be working with partners who have been through Phoenix and appeared in the yearbook. Working with schools like Phoenix and helping them thrive is an important part of our mission at Insight Media. Everything we do aims to amplify research outcomes, getting them heard by people who need to hear them most. We believe in the power of research, the power of education to bring about change - a chain reaction of knowledge that helps improve our understanding of the world, helping to make it better for us all.

The HyperCOG European Project was conceived four years ago with the goal of demonstrating how cyber-physical systems and advanced data analytics techniques based on artificial intelligence can be used to drive transformation within the European process industry, improving efficiency and competitiveness by harnessing the power of data. With the project now at an end, the system it has created has demonstrated this potential to great effect. The HyperCOG system can be understood as a network of interconnected digital nodes that operates without hierarchical layers. Each node, regardless of its role in the system, can communicate with any other node. This approach breaks down the traditional concept of information systems for industrial process environments, replacing hierarchies with a networked cyber-physical system. #Manufacturing #Innovation #Sustainability #ProjectsMagazine EFFRA https://lnkd.in/exTjEgtw

FLASH-COMP coordinator LORTEK, along with partners MSI Grupo. Mondragon Sistemas de Información and AIMEN Centro Tecnológico recently attended BIEMH - Bienal Internacional de Máquina - Herramienta, the International Machine Tool Biennial, which is one of the largest industrial events of the year in Spain. The conference brought together 1,500 exhibitors from more than 29 countries, taking place from June 3rd until June 7th in six pavilions at the Bilbao Exhibition Centre. This year, BIEMH32 incorporated three other events linked to industry – ADDITƐD, BeDIGITAL and WORKinn Talent Hub – making it Europe’s leading fair in advanced manufacturing, and a perfect platform for showcasing FLASH-COMP's advances in developing its digital solutions for zero defect manufacturing (ZDM) and its plans for the implementation and testing of these solutions. The FLASH-COMP partners met companies from industries across the spectrum, including those from manufacturing and distribution, robotics and automation, tools and accessories, industrial digitalisation, mechanical components, production and business services, and additive and 3D manufacturing and metrology. LORTEK, MSI and AIMEN were principally focused on the BeDIGITAL: TRANSFORMING INDUSTRY section of the conference, which became a forum dedicated to the industrial application of digital technologies and brought together more than 80 firms in its exhibition area. As well as this forum, the spaces for robotics, automation and digitalisation – a new addition to the event – provided plenty of scope for the partners to interact with relevant industries looking to adopt ZDM solutions as well as network with complementary projects and companies. “Our main focus has been to promote FLASH-COMP and the novel ZDM solutions we have been developing,” says project coordinator Janusz Popławski of LORTEK. “There has been a lot of interest in how our inspection and monitoring tools can help optimise manufacturing processes and lead to products being made right first time,” he continues. “We have also been able to discuss our approach to digitalisation in general as well as interoperability and multi-factories for heavy and metal industries. We have found that there is a lot of interest from stakeholders across a wide spectrum of industries in sustainable manufacturing and the role ZDM can play in moving towards that goal.” Many of these stakeholders were from sectors such as software development, big data, AI, cybersecurity, augmented reality, IoT, blockchain, hardware, software engineering, telecommunications and 5G, information technologies and robotics, among others, which, like FLASH-COMP are developing the solutions being used by industry as it digitalises its processes. “Overall, this has been a very exciting time for FLASH-COMP,” concludes Poplawski. “We showcased the project’s progress towards a viable ZDM solution while learning from others in this space and connecting with relevant industries.”

In a recent speech delivered at the World Mobile Congress in Barcelona, EU Commissioner Thierry Breton outlined a three-point plan for Europe's digital future that will come into force with the new Digital Networks Act, which he describes as transformative. The following summary outlines how he believes the three pillars will bolster Europe's digital landscape #Manufacturing #Innovation #Sustainability #ProjectsMagazine EFFRA https://lnkd.in/e6vrDx5s

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Oliver Avram, coordinator of the project Fluently: the essence of human-robot interaction, and it was one of those conversations that left my mind reeling with so many more questions and new ideas about what our near future might look like. The big idea behind the FLUENTLY project is to use AI to bridge the gap that exists between humans and robots when working collaboratively. You may have seen videos of people working alongside robotics arms that are able to assist them in various ways: holding and retrieving objects, carrying out precision movements, or taking on repetitive tasks that are best done by a machine. Impressive as this is, what Avram is proposing in this new project takes this working relationship to another level. Via a wearable device for the human that contains a wide-range of sensors that can detect sometimes imperceptible changes in the wearer’s behaviour, the robot co-worker is able to gain another layer of insight into how it can best help the person at any given moment. But the real game-changer is the way in which FLUENTLY helps to build unique working relationships between specific people and the robots they collaborate with. Central to this is the Robo-Gym – a kind of training camp where humans and robots get to know each other and build trust and knowledge that helps personalise the experience for every worker. Following the training camp, the AI-assisted robot is no longer just a useful moving mechanical clamp offering strength and precision: it is transformed into an agile assistant that implicitly understands the movements and gestures of its partner, knows all the lingo involved in its specific industry, and has a high level of expertise that enables it to react to new situations that would have otherwise stumped its predecessors. Beyond this, if the robot notices the worker is starting to tire from working on a specific task, it can step in and suggest it takes over while the worker moves on to something else. Or, it can try and motivate them by playing some of their favourite music. In short, what FLUENTLY and AI helps to instil in the robot is something similar to the concept that we often think divides us and machines: empathy. And, as it turns out, nurturing empathy between humans and robots is best done in the same way that we nurture it between each other: by spending time with one another and working out what makes the other one tick. University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland

The PeneloPe EU project is developing innovative technologies hinged on the integration of human-centric principles woven into the fabric of innovative digital manufacturing tools. The tools at its core will allow the project to transform large-scale manufacturing of large-sized components through a closed-loop digital pipeline in industries such as shipbuilding, aircraft manufacturing, oil and gas, and coach production. Effectively, a closed loop digital pipeline allows the factories to establish seamless integration across the entire manufacturing chain, from initial product design to production and beyond, for increasing the quality and accuracy in the processing and assembly of large-size components. This digital infrastructure will facilitate coordination between multiple actors in the supply chain, enabling efficient and secure data exchange, while it will also enable large manufacturers to diversify their production capabilities, moving away from single-product focus towards the ability to produce multiple products. #Manufacturing #Innovation #Sustainability #ProjectsMagazine EFFRA https://lnkd.in/eQsxwn7y

"Younger leaders are consistently emphasising holistic prosperity, encompassing people, planet, purpose, and prosperity. Profitability is no longer the sole measure of success; companies are expected to contribute positively to society and the environment. This shift in ethos is challenging traditional business models, driving a wave of corporate social responsibility and ethical entrepreneurship." In a recent podcast with EIT Manufacturing, futurist and CEO of The Futures Agency Gerd Leonhard provided a fascinating insight into how three converging revolutions will impact on the next decade of manufacturing. Read our article in the latest edition of #ProjectsMagazine #Manufacturing #Innovation #Sustainability #ProjectsMagazine EFFRA https://lnkd.in/dAh_sg-A

Composite manufacturing – particularly liquid resin infusion – faces significant challenges in ensuring product quality. Manual inspection processes often lead to post-production defects, resulting in material wastage and increased costs. FLASH-COMP addresses this issue by implementing advanced inspection and monitoring techniques at key manufacturing stages, such as preforming and infusion, to retrieve key process parameters. This data powers an AI-based tool that accurately predicts and identifies defects in real-time, enabling workers to take immediate corrective actions. #Manufacturing #Innovation #Sustainability #ProjectsMagazine EFFRA https://lnkd.in/e7r-mG7d