Funding period: 01/2023 – 06/2026
Many industries are transitioning to Industry 4.0 production models by adopting robots in their processes. In parallel, Extended Reality (XR) technologies have reached sufficient maturity to enter the industrial applications domain, with early success cases often related to training workers, remote assistance, access to contextual information, and interaction with digital twins. In the future, robots will be increasingly enhanced with XR applications, which requires that industrial workers understand both technologies and can use and control hybrid solutions confidently. According to the data published in 2021, XR will create 1.2-2.4 million new jobs in the EU by 2025, and European XR markets are expected to grow between €35 billion and €65 billion by 2025. Specific education and training programs will be essential to this transition, especially for vocational school students and professionals in upskilling. They must learn how to program robots and establish a safe and productive human-robot collaboration. The new EU-funded project MASTER will improve the XR ecosystem for teaching and training robotics in manufacturing by providing an open XR platform that integrates key functionalities like creating safe robotic environments, programming flexible robotic applications, and integrating advanced interaction mechanisms. It will also provide high-quality training materials for robotics. Third-party contributions in terms of additional technologies and educational content will be integrated through two open calls for participation. Close collaboration with industry partners also serves to validate the open XR platform. The project started in January with a kick-off meeting at the University of Patras.
The objective of MASTER is to boost the XR ecosystem for teaching and training of robotics in manufacturing by providing an Open XR platform that integrates key functionalities for creating safe robotic environments, programming flexible robotic applications and integrating advanced interaction mechanisms. MASTER will also deliver rich training content on robotics.
Consortium
- University of Patras, Laboratory for Manufacturing Systems and Automation (Coordinator)
- Fundación Tekniker
- Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Künstliche Intelligenz GmbH
- Virtualware 2007 S.A.
- Teaching Factory Competence Center
- Alecop S. Coop.
- European Science Communication Institute (ESCI) gGmbH
| Project Volume | ca. 8.3 million Euro |
| Funding Period | January 1, 2023 – June 30, 2026 |
| Website | www.master-xr.eu |
| Contact | Michael Barz |
Funding
Co-funded by the
European Union
Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Commission. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.