The mission is to populate Smart Cities with "insect inspired" robots.
We design and build "Special Purpose Unmanned Vehicles" to carry all kind of sensors.
People need to collaborate with robots instead of competing with them.
There are some areas where robots can perform much better than humans. They can generate numbers, do the math, remember everything, recognise patterns in data, lift heavy objects and move with precision.
Whereas humans are better at tasks that call for creativity, abstract thinking and uncertainty.
However, the development of urban robotics requires real-world experimentation ‘beyond the laboratory’ to develop commercial applications and address concerns about public safety.
Governments that are focused on establishing ‘first mover’ advantage in robotics, AI, and autonomous systems will be better placed to capture the economic, employment and competitive advantages when those applications are scaled up to smart city level.
We are focused to boost robotics research, development and innovation to trigger a positive perception of robotics during the transition from cities to smart cities.
Cities worldwide are becoming experimental sites (open labs) for new pocs (Proof of Concepts) of robotic and automation technologies applied across a wide variety of sectors in multiple areas of economic and social life. Robotics and automation systems are being layered upon existing urban digital architectures, reshaping the city and citizen’s everyday experiences.
The current city is going beyond the definition of smart city.
A smart city becomes a “senseable city”, a city capable of feeling, but also sensitive and capable of responding to citizens who define the overall performance of the city.
The multidisciplinary approach through the dialogue between citizens, local communities, social change makers, decision makers, designers, architects, engineers and urban planners will allow to face the new emerging challenges of this "Digital Shift" and "Digital Transformation".
Smart cities will be continously shaped by the dynamics of robot integration in the urban landscape.
The cities of the future, in fact, will be pervaded by autonomous driving vehicles, robotized delivery systems and light transport solutions, in response to the new concept of smart mobility, on a human scale, shared and connected mobility in order to improve management and control of the digitized and smart city.
Today the “Fourth Industrial Revolution” is marked by technological breakthroughs across; robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), nanotechnology, quantum computing, biotechnologies, the Internet of Things (IoT), 3D printing and autonomous vehicles.
Collectively these developments are delivering a “Cambrian Explosion” in automation and robotics, producing technologies with diverse applications, are networked, and work closely with people.
Everything and everyone has become so connected that Wifi often fails to meet our 24/7 digital needs, online orders don’t arrive fast enough, traffic congestion is still blocking the roads and environmental pollution is still one of the main problem in cities.
Indeed, there is already talk of an Industry 5.0 focussed on “combining human beings’ creativity and craftsmanship with the speed, productivity and consistency of robots”
Our team is focused on the importance of robotics and artificial intelligence inside of the new urban contexts in which it is possible to consider and enhance the different dimensions of quality of life such as safety and health, environmental quality, social connection and civic participation.
We also launched a special "Citizen Science" programme to engage people and local communities in the new emerging scenario of robots.
The fourth industrial revolution of robotic and automation technologies (4IR) is moving from science fiction and R&D to reality. Enabled by vast increases in computing capacity (high performance computers based on petaflops), data harvested through powerful algorithms embedded in digital platforms, urban connectivity interfaces and digital architectures.
The emerging presence of robotics, IoT devices, automated digital driven decisions based on AI, will uniquely (re)shape the identity of a city and affect of the urban context along the whole value chain of public utilities and services.
