"We want to make Europe the world number one in robotics research" / EURON/erf Technology Transfer Award presented for the first time

Stuttgart (PROTEXT/ots) 22. 4. 2004 - The "EURON/erfTechnology Transfer Award" was presented for the first time bythe European Robotics Research Network (EURON) at its annualmeeting on 13 March 2004 together with the European RoboticsForum (erf) in Amsterdam. Now to be presented annually, theAward is intended for outstanding innovations in robottechnology and automation arising from the cooperation betweenresearch and industry.

"The goal of EURON is to create a network of excellenceintended to coordinate research work and education as well asthe collaboration between academia and industry," explainedHenrik Iskov Christensen, member of the EURON Advisory Board andprofessor at the Centre for Autonomous Systems, KungligaTekniska Hoegskolan, Stockholm. "There are a number of scientificprojects unknown to industry", stated Martin Hgele, member ofthe EURON Advisory Board and head of Robot Systems at FraunhoferIPA in Stuttgart. erf is a European industry platform within theInternational Federation of Robotics (IFR). Stefan Sagert fromVDMA Robotik+Automation is the Secretary General.

The winners of the first EURON/erf Technology Award are:

1st place: Dr. Martin Otter, German Aerospace CentreOberpfaffenhofen (DLR), Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics.Wessling, Germany. "The subject was 'High Performance IndustrialRobots - The DLR-KUKA Success Story'. The prize winners havemade a major contribution to the rise of the leading German robotmanufacturer KUKA to join the ranks of the world elite," thedirector of the Institute, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Gerd Hirzinger,stated.

2nd place: Dr. Olivier Michel, Cyberbotics Ltd., Switzerland,for his project: "Webots[TM] Fast Prototyping and SimulationSoftware for Mobile Robot Technology", a reference project whichhas hitherto not been available to scientists.

3rd place: Frank Beeh, Institute of Process Control,Automation and Robotics (IPR), University of Karlsruhe (TH).Beeh worked together with Kuka Robot Systems under the directionof Prof. Heinz Wrn to develop a completely new seat testingsystem.

The first EURON/erf Technology Award was sponsored by theEuropean Commission and robot manufacturers such Asea BrownBoveri Ltd. (ABB), Rexroth Bosch Group, Reis Robotics, Gdel AG,Fanuc Robotics and Kuka Roboter GmbH.

ots Original Text Service: Fraunhofer IPA Internet:http://www.presseportal.de

www.euron.org

Contact:

Martin Haegele, Fraunhofer IPA Head "Robot Systems"

Nobelstrasse 12 D-70569 Stuttgart Tel: +49.711.970.1203 Fax:+49.711.970.1008 GSM: +49.171.860.0086 mailto: mmh@ipa.fhg.dehttp://www.ipa.fhg.de/ www.care-o-bot.de

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