Have we seen the last of, "Invented in Europe, Commercialised Elsewhere"?

Invited seakers at the recent European Robotics Forum in Västerås, Sweden, addressed the well known gripe of, "invented in Europe, but commercialised elsewhere". In particular, they examined past failures in detail to draw out the common themes and ensure that, with an exciting resurgence in European robotics just around the corner, businesses don't fall into the same traps again.

Per Ljunggren, of Intelligent Machines, was the brains behind the Electrolux Trilobite, the first commercially available, robotic vacuum cleaner. He commented ruefully, "Being first on the market is no guarantee of success. We met all our product objectives except we didn't become the market leader. With hindsight, we perhaps were too short termist. A parallel development to the Trilobite, the Husqvarna Automower, was beset with similar difficulties initially, but they didn't give up. They redesigned the product, changed the marketing and reduced the price so that now it's a moneyspinner."

It seems that in the past, European inventors were actually too logical, often focussing on functionality above other, less tangible virtues, such as looks or fashion. Cyriacus Schultze, founder of The Robot Company and now MD of the Robotstore, pointed out that though wildly successful, Kitchenaids are not sleek, cheap or easy to use. Giving numerous other examples, he postulated that for new robotic inventions to be adopted, their function must be easily understood, they must be launched at the right time and they must be fully autonomous. Schultze's new company, the Robotstore scouts the world for new products to nurture and bring to market.

An encouraging aspect that all the speakers agreed on was that the market in domestic robots is growing hugely. Barry Goeree of Philips said that global markets for domestic robots are doubling every year, with the highest demand from Asia. Goerre gave the conference a sneek preview of concepts Philips are developing to service this demand.

He warned: "We've got the R&D and we've got the big brands, but currently, the US and Asia are commercialising faster. With R&D for a new product costing anything between €10-50 million, this is a high risk game, so we need Government support if we are to successfully bridge the gap between R&D and consumer sales."

The Forum's own euRobotics Technology Transfer Award highlighted the wealth of robotic products that have already been developed in Europe. KUKA-DLR won with a multi-purpose, Lightweight Robot (LWR) developed to imitate a human arm's dexterity, sensing and strength. But there were plenty of other contenders too, ranging from an interactive robotic birth simulator to an on-line fitting room for clothing retailers using robotic mannequins.

Pictured top: Electrolux Trilobite, the first commercially available, robotic vacuum cleaner. (Left): Heriot-Watt University: Amadeus - Prototype robotic hand, developed by David Lane at Herriot Watt University, UK, but never commercialised. (Right): Heriot-Watt University:  Amadeus - Prototype robotic hand, developed by David Lane at Herriot Watt University, UK, but never commercialised. (Below): Fraunhofer IPA / SCHUNK:  Care-O-Bot - commercialised R&D platform. Refer to page 48 for a full write-up with pictures for KUKA.

EUROP in profile
The European Robotics Technology Platform (EUROP) is an industry-driven platform comprising the main stakeholders in robotics. Its goal is to strengthen Europe's competitiveness in robotics research and development and global markets, as well as to improve the quality of life of European citizens. EUROP is one of several European Technology Platforms (ETPs) supported by the European Commission.

Further information, view website: http://www.robotics-platform.eu

EURON in profile
The European Robotics Research Platform (EURON) is a community of more than 220 academic and industrial groups in Europe with a common interest in advanced research in the field of robotics. The network was founded in 2000 and was supported by the European Commission for 8 years.

Further information, view website: http://www.euron.org

The euRobotics Coordination Action targets two main objectives: the improvement of cooperation between industry and academia and the enhancement of public perception of (European) robotics. The euRobotics Coordination Action is funded by the European Commission within the 7th Framework Programme, Challenge 3: Cognitive Systems, Interaction, Robotics. (FP7-ICT-244852; 01/2010-12/2012).

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Meggitt Sensing Systems Endevco® model 2250A is an extremely small, adhesive mounted ISOTRON® piezoelectric accelerometer with integral electronics, designed to support high-reliability vibration measurements of mini-structures and smaller objects within aerospace, automotive, electronic product and product life cycle testing (HALT/HASS/ESS) applications.

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