FORTIS is an EU-funded project that aims to provide a solution that enables robots to interact with humans in a collaborative way for extended periods of time.

The effort of the FORTIS partners is to develop a comprehensive human-robot interaction, covering both physical and non-physical communication.

The human-centered solution is important as it would address the needs of the human labor shortage and enable robots to provide support in this regard. With cutting-edge research and advanced technology, this solution can help mitigate the negative effects of an aging workforce in the sector and improve working conditions in the EU.

These pilots will collect a total of 5 use cases in which to demonstrate the results of the evolution in terms of human-robot interaction and the benefits of this interaction.

Robotnik’s main role in Fortis is to develop and manufacture a robotic prototype able to help workers in a railway maintenance operation. For this purpose, Robotnik will adapt one of its mobile platforms to perform specific heavy and/or repetitive works in railroad related harsh environments. Furthermore, this use case will focus in screwing and unscrewing tasks together with a regular inspection of the rail status that will help to configure the grinding tasks for maintaining the rail infrastructure.

The robot will also allow direct interaction between human and machine, improving the quality of the work and the safety of workers by implementing a collaborative, cooperative and complementary work between the autonomous robot, the human and the environment, thanks to the continuous communication between them through a human-machine interface based on autonomous and continuous measures (geometrical characterization).

In addition, Robotnik manages the integration of robotic and IoT hardware components task and has a strong participation in the demonstration and validation work package.