COGNIMAN: Focus at the human need

Monday, 19 June 2023

The digitalization competence is being strengthened and tested in new areas through project collaborations across industries and research institutions. Recently, the COGNIMAN project had a meeting in Spain.

In the beginning of summer, the project meeting for COGNIMAN was held at the IDEKO Research Center in Elgoibar, Spain, with participation from the Eyde cluster.

The project team worked intensively for two days to complete the work packages and present the progress plans for the project.

Diverse range of technological solutions

- IDEKO organized a fantastic and inspiring tour of both the research center and the facilities of DANOBAT and GOIMEK. The project team saw a diverse range of technological solutions for the future manufacturing and process industry. These solutions are developed using AI integrated with data and robotics, which will help us achieve a more competitive European manufacturing industry in the future, says Nadia Handeland, responsible for expertise in the Eyde Cluster.

The technologies will be applied to various aspects, from advanced sensors that collect and transmit data to digital twins, to artificial intelligence that interprets, optimizes, and suggests actions for robots. The design will be human-centric, meaning that human needs will be at the center.

Robots and humans working side by side

Through the collaboration between industry and research institutions such as SINTEF, NORCE, and IDEKO, the digitalization competence is being strengthened and tested in new areas.

We aim to automate processes as much as possible, starting with situations where robots and AI support and assist people in production, and where robots and humans will work side by side in the future.

- Feedback from operators' experiences will be measured throughout the project and will also form the basis for scientific work. Artificial intelligence and robotics play a significant role in the cognitive development of the industry and have great potential for flexible production, says Handeland.

- The project team also focused a lot on communication. The impact of these meetings should not be underestimated because they provide visibility into many detailed development paths—in other words, the stories we want to tell the world, emphasizes Handeland.

The meeting was held in Elgoibar, Spain, on June 7th and 8th.