ANEXOS PROGRAMA PARA EL DESARROLLO DE LAS INDUSTRIAS DE ALTA TECNOLOGÍA PRODIAT 2010 FOLIO: 007/1079. Página 0

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1 ANEXOS PROGRAMA PARA EL DESARROLLO DE LAS INDUSTRIAS DE ALTA TECNOLOGÍA PRODIAT 2010 ANEXOS FOLIO: 007/1079 Página 0

2 ANEXOS ANEXOS ANEXO A. ESTUDIOS Embedded Systems in Industrial Applications: Trends and Challenges, ISA Group, Sectorial Report on Industrial Robot Automation, European Robotics Network-Information Society Technologies (EURON-IST), Julio Tendencias y aplicaciones de los Estudio de Prospectiva Sistemas Embebidos en España, Fundación OPTI y Fundación ASCAMM, septiembre 2009, Madrid, España. Trends and Implications in Embedded Systems Development, Tata Consultancy Services Limited, 2009, India. ANEXO B. DIRECTORIO DE INSTITUCIONES DE EDUCACIÓN SUPERIOR Y CENTROS DE INVESTIGACIÓN (IES/CI). ANEXO C. DIRECTORIO DE EMPRESAS. ANEXO D. FICHAS TÉCNICAS DE EMPRESAS POR ESTADO. Estado de México Querétaro Jalisco Nuevo león Página 1

3 ANEXO A ANEXO A ANEXO A. ESTUDIOS EMBEDDED SYSTEMS IN INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS: TRENDS AND CHALLENGES, ISA GROUP, SECTORIAL REPORT ON INDUSTRIAL ROBOT AUTOMATION, EUROPEAN ROBOTICS NETWORK-INFORMATION SOCIETY TECHNOLOGIES (EURON-IST), JULIO TENDENCIAS Y APLICACIONES DE LOS ESTUDIO DE PROSPECTIVA SISTEMAS EMBEBIDOS EN ESPAÑA, FUNDACIÓN OPTI Y FUNDACIÓN ASCAMM, SEPTIEMBRE 2009, MADRID, ESPAÑA. TRENDS AND IMPLICATIONS IN EMBEDDED SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT, TATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES LIMITED, 2009, INDIA.

4 Embedded Systems in Industrial Applications Trends and Challenges IEEE Industrial Electronics Society SIES 2007 Richard Zurawski ISA Group, USA 1

5 Applications Areas of Embedded Systems reported at conferences and technical events Frequently reported Start being reported Multimedia Seldom reported Automotive embedded systems Factory/Industrial Automation 2

6 Applications Areas of Embedded Systems Multimedia Reasons for demand: Personal communication Personal entertainment Personal comfort Market characteristics: Large volumes Small profit margin (competition) Need for constant innovation Short time-to-market High development cost 3

7 Applications Areas of Embedded Systems Reasons for using ES: Power train performance/efficiency Body safety (anti-locking break system, active suspension) Telematics navigation, personal entertainment (video, audio equipment), etc Market characteristics: Relatively large volume Small profit margin Need for constant innovation Short time-to-market High development cost 4

8 Factory/Industrial Automation Integrated Networked Smart Transducer (Printed Circuit Board Assembly / SoC?) Direct Torque Control 5

9 Factory/Industrial Automation Robot Arm: welding painting assembly Distributed Control System 6

10 Industrial Requirements Industrial requirements depend on applications; special requirements typically include: Availability and reliability Safety Survivability Security Real-time, deterministic response Power consumption Lifetime issues 7

11 Availability and reliability Industrial Requirements Availability (from Wikipedia): The degree to which a system, subsystem, or equipment is operable and in a committable state at the start of a mission, when the mission is called for at an unknown, i.e., a random, time. Simply put, availability is the proportion of time a system is in a functioning condition. Reliability: The IEEE defines it as "... the ability of a system or component to perform its required functions under stated conditions for a specified period of time." In general, in automation, availability and reliability are required to be very high, to minimize the cost of operation (for instance to minimize scheduled and unplanned maintenance) 8

12 Safety & Survivability Industrial Requirements Safety: Absence of catastrophic consequences of a system failure for property, humans, and environment Survivability: Need for restricted modes of operation that preserve essential services in adverse operational environments The (embedded) automation systems and plants have to be safe operational over extended periods of time, even if they continue operation in a degraded mode in the presence of a fault. 9

13 Industrial Requirements Security Operational IT security requirements: Confidentiality Protecting data from unauthorized entities Integrity Protecting against unauthorized data manipulation Availability Data available when needed Operational security requirements for discrete manufacturing and process control systems: Safety Availability 10

14 Dependability Dependability of an automation system and plant is its ability to deliver a service as expected; integrates such quality attributes as: Availability Reliability Safety Survivability Security Embedded systems used in safety critical applications such as nuclear and chemical plants, and power systems require a high level of dependability. The dependability issue is critical for technology deployment in safetycritical systems. One of the main bottlenecks in the development of safety-critical systems is the software development process. 11

15 Industrial Requirements Real-time operation Typically, (networked) embedded systems are required to operate in a reactive way (for instance, systems used for control purposes) requiring to respond within a predefined period of time, mandated by the dynamics of the process under control. A response, in general, may be: Periodic - to control a specific physical quantity by regulating dedicated endeffector(s), or Aperiodic - arising from unscheduled events such as out-of-bounds state of a physical parameter or any other kind of abnormal conditions. 12

16 Industrial Requirements Real-time operation & Deterministic response Broadly speaking: Soft real-time systems - systems which can tolerate a delay in response Hard real-time systems - systems which require deterministic response to avoid changes in the system dynamics which potentially may have negative impact on the process under control, and as a result may lead to economic losses or cause injury to human operators. The need to guarantee a deterministic response mandates using appropriate scheduling schemes, which are frequently implemented in application domain specific real-time operating systems or frequently custom designed bare-bone real-time executives. 13

17 Industrial Requirements Power Consumption Low-power design: extending life time of electronic components (lifecycle). Wireless sensor networks need for self-sustained energy source. Sources of wireless power: Batteries, fuel cells, etc. From local environment: light, heat, vibration, Transmitted by optical and radio frequencies, sound 14

18 Industrial Requirements Lifecycle issues Typical lifetime of a device in an industrial environment is around (plus) years Need for: Increased reliability Robustness Reconfigurability Maintainability Scalability 15

19 Industrial Requirements Connectivity Field Area Network (in general) networks connecting field devices such as sensors and actuators with field controllers, programmable logic controllers (PLCs) in industrial automation, for instance, as well as man-machine interfaces, SCADA, for instance. (a fieldbus is, in general, a digital, two way, multidrop communication link) Benefits: reduced cabling increased flexibility improved system performance ease of system installation, upgrade, and maintenance. Traffic characteristics: low data rates (data rates above 10 Mbit/s, typical of LANs, have become a commonplace in field area networks) small size of data packets typically require real-time capabilities which mandate determinism of data transfer. 16

20 Client/Server Level: core protocols (i.e. UDP/TCP/IP), and other service and management protocols (i.e. SNMP, DHCP, etc.) Connectivity Traffic characteristics: - High data rates - Large data packets Ethernet TCP/IP protocol suite Controller Networks: used to exchange real-time data among controllers and operator workstations used for process control and supervision Ethernet TCP/IP protocol suite Traffic Characteristics: - small and infrequent data packets from the field level - (potentially) high data rates and large data packets from the business or enterprise level 17

21 MESA (Manufacturing Execution System Association) Plant Information Model Supply Chain Management Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Sales & Service Management Ethernet MES: Integrated Production data Working with Operations Management Systems, People, and Practice Product & Process Engineering Fieldbus, Industrial Ethernet Controls PLC/ SoftLogic Drives, Motors, Relays Data Collection Manual Process Control DCS/ OCS Fieldbus Automation, Instruments, Equipment 18

22 Connectivity: Integration Islands of automation The use of propriety field devices (sensors/actuators), machining tool controllers, and manufacturing/process machinery typically leads to the deployment of dedicated field area and control networks developed to link specific devices and systems. This creates islands of automation integrated locally around specific and frequently incompatible with others network technologies and data representations. The integration solutions involve both communication infrastructure, and applications interfaces and data representation. 19

23 Integration V E R T I C A L ProfiNET EtherNet/IP Between different levels of the automation (or organization) hierarchy: from field devices via manufacturing executions systems to business level and processes HORIZONTAL In the communication context, involves different plant automation units, or even separate automation sections within a unit. 20

24 Industrial Ethernet Emerging trend in the horizontal and vertical integration: the use of the industrial Ethernet, or Real-Time Ethernet (RTE), that supports real-time communication at the factory floor. In the RTE, the random and native CSMA/CD arbitration mechanism is being replaced by other solutions allowing for: deterministic behavior required in real-time communication to support soft and hard real-time deadlines, time synchronization of activities required to control drives, for instance, and for exchange of small data records characteristic of monitoring and control actions. 21

25 Real Time Ethernet Real-Time Ethernet (RTE): the RTE, under standardization by IEC/SC65C committee, is a fieldbus technology which incorporates Ethernet for the lower two layers in the OSI model (physical layer, and data link layer including implicitly the medium access control layer). The three different approaches to meet real-time requirements: retaining the TCP/UDP/IP protocols suite unchanged (subject to non deterministic delays), all real-time modifications are enforced in the top layer. the TCP/UDP/IP protocols suite is bypassed, the Ethernet functionality is accessed directly in this case, RTE protocols use their own protocol stack in addition to the standard IP protocol stack. the Ethernet mechanism and infrastructure are modified. 22

26 Real Time Ethernet benefits The direct support for the Internet technologies allows for: vertical integration of various levels of industrial enterprise hierarchy to include seamless integration between automation and business logistic levels to exchange jobs and production (process) data; transparent data interfaces for all stages of the plant life cycle; the Internet- and web-enabled remote diagnostics and maintenance, as well as electronic orders and transactions; mitigating the ownership and maintenance cost by the use of standard components such as protocol stacks, Ethernet controllers, bridges, etc. 23

27 Real Time Ethernet Non-Real-Time Top of TCP/IP Top of Ethernet Modified Ethernet Non Real Time protocol Real Time protocol Real Time protocol Real Time protocol TCP / UDP / IP TCP / UDP / IP Ethernet Ethernet Ethernet Modified Ethernet Universal cabling Possible structures of RTE 24

28 Real Time Ethernet First approach is based on retaining the TCP/UDP/IP protocols suite unchanged (subject to non deterministic delays), all real-time modifications are enforced in the top layer. Non-Real-Time Top of TCP/IP Top of Ethernet Modified Ethernet Non Real Time protocol TCP / UDP / IP Ethernet Real Time protocol TCP / UDP / IP Ethernet Ethernet Modified Ethernet Universal cabling Real Time protocol Real Time protocol Modbus/TPC: defined by Schneider Electric and supported by Modbus-IDA EtherNet/IP: defined by Rockwell and supported by the Open DeviceNet Vendor Association (ODVA) and ControlNet International P-Net (on IP): proposed by the Danish P-Net national committee, Vnet/IP: developed by Yokogawa, Japan. 25

29 Real Time Ethernet In the second approach, the TCP/UDP/IP protocols suite is bypassed, the Ethernet functionality is accessed directly in this case, RTE protocols use their own protocol stack in addition to the standard IP protocol stack. Non-Real-Time Top of TCP/IP Top of Ethernet Modified Ethernet Non Real Time protocol Real Time protocol Real Time protocol Real Time protocol Ethernet Powerlink (EPL): defined by Bernecker + Rainer (B&R), and supported by the Ethernet Powerlink Standardisation Group TCnet (a Time-critical Control Network): a proposal from Toshiba) EPA (Ethernet for Plant Automation): a Chinese proposal TCP / UDP / IP Ethernet TCP / UDP / IP Ethernet Ethernet Modified Ethernet Universal cabling PROFIBUS CBA (Component Based Automation): defined by several manufacturers including Siemens, and supported by PROFIBUS International 26

30 Real Time Ethernet In the third approach, the Ethernet mechanism and infrastructure are modified. Non-Real-Time Top of TCP/IP Top of Ethernet Modified Ethernet Non Real Time protocol TCP / UDP / IP Real Time protocol TCP / UDP / IP Real Time protocol Real Time protocol SERCOS III: under development by SERCOS EtherCAT: defined by Beckhoff and supported by the EtherCat Technology Group Ethernet Ethernet Ethernet Modified Ethernet Universal cabling PROFINET IO: defined by several manufacturers including Siemens, and supported by PROFIBUS International. 27

31 Security in Industrial Networked Embedded Systems Corporate Network Ethernet TCP/IP protocol suite Control Network Ethernet TCP/IP protocol suite Field Area Network Real Time Ethernet Field devices 28

32 Security in Industrial Networked Embedded Systems Operational security requirements for automation and process control systems: Safety System/plant availability electronic security attacks, which may compromise the integrity of these systems and endanger plant safety 29

33 Security in Industrial Networked Embedded Systems Field Level Fieldbuses, in general, do not have any security features. As they are frequently located at the premises requiring access permit, eavesdropping or message tampering would require a physical access to the medium. A potential solution to provide a certain level of security is the access point (PLC, for instance) control. Field Area Network - Real Time Ethernet The emerging Ethernet based fieldbuses are more vulnerable to attack on account of using the Ethernet and the TCP/IP protocols and services. Here, the general communication security tools for TCP/IP apply. 30

34 Security in Industrial Networked Embedded Systems Device and Embedded Level Real Time Requirements: In case of a denial of service attack (DoS), the processor handles a high-level of communication interrupts potentially compromising the real-time requirements a need for clever interrupt priority allocation and/or selection Robustness: A controller has to withstand autonomously a security attack such as buffer overflow to crash the system a need for proper error and exception handling Power Restrictions: Battery powered embedded controllers can fail by being exposed to unnecessary processing cause by DoS attack conditions, for instance causing battery draining 31

35 Security in Industrial Networked Embedded Systems Device and Embedded Level Memory and Processing Limitations: The limited computing, memory, and communication bandwidth resources of controllers embedded in the field devices pose considerable challenge for the implementation of effective security policies which, in general, are resource demanding. This limits the applicability of the mainstream cryptographic protocols, even vendor tailored versions. The operating systems running on small footprint controllers tend to implement essential services only, and do not provide authentication or access control to protect mission and safety critical field devices. In applications restricted to the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), such as embedded web servers, Digest Access Authentication (DAA), a security extension to HTTP, may offer an alternative and viable solution. 32

36 Wireless Sensor Networks Wireless sensor network: (in general) a collection of spatially distributed devices with embedded sensors to measure environmental conditions. Major characteristics: Self-contained No pre-arranged network topology: organized by nodes on ah-hoc basis. Ability to self-heal; network operation not affected if a node goes down 33

37 Wireless Sensor Networks in Industrial Applications Pre-arranged network topology: determined by the discrete manufacturing or continuous process equipment arrangement or system architecture No ability to self-heal; network and system operation is affected if a node goes down Long life-time Expensive (node involved in a great deal of computing) 34

38 Wireless Sensor Networks in Industrial Applications Real-time restrictions; hard bounds on the maximum delay discrete manufacturing tens of msec. process control Sec. assets management minutes or hours. Hybrid wireless-wireline architecture: wireline based data distribution from the collection point 35

39 Wireless Sensor Networks in Industrial Applications G gateway R- router Common topologies used in industrial applications 36

40 Wireless Sensor Networks in Industrial Applications Reliability; mostly through transmission redundancy: Space diversity transmission through different paths Frequency diversity on different frequencies Time diversity several times on the same frequency Modulation scheme diversity different modulation schemes 37

41 Wireless Sensor Networks in Industrial Applications Low power consumption Factors in minimizing power consumption: low power elements; CPU, for instance, runs on reduced clock rate with less on-chip functionality Operational regime: sleep/wakeup mode transmission only if the value of a measured physical quantity is larger then the predetermined bound Communication protocol dictates a lower bound on the power consumption 38

42 Wireless Sensor Networks in Industrial Applications Communication Protocols: Wireless Interface to Sensors and Actuators (WISA); a low power protocol, high performance. Characteristics: Single-hop - avoids delays in intermediate nodes Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) no collision; a node is alone on the channel. Applications: discrete manufacturing if the single hop condition is met. 39

43 Wireless Sensor Networks in Industrial Applications Communication Protocols: ZigBee specification (IEEE protocol) Characteristics: Multi-hop intermediate nodes (router nodes) to be mains powered No timeslots allocation to messages contention for channel access, increasing latency and power consumption Applications: process control, asset monitoring applications, etc. 40

44 Wireless Sensor/Actuator Networks in Industrial Applications Benefits: flexible installation and maintenance, mobile operation required in case of mobile robots, alleviates problems with cabling. 41

45 Wireless Sensor/Actuator Networks in Industrial Applications ABB Wireless Robotic Cell * WISA (wireless sensor/actuator) system to network proximity (position) sensors The sensors communicate with a wireless base station via antennas mounted in the cell. The base station can handle up to 120 wireless sensor/actuators and is connected to the control system via a (wireline) field bus. To increase capacity, a number of base stations can operate in the same area. WISA provides wireless power supply to the sensors, based on magnetic coupling. Base station Proximity sensor * Figures used with permission 42

46 Wireless Sensor/Actuator Networks in Industrial Applications Standard Bluetooth 2.4 GHz radio transceiver and low power electronics handle the wireless communication link. To meet the requirements for high reliability, low and predictable delay of data transfer, and support for high number of sensor/actuators, a specialized RF front end was developed for the base station to provide collision free air access by allocating a fixed Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) time slot to each sensor/actuator. (the commercially available solutions such as IEEE / Bluetooth, IEEE /ZigBee, and IEEE variants cannot not fulfill all the requirements.) Frequency hopping (FH) was employed to counter both frequency-selective fading and interference effects, and operates in combination with automatic retransmission requests (ARQ). The parameters of this TDMA/FH scheme were chosen to satisfy the requirements of up to 120 sensor/actuators per base station. Each wireless node has a response or cycle time of 2 ms, to make full use of the available radio band of 80 MHz width. The frequency hopping sequences are cell-specific and were chosen to have low cross-correlations to permit parallel operation of many cells on the same factory floor with low self-interference. 43

47 Opportunities and Challenges - Industrial Embedded Systems efficient and error-free design of SoC, and in particular Multi-Processor System-on- Chip (MPSoC), which combines the advantages of parallel processing with the high integration capability of SoC. evolving specific application area configurable platforms testing of embedded cores in SoC, power-aware computing, security in embedded systems, safety in networked embedded systems: PROFIsafe - PROFIBUS/PROFInet CIP Safety CIP family of protocols standardization 44

48 Useful Sources: Embedded Systems Embedded Systems Handbook, ed. R. Zurawski, CRC Press/Taylor & Francis, Networks & Networked Embedded Systems The Industrial Communication Technology Handbook, ed. R. Zurawski, CRC Press, Florida, Proceedings of the IEEE, Special Issue on Industrial Communication Systems, guest editor R. Zurawski, vol. 93, no.6, June

49 Embedded Systems in Industrial Applications Trends and Challenges Thank You! Richard Zurawski ISA Group, USA 46

50 FP EURON European Robotics Network Network of Excellence Information Society Technologies DR.14.1 White paper - Industrial Robot Automation Due date of deliverable: 30/8/2005 Actual submission date: 31/7/2005 Start date of project: May 1st, 2004 Duration: 48 months Organisation name of lead contractor for this deliverable: IPA Revision: V1 Dissemination Level: PU

51 Sectoral Report on Industrial Robot Automation Working Group Members: Arantxa Renteria Bilbao, Robotiker Rainer Bischoff, KUKA Torgny Brogårdh, ABB Henrik Christensen, KTH Manfred Dresselhaus, Reis Robotics Martin Haegele, Fraunhofer IPA Luca Lacello, COMAU Klas Nilsson, LTH Nicola Tomatis, Bluebotics Stefan Sagert, EUnited Robotics Thomas Skordas, European Commission Authors & Editors: Martin Haegele, Fraunhofer IPA Thomas Skordas, European Commission Stefan Sagert, EUnited Robotics Rainer Bischoff, KUKA Torgny Brogårdh, ABB Manfred Dresselhaus, Reis Robotics July 2005 Sectorial Report on Industrial Robot Automation 1

52 Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 1. INTRODUCTION 3 2. CURRENT SITUATION OF ROBOT AUTOMATION IN EUROPE 4 3. CURRENT AND FUTURE KEY-BUSINESS DRIVERS Automotive Industries Electronics Industries Current and Future Industries Acting as Application Drivers 6 4. A EUROPEAN VISION FOR LONG-TERM INDUSTRIAL ROBOT APPLICATIONS 8 5. MAIN OBSTACLES TO PROGRESS KEY TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGES TO PROGRESS Basic Technologies Robot Components System Integration EUROPE S COMPETITIVE POSITION IN INDUSTRIAL AUTOMATION BUSINESS CASES 15 APPENDIX 17 Sectorial Report on Industrial Robot Automation ii

53 Executive Summary Europe has achieved a leading position in manufacturing and use of robotics, with an annual turnover in robot sales estimated at about 3.5bn, which corresponds to some 33% on a global scale. When taking into account robot automation systems and related services, the annual turnover of some 225 European companies having robotic activities exceeds 13bn and is expanding at current growth rates of 7%. Today, robotics affects a broad sector of economic activities from automotive and electronics industries to food, recycling, logistics, etc. Up to now however, robot automation technologies have mainly been deployed in capital-intensive large-volume manufacturing, resulting in relatively costly and complex robot systems, which often cannot be used in small and medium sized manufacturing. New branches of robot automation that emerge nowadays such as food, logistics, recycling etc. require radical new designs of robot systems. Research and development efforts in robotics will strongly contribute to the creation of new opportunities towards European employment and growth. These opportunities are even more pronounced when taking into consideration apparent socio-economic factors such as the overaging of our society, increasing the productivity of European industries or the need towards a knowledge-based society as formulated in the Lisbon strategy. Robotics is able to address sustainable perspectives to all of these factors. This sectoral report proposes a long-term vision (15 years) towards novel robot systems and their application in future industrial automation scenarios. Its findings have been endorsed by the European robotics industries and their organization, EUnited Robotics. In the report, the future of manufacturing automation has been depicted in five scenarios in order to formulate challenging requirements for future robotic systems, identify main obstacles to progress and deduce relevant research directions. The culminating long-term vision (year 2025) in robot automation is that of A robot assistant serving the worker(s) at the manual workplace and being fully integrated as an agent in symbiotic manufacturing systems. Related key technology challenges for pursuing successful long-term industrial robot automation are introduced at three levels: (1) basic technologies, (2) robot components and (3) systems integration: 1. Basic technologies: RTD challenges related to the development of robot assistants concern mainly their required intelligent system behaviour and its underlying functionalities like perception, decision making, real time physical action, system architecture, learning, and use of natural language and dialogues. 2. Robot components: Industrial robots have always been depending on the availability of keycomponents such as actuators, sensors, materials and human-computer-interfaces as enablers for novel systems and applications. Besides component functionality and performance, aspects of mechanical, electrical and informational integration within standard system architectures are of increasing importance. Microsystems have entered as sensors, actuators and switches robotics. Further potential lies in creating robot structures which embed microsystems (sensors, actuators, circuits) into materials (so called smart matter systems) helping to create new light-weight, low inertia material for new actuation devices. 3. On a systems integration level, the main challenges lie in the development of methods and tools for instructing and synchronising the operation of a group of cooperative robots at the Sectorial Report on Industrial Robot Automation 1

54 shop-floor. Furthermore, the development of the concept of hyper flexible manufacturing systems implies soon the availability of: consistent middleware for automation modules to seamlessly connect robots, peripheral devices and industrial IT systems without reprogramming everything ( plug-and-play ); the introduction of wireless techniques on the shop-floor; mobile work-cells involving mobile robots and manufacturing equipment for a swift change-over of manufacturing lines to new production needs; and, the establishment of a life-cycle-oriented approach of production equipment (procurement, financing, planning). Competitive manufacturing of the future will increasingly depend on the progress of robotics technologies and the availability of safe and cost-effective robotic products and related services. We expect significant socio-economic impact in the following four categories of industrial stakeholders: end-user industries, existing robot automation manufacturers and system integrators, new start-ups in robotics and product-related service-industries. Sectorial Report on Industrial Robot Automation 2

55 1. INTRODUCTION In the last years, large enterprises in high-volume markets have managed to remain competitive and maintain qualified jobs by increasing their productivity, through, among others, the incremental adoption and use of advanced ICT and robotics technologies. In the 70s, robots have been introduced for the automation of a wide spectrum of tasks such as: assembly of cars, white goods, electronic devices, machining of metal and plastic parts, and handling of work pieces and objects of all kinds. Robotics has thus soon become a synonym for competitive manufacturing and a key contributing technology for strengthening the economic base of Europe. So far, the automotive and electronics industries and their supply chains are the main users of robot systems and are accounting for more than 60% of the total annual robot sales. Robotic technologies have thus mainly been driven by the needs of these high-volume market industries. In these global key markets where relatively few robot manufacturers can compete, European robot manufacturers face today a fierce competition. To remain competitive in the global arena, future manufacturing scenarios throughout all industrial branches will have to combine highest productivity and flexibility with minimal lifecycle-cost of manufacturing equipment. This is particularly valid for today s small and medium sized productions as these are particularly prone to relocation due to high labour costs. In order to face these challenges and respond to ever changing customer demands, paradigms of knowledgebase manufacturing have been formulated during the Lisbon Summit in the year 2000 by concentrating on high-added value products, skilled work force and superior manufacturing technology. As mentioned above, so far, robot automation technologies have been developed specifically for capital-intensive large-volume manufacturing, resulting in relatively costly and complex systems, which often cannot be used in small and medium sized manufacturing. Furthermore new branches of robot automation such as food, logistics, recycling etc. require radical new designs of robot systems. Future robot systems cannot be a mere extrapolation of today s technology but rather follow new design principles required in a wide range of new application areas (application pull). At the same time, novel technologies, particularly coming from the IT world and the mass markets will have an increasing impact on the design, performance and cost of future industrial robot automation (technology push). From the current trends, it is evident that the operation of robots will increasingly depend on information generated by sensors, worker instructions or CAD product data. Thus it can be expected that manufacturing competence will be further concentrated on robot systems which are expected to become a key component in the digital factory of the future. This sectoral report reflects the shared views of a number of industrial experts working in robot automation. It aims at formulating a common long-term vision (15 years ahead) of industrial robotics towards novel robot systems and their applications in manufacturing. After a short review of the current situation in robot automation, the report describes opportunities and obstacles towards a sustained competitiveness of the European robotics industries. RTD objectives and accompanying actions are identified and transformed into an action plan. Sectorial Report on Industrial Robot Automation 3