Public Funding for Abb Limited

In this project the Dover-Calais/Dunkirk Green Corridor consortium focuses on the development and feasibility of implementing a green corridor (GC) between the Port of Dover (PoD) and the Ports of Calais and Dunkirk. The project takes the Dover--Calais/Dunkirk route, as its feasibility case and will investigate viable energy pathways for the corridor providing a business case and delivery plan for the implementation of a GC, based on roll on, roll off (Ro/Ro) car, van, truck, and passenger carrying ferry vessels. PoD is the busiest ferry port in the UK, responsible for 33% of UK-EU trade, and 59% of all UK-EU ferry movements. Therefore, working towards a future where the unique capacity and resilience of the shortest crossing to Europe can be sustainably delivered is of utmost importance to both PoD and the Ports of Calais/Dunkirk, for port customers, as well as the UK. The GCSS project partners will collaborate for eight months to identify and analyse the full value chain and determine viable energy pathway options for both marine and landside vessels and vehicles. A Well-to-Wake and Well-to-Wheel analysis will be completed on all viable energy pathways to assess direct and indirect environmental impacts for each pathway. The analysis will also identify relevant regulations and policy, how a GC would comply with these regulations and identify any missing policy measures that are required to successfully implement a GC. The project will ultimately produce a GC business case and route map that can be used to both scale up the number of zero-emission vessels and corresponding landside infrastructure, but also to attract private sector investment and replicate the corridor elsewhere. The project will not only support PoD's ambition to be carbon net-zero (for scope 1 and 2) by 2025 but also ensures the consortium members, representing the whole port, regional systems, and the investment community can be a part of the first GC. The project will also help support the UK's commitment to the Clydebank Declaration, which was agreed at COP 26, and ultimately help meet the zero emission shipping ambitions of the UK's 'Clean Maritime Plan', envisaging the UK as a global leader in clean shipping by 2050\. It will also allow customers a range of low carbon choices to transport passengers and freight on this vital route.

"The UK soft fruit market is now worth at retail well over £1.3 billion per annum. The UK grows over 160,000 tonnes of fruit and employs 29,000 seasonal and typically migrant pickers. 50% of the total production cost is for labour. The soft fruit industry is extremely concerned with the both the availability of picking labour and labour cost inflation. The impact of Brexit is already affecting labour supply and the opportunities to pass on labour cost inflation are weak and challenging. The soft fruit sector is a UK success story and there are still opportunities for expansion and to reduce fruit imports. However, it is very clear that to thrive the industry needs to drive every possible means to improve to labour productivity. Robotic fruit picking clearly offers great opportunity in the sector. Here we will develop the world's first high speed robotic fruit picking system. We build on ongoing research by CBS, Berry Gardens and the University of Lincoln (UoL), complimenting the team for the first time with the inclusion of ABB, the global leaders in robotic system design and marketing. CBS have already demonstrated world leading picking performance (in terms of vision system accuracy and picking speed) for their fruit picking robot: GRASP-berry. GRASP-berry is a highly novel parallel robot with two independent picking arms and a novel fruit grasping actuator. The vision system alone is highly novel and deploys advanced AI deep learning algorithms. The initial field trials have clearly shown that to deliver a commercial robot we need to increase picking speed and develop new ways to detect and pick occluded fruit that lie within dense clusters. Here we will test the use of active manipulation to detect and pick occluded fruit, plus a novel high speed robotic picking system that will deploy an ABB Delta robot that is industrially tested and can pick at speeds of up to 120 picks per minute. The system will then be integrated into the world leading Thorvald robotic platform that has been developed by CBS with UoL. This is a much-needed project that will transform robotic fruit picking from the laboratory bench to a commercially relevant system. The world-wide market for these machines and IP is very significant."

"Traditional construction is a low-tech but flexible manufacturing process. It is carried out 'on-site' using pre-manufactured components (windows, doors, bricks, blocks etc) and the manufacture of basic elements such as concrete, plaster etc. Whilst its flexibility has much to commend it (given the bespoke nature of buildings and their geographic distribution) it is inefficient in time and costs, and prone to skills, quality, waste and H&S issues that are more complex than in conventional factory manufacture. It also does not lend itself to efficient automation; sales of robots to construction companies is much lower than in other sectors. **COSCR** project partners (a consortium of construction companies and robotic solution providers) are working to develop cost effective, reconfigurable robots that can be deployed throughout construction supply chains for the factory based manufacture and assembly of component parts that can then be transported to the construction site prior to installation. However, on-site construction presents additional challenges in that robots must be rugged and mobile, and readily reconfigured to new tasks, to enable them to move easily between locations and activities. They must be capable of accurate but autonomous positioning such that activities match the building design (included in a digital Building Information Model). Safety in use is essential; construction sites are dynamic environments, with human workers needing to carry out tasks, potentially in close proximity to a robot. If these challenges can be addressed there are potentially huge benefits in terms of construction productivity and quality (e.g. potentially dangerous tasks such as drilling at height completed 4 times faster than is possible by human workers) as well as health and safety benefits. On-site robotics will also help to address ongoing skills shortages in construction whilst presenting greater opportunities for upskilling. The COSCR project will therefore develop and assess an innovative, mobile construction platform equipped with robotic arm, that is capable of delivering a range of repetitive on-site activities in a safe, cost effective manner. The project will be led by UK SMEs **HAL Robotics** and **I****nnoTecUK** together with multinational robotics and construction equipment manufacturers **ABB** and **Skyjack**. **Skanska**, a leading international construction contractor will pilot and assess the COSCR solution in the context of real on-site construction projects to enable project partners to identify and plan the next steps needed for the development of a full commercial system. We believe that there is a huge opportunity for use in construction sectors globally."

This project aims to develop a new robotic picking system to harvest fresh mushrooms reducing labour demands by ca. 66%. The work will be carried out by a consortium comprising: Littleport Mushroom Farms, a major UK mushroom supplier; ABB, a major UK-based robotic supplier; Stelram, a small specialist UK developer of robotic solutions; and the University of Lincoln, a leading research group focusing on robotic application in the food industry. The project will integrate novel soft robotic actuators, vision systems and data analysis with autonomous robots and will deliver an end to end solution to a problem that has challenged the industry for many years. It will greatly increase the competitiveness of UK production and the outcomes are directly transferable to many sectors of the UK food and manufacturing industries.

The project will innovate in adaptable, reconfigurable robotic and supporting digital manufacturing technology to deliver a step change in productivity in processes that manufacture & assemble a range of products in small production lots. It will focus on construction product manufacture but outcomes will also be applicable to other manufacturing sectors. Robots have not, to date, been used in these contexts as it has not been possible to easily reconfigure them between different product runs leading to low utilisation, preventing the productivity gains needed to justify investment in automation. However, recent advances in robotics mean that the time is ripe for innovation. Robots must be adaptable and linked to digital design & management capabilities to enable reconfiguration, with manufacturing processes/supply chains reengineered to optimise overall productivity. The project will therefore develop a reconfigurable robotic solution for construction product manufacture and assembly that links to digital Building Information Modelling (BIM). As a use case it will take supply chains for steel fabrication, and mechanical and electrical (M&E) equipment in which parts are factory-manufactured, then assembled near to a construction site in a temporary ‘flying factory’. Successful implementation will lead to a 30% improvement in supply chain productivity. It will create a new market for UK companies (including an SME) providing robotic and related digital solutions for construction. The project solution will be applicable to wider manufacturing sectors where the ability to manufacture multiple product types in low lot sizes is key.

Construction accounts for 9% of UK GDP, employing 3M people. Whilst the size of the construction industry suggests that there should be many opportunities for the use of robotics, uptake has been slow. Projects are often bespoke, with complex supply chains. Demand also fluctuates, leading to a risk-averse approach to investment. Previous work has shown that individual construction tasks can be efficiently and effectively automated. However, to achieve the overall efficiency improvements needed to justify investment it is essential that robotics and autonomous system (RAS) solutions can move between different activities (either on-site or in a temporary construction component assembly factory) and to be easily reconfigured by non-expert staff. Mobility and positioning is a key component of this but existing mobile solutions are not suitable for use in harsh, dynamic environments that typify construction. The project will therefore build on recent innovation in the development of construction RAS. It will develop, demonstrate and assess a proof of concept version of a robust mobile 'platform' and supporting visioning and positioning capabilities that can support, place and control a robotic arm in a 'flying factory' or small product manufacturing factory.

Concrete is widely used in construction due to its ability to provide structural capacity andfunction cost effectively and at scale. However, its role in construction does not lend itself tocreativity in design. High-end clients typically demand state-of-the-art designs, presenting achallenge in a sector where every building is essentially different to the last. The CAMBER project will seek to develop an innovative 3D concrete printing (3DCP) platformthat meets these demands. 3DCP has the potential to deliver more creative designs whilst stillmaintaining building function cost effectively. However, there are challenges that need to beovercome in terms of materials supply to the printing nozzle, providing support material for theconcrete prior to setting to produce complex geometries and overhangs, finishing afterplacement to provide a suitable surface and materials formulation. Work is also needed to linkthe 3DCP to building information modeling capabilities. Additionally a 3DCP capability needsto be mobile such that it can be readily set up and used on a construction site (or in temporary,near-site factory) in order to optimize productivity in line with recent construction processinnovation.Building on recent R&D work and IP developed within the consortium CAMBER will addressthese barriers and opportunities. Led by Skanska to ensure that user needs remain a focus andto provide a route to market, it brings together a strong, supply chain-orientated consortiumfrom construction (Skanska, Tarmac, Fosters + Partners, BRE), manufacturing automation(ABB, MTC, Loughborough University) and an SME digital solutions provider (HAL). It builds onprevious R&D work (and IP) by project partners (including innovation in the application of BIMto product design, as well as materials, process and finishing). It will develop a mobile additivemanufacturing platform (and associated supply and processing capabilities) for the costeffective,mainstream 3D printing of a wide range of large concrete components (includingcomplex geometries), such as façade units, wall panels, partitions, street furniture etc. inprecast concrete factories or via the mobile platform in a near/onsite flying factory. The initialfocus will be on meeting the requirements for 'high-end' markets. However, successfulimplementation and subsequent economies of scale will mean that the approach will be costeffective in more mainstream construction markets. The platform will integrate recent digitalconstruction sector innovations -- especially Building Information Modelling (BIM).

Laser processing is extensively used in advanced manufacturing, mostly using conventional (CNC-based) machine tools. Many critical laser processes, such as drilling of aerospace components, are required to achieve positional accuracy less than 25µm, which is not possible using existing robot configurations. FlexLase project aims to develop a flexible robotic system with positional accuracy less than 25 microns, using a novel vision system and a real-time laser beam position control. The final FlexLase system will be highly flexible, affordable and highly reconfigurable compared to current/alternative technologies.

Traditional construction is a low-tech manufacturing process. It is carried out largely 'on-site' with the assembly of some pre-manufactured components (bricks, windows etc) and, whilst flexible and adaptable to a client's needs, is inefficient and challenging to automate. The industry is consequently making greater use of off-site factory manufacture. This brings many benefits but has high fixed costs and low flexibility, often located miles from the construction site. Skanska are pioneering 'Flying Factories'; temporary factories located close to or on a construction site, enabling flexible, efficient component manufacture/assembly whilst reducing fixed costs and optimising transport logistics. However, to fully exploit this manufacturing flexibility, we need to introduce advanced automation/robotics and supporting software systems common in other sectors, and to establish business models and cultural changes for mainstream use. The 'FRAMBE' project brings factory automation expertise from ABB and Tekla to address these challenges. It will develop a scalable, modularised flying factory solution that can be used for the flexible manufacture of a wide range of construction components.