- 13 SME-led experiments, carried out in collaboration with industrial end-users, are advancing real-world human-robot interaction (HRI) solutions across 7 countries.
- Solutions are tested in real-world industrial and healthcare scenarios, validating ARISE’s open-source middleware and SSH framework through practical proof-of-concept demonstrators.
- Testing and Experimentation Facilities (TEFs) provide large-scale environments to validate outcomes and inspire future innovation models, ensuring practical, scalable, and industry-ready modules.
- A tailored mentoring programme supports SMEs in technical integration, human-centric design, and business development.
- First shareable modules — open-source, reusable building blocks for industrial HRIare expected by March–April 2026, enabling faster, cost-effective adoption across European industries.
The ARISE project, funded by the European Union under Horizon Europe, has entered a decisive phase. Following its successful first Open Call, 13 innovative experiments led by SMEs are now being implemented across seven countries, demonstrating the industrial added value of AI-powered robots in accelerating safer, more efficient, and inclusive industrial workplaces.
These experiments showcase the potential of the ARISE all-in-one middleware open, standards-based, and real-time enabled while validating the AgileHRI concept: combining agility, openness, and human-centric design to accelerate industrial adoption.
At the heart of ARISE are its Testing and Experimentation Facilities (TEFs). These living labs serve as controlled, large-scale environments where HRI solutions are tested, validated, and demonstrated under real-world conditions. TEFs ensure that ARISE outcomes are not just conceptual, but practical and scalable, while also laying the foundation for the ARISE Community of Practice (CoP), a long-term ecosystem for collaboration, knowledge sharing, and innovation transfer.
Through ARISE’s 12 month mentoring programme (2 rounds), each SME experiment benefits from targeted guidance in integration and interoperability, the development of reusable open-source modules, human-centric design, and business exploitation planning. This structured approach ensures innovations are technically robust, ethically sound, and market-ready, bridging the gap between early adopters and mainstream industry uptake.
These experiments showcase how ARISE is bridging the gap between cutting-edge robotics research and real industrial needs. By combining advanced middleware, open standards, and strong ecosystem, ARISE ensures that innovation is not only scalable and but also truly impactful,”
FIWARE iHubs and DIHs act as multipliers, making sure the ARISE results reach industries across Europe and beyond. This collaboration strengthens digital sovereignty while giving SMEs the tools to innovate faster and safer,”
Each experiment tackles a real-world challenge while contributing shareable, reusable modules to the ARISE Skills Catalog:
Introducing AI-driven robotics to boost precision and efficiency in manufacturing workflows.
Developing collaborative robotics for elderly care, including physiotherapy assistance modules adaptable to patient needs.
Applying AI-powered robotic assistance to improve safety and quality of life in assisted living contexts.
Enabling synchronized human-robot workflows that support more sustainable and efficient manufacturing.
Streamlining electrical panel assembly with AR and cobots, while contributing middleware that bridges ERP systems, storage, and robotics.
Reducing strain and boosting efficiency in automotive assembly with XR-guided collaboration and modules for perception, voice interaction, and real-time monitoring.
Advancing gripper adaptability with imitation learning and edge AI modules for safer, ergonomic pick-and-place in warehouses.
Redefining manufacturing processes through AI-powered robotics that adapt flexibly to production demands.
Automating precision in biocomposite manufacturing to enable sustainable production at scale.
Making block storage safer and more efficient with modules for predictive monitoring and seamless integration of autonomous forklifts.
Providing an AI-powered co-pilot for welding and additive manufacturing, supporting precision and operator safety.
Simplifying cosmetic production with gesture and voice interaction, contributing modules for intuitive HRI, IoT-based monitoring, and adaptive AI.
Enhancing welding with vision-based human-robot teaming for improved safety and quality.
The first shareable modules developed through the experiments will be launched in March–April 2026, expanding the ARISE Skills Catalog with reusable, open-source components for industrial human-robot interaction.
Through its Testing and Experimentation Facilities, mentoring programme, and shareable modules, ARISE demonstrates how Agile HRI serves as a tangible enabler of Industry 5.0. It provides proof of concept that validates its real-world applicability and strategically bridges the gap between early adopters and the early majority.
At the core lies an integrated, open-source technical framework built on Vulcanexus, FIWARE, and ROS4HRI, complemented by a library of open modules and tools that enable agile industrial HRI development. This foundation is reinforced by training resources, documentation, and human-centric frameworks that make adoption accessible, interoperable, and sustainable.
By combining TEF-based validation, mentoring, and knowledge transfer into an open Pioneer Training Framework, ARISE ensures its results become shared resources that other initiatives, hubs, and SMEs can build on. This ecosystem-driven approach is creating a Community of Practice, a model of collaboration, clustering, and open innovation that allows stakeholders across Europe to replicate, adapt, and scale industrial HRI solutions.
In doing so, ARISE is not just generating outputs but shaping a replicable model for accelerating Industry 5.0 adoption ensuring that human-centric, sustainable, and intelligent manufacturing ecosystems can thrive even beyond the project.
Readers are invited to stay tuned and follow ARISE on LinkedIn, where in the coming months each experiment will be highlighted in detail, with deep dives into their solutions, impacts, and contributions to the future of human-centric robotics.