Robotics and Automation Magazine

March 2008

EURON started in 1999 as a Network of Excellence under the Future and Emerging Technologies Framework Program (FP) 5 with the purpose to bring together the best groups and resources in research, industry and education in Europe and to demonstrate Europe's world class position in robotics. EURON II was launched in 2004 as an FP-6 Network of Excellence. Under the active and firm leadership of its early coordinator Henrik Christensen and his successor Herman Bruyninckx, EURON has grown to include around 210 members in 28 countries while any group working in robotics is able apply to join, and new members do so regularly.

In EURON, scientists, industrialists and educators work together towards the dream of the next generation of robots. A forum for members to meet, exchange news and results so that new ideas and collaborations are born and old ideas are reviewed and extended was created. EURON was keen on making European research efforts focused towards more productive goals. EURON’s educators worked towards developing and training the new skilled robotics workforce through general science promotion activities and advanced summer schools. Active encouragement and ideas exchange between the research and industrial communities was pursued and continuous efforts to cooperate with the European Robotics Platform were made. It sponsored a prize for the successful transfer of good ideas from the research world to the robotics industry. As a result, through EURON, the world sees the scope and quality of European robotics.

EURON II is finishing as a funded Network of Excellence at the end of April 2008. Under its current scheme, its final annual meeting will be taking place, between March 26-28, in Prague (Czech Republic) collocated with the European Robotics Symposium 2008 EUROS 2008. However most of the current members have expressed their interest in letting EURON live on, in the form of a true community-driven organization. The concrete form and mission of this “new EURON” will be the result of an open discussion within the community, but most probably the major success stories of the past will be continued in one way or another: the PhD and Tech Transfer Awards, the Summer Schools, the electronic dissemination of robotics information (http://www.euron.org), including job offers, drafts of research papers, etc.

The EURON – RAM column, as part of EURON’s publicity activities has constantly been reporting on European Robotics Research activities with the contribution of Prof. Bruno Siciliano, who is acting now as the new RAS president (Good Luck, Bruno!) and Prof. Kostas Kyriakopoulos. The seventeen EURON columns reported between 2003-2007 on: Robotics summer schools in Europe, EURON meetings and the European Robotics Symposium (EUROS), the EURON/European Robotics Foundation Technology Transfer Award, the Joint Program of Research and the research coordination activities of EURON, the European Commission – Future and Emerging Technologies “Beyond Robotics” initiative funded projects, the Georges Giralt Ph. D Award in Robotics in Europe, the European Commission funding activities, etc.

This column is concluding the EURON column series and, at the same time, debuting the Europe Regional Column. Thus I would like to thank EURON coordinators Henrik Christensen and Herman Bruyninckx who supported this effort, my co-author Bruno Siciliano for sharing the load and all those EURON members that provided me with material to support the column. I will keep on reporting from Europe under the new scheme.

In the future, parties interested in promoting certain activities via the Europe Regional Column can contact Kostas Kyriakopoulos, kkyria AT central.ntua.gr) or Bruno Siciliano, siciliano AT unina.it).

Contributed by Kostas Kyriakopoulos and Bruno Siciliano.