The ECHORD project: A general perspective

Abstract

The European funded ECHORD project 1 European Clearing House for Open Robotics Development began in January 2009 with the ambitious goal of bringing together European robotics manufacturers with the excellent European research institutions. Europe has a very strong robot industry and there is significant research potential as well as technological knowledge. There has been a long history of outstanding research and development in both robot manufacturers and research institutes. However, finding common ground between manufacturers and the research community, especially when it comes to defining the future direction of robotics research, has proven difficult in the past. This is one of the recurring themes on both sides, and a new level of cooperation is long overdue. Thus, ECHORD acted as a clearing house to streamline successful know-how transfers. The research leading to the results presented in this book has received funding from the European Union through the 7th Framework Programme (FP7) under grant agreement number FP7-ICT-231143.