Abstract
Innovation Convention 2011
The Innovation Convention, held in Bruxelles on December 5–6, 2011, was an essential part of the Innovation Union flagship initiative.
The Innovation Convention 2011 was led by the President of the European Commission, Mr. José Manuel Barroso, and Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, European Commissioner for Research, Innovation, and Science. It was Europe's premier innovation event, with more than 1,200 selected participants.
The event also featured an area dedicated to career opportunities and advice for researchers on key innovation issues such as patents, IPR, and venture capital as well as an exhibition of innovative EU-funded research. We continue in this issue with the description of the selected projects that represent the most innovative European projects (Star Projects).
Star EU-Funded Research and Innovation Projects (Part 3)
21. IS-ACTIVE: Person-centric solution for managing chronic conditions
IS-ACTIVE is an AAL JP funded project, which seeks to encourage people suffering from chronic diseases to increase their physical activity. The project emphasizes the role of the home as care environment by providing real-time support to patients in order to monitor, self-manage, and improve their physical condition. The technology is being validated through field trials with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients in the Netherlands, Romania, and Norway.
Our stand will present two demonstrations: the activity monitoring system with real-time feedback and the exercise coaching concept through interactive gaming.
Raluca Marin-Perianu,
22. ISTAR: Needle-free injection device
The ISTAR project has developed ZENEO®, a needle-free, prefilled, single-use device for intradermal, subcutaneous, and intramuscular injections. Our technology eliminates contamination risks by avoiding injuries, brings simplicity to patient care, ensures accuracy of delivery, and avoids needle phobia. The exhibition will show our innovative injection system, its advantages, and the various successful technical, clinical, and preclinical studies validations.
At our stand, we will show demonstrations of how needle-free injections work.
Gerard Heinrich,
Patrick Alexandre,
23. MINOAS: Robotic technologies in service of vessel inspections
The MINOAS project proposes an innovative system concept for vessel inspections, assembling a fleet of robots and a set of tools aiding the surveyor in inspection tasks. The system includes several robot typologies, each with specific motion and task capabilities. For instance, there is a quadrotor helicopter dedicated to the overall visual survey, a light crawler for close-up surveys, and a heavy crawler for thickness measurements. Tools include image processing algorithms for detecting defects.
Some robots will be exhibited live at our stand; videos will support the presentation of the system.
Alessia Vergine,
24. MYOCEAN: MyOcean, your ocean online
MyOcean provides state-of-the-art information available on global and European seas and their assimilation into 3D models in the past, real time, and the near future. This unique service under the European Earth monitoring program GMES is useful for water quality monitoring, environmental impact assessment, pollution control, oil spill combats, protection of living marine resources, thermal water energy conversion, or for coastal erosion prediction.
Visitors will be able to manipulate an interactive globe featuring currents or temperature and discover the first MyOcean smartphone application prototype displaying ocean forecast from its bottom to its surface.
Pierre Bahurel,
25. NANOBOND: Technology revolution in the fight against hospital infections
To help combat the global problem of “Superbugs,” a consortium of five companies, alongside scientists from across Europe, has developed durable antimicrobial textiles. Clinically tested to withstand industrial-strength laundry cycles, the treatment lasts for the entire lifetime of the product. The technology works by permanently linking a nonmigrating antimicrobial coating on to textiles.
Come to our stand to discover a wide range of textiles treated with the medical i-LiNKTM technology developed by Nanobond, including pillows, patient gowns, mattress protectors, and so on.
Patrice Vandendaele,
26. NANOPOWER: Toward zeropower—Recycling energy in the nanoworld
NANOPOWER focuses on energy harvesting science and technology at the micro- and nano-scale. The goal is to power a wide variety of wireless sensors and nano electronic devices avoiding batteries. Through interactive exhibits, the science and the applications are on display: the intelligent car, an example of energy harvesting for smart automotive systems, the nano springboards that consists of nano-devices called cantilevers that convert vibrations into electricity, and light the flag where visitors press floor tiles converting their movement into electric energy to power a 600 LEDs flag.
Prof. Luca Gammaitoni,
27. NEXT: The next generation of machine tools
The NEXT project aimed to bring the European production machinery industry to new frontiers by designing the next generation of machine tools. Six demonstrators and five prototypes were developed in this project, including the Par2 robot, which will be presented at our stand. Par2 is the fastest 2 degree-of-freedom robot in the world for pick and place applications. The field of application of this type of robots is very broad and spans various sectors in great need of automation, like food and agriculture. The production of this robot involved two European partners, Tecnalia and LIRMM.
Cédric Baradat
28. OCTOPUS: A new generation of high dexterity soft-bodied octopus-inspired robots
OCTOPUS studies the principles that give rise to the octopus sensory motor abilities to define novel design principles and technologies for soft-bodied robots. The project could have implications in several fields such as underwater rescue or marine exploration and surgery. The exhibit shows the most original results for new soft robotic technologies and biological research, with soft robot prototypes demonstrating the strategies of the dexterous movements of octopus body and arms.
Visitors can interact with the soft arms of the octopus-like robot in a water tank.
Cecilia Laschi,
29. OFAV: From Italy to China … Driverless! The longest ever trip of autonomous vehicles
Driverless vehicles will shape our future mobility: driverless cars will safely take us to our destination avoiding accidents and traffic jams, driverless tractors will work on the field 24/7, driverless service vehicles will run dangerous and extreme missions by themselves. To advance in this field, extensive tests must be performed in a large variety of scenarios. In 2010, a unique test was conceived: four autonomous cars left Italy and drove autonomously to Shanghai, China, after more than 13,000 km and 3 months of driverless operations. One of the vehicles will be shown in the stand.
Alberto Broggi,
30. OPTITRANS: The journey planner for smart green mobility
OptiTrans is a multimodal journey planner that allows travelers to plan their trip efficiently by making optimal use of public and private transport while taking into account their preference (shortest transport time, minimum cost, etc.). It also incorporates dynamic car sharing and taxi-on-demand options and provides information about traffic congestion, strikes, and points of interests. The OptiTrans mobile GNSS application has been supported by the EU under FP7—Galileo 2007—GSA Call 1. It is currently available for Athens and Madrid and expanding rapidly to other cities across the Globe.
Dr. Stelios C. A. Thomopoulos,