Flexible Robotics Day: Exploring Innovations at Icam Toulouse campus

Services to businessesToulouse
9 Feb 2024

On Thursday February 8, 2024, the Icam site in Toulouse hosted a major event in the field of flexible robotics. Co-organized by Icam, Aerospace Valley, Robotics Place, Aquitaine Robotics and Arts et Métiers, the day was a unique opportunity to bring together 160 professionals, including 15 exhibiting solution providers and academics to discuss robotics innovation projects in the Occitanie and Nouvelle-Aquitaine regions. 

Discussions focused on government support for companies, the benefits of industry/school collaboration, the place of ethics in robotics, and concrete, accessible solutions to meet industrial expectations.

Catherine Simon, Industrial Digital Advisor at the French General Secretariat for Investment, honored us by presenting the FRANCE 2030 roadmap. This roadmap highlights the aid and funding measures available to support companies investing in the development of robotics in France. Her presentation highlighted the crucial strategic opportunities for French industry in this constantly evolving field.

A technical presentation of an uprooting operation was given by Marie-Charlotte Sève and Thomas Ricou, from Icam’s services to businesses robotics team. The presentation showcased their capacity for innovation, as well as the skills developed by students in their final year of engineering training during their industrial science thesis.

The morning culminated with a high-level round table discussion on “Reindustrializing with Flexible Robotics: Fantasy or Reality?” Jérémie Pedros from Robotics Place, Gilles Vandecaveye from Icam, Cyril Dané from AIO, Catherine Simon from FRANCE 2030, Mehdi Cherif from Arts et Métiers ParisTech and Christophe Riboulet from Cluster Aquitaine Robotics, shared their perspectives and ideas under the moderation of Marc Bagur.

After a presentation of the exhibiting suppliers during the buffet, the ethical challenges of robotics were addressed by Catherine Tessier from Onera. This session provoked deep reflection on the social and ethical implications of the growing use of robotics in our society.

Finally, the day ended on an inspiring note, underlining the continuing importance of innovation and collaboration in the field of flexible robotics.

In short, the Flexible Robotics Day at Icam Toulouse was a resounding success, offering companies in need of acculturation to the subject, support and even transformation. Each company was able to find out more about France 2030 and the assistance it can provide.

Header photo from Ahmad Batikh