Feasibility of a standardised, optimised Soft Robotics CPU as the core Industry 4.0 architecture to advance the rapidly growing soft robotics industry

我们的动机是整合工业4.0技术来解决人类面临的巨大挑战（到2050年养活98亿人、改善健康/生活质量、应对气候变化），以工业弹性、环境可持续、经济可及的方式为50亿美元的市场机会做出贡献。该计划解决了“人工智能和数据”的重大挑战，并与“老龄化社会”保持一致。就像集成电路彻底改变了信息处理一样，新的高度集成架构有可能彻底改变包括软机器人在内的主要行业。BiologIC Technologies （UK SME）将领导该项目。这个开创性的项目在高度集成的3d打印系统中部署了BiologIC的英国工业4.0技术，建立了英国在这一增长行业的关键能力。该项目将对软机器人CPU（“srCPU”）进行可行性研究，该研究将为新的软机器人开发提供核心网络物理架构。srCPU将使用多材料3d打印和柔性电子技术将硬件组件与嵌入式软件作为中央操作系统集成在一起，以控制软机器人的信息处理和驱动。srCPU将能够与3d打印的集成软机器人原型互连，既可以作为独立系统，也可以与硬机器人和远程设备（如无人驾驶汽车）接口。该项目将显著提高整个软机器人细分市场的总体技术准备水平。新一代软体机器人将在动态任务/非结构化环境中运行，以增加与人类的协作。软机器人的优点是易制造/低成本/轻量化/高灵活性/安全性。然而，对于核心中央处理架构的发展，也存在着关键的操作需求，这些核心中央处理架构可以减轻控制基础设施（泵/阀/电子/光学）的负担，提高远程操作性，拓宽应用领域，加快客户的上市速度。目的是演示BiologIC标准化srCPU原型的可行性，该原型能够与许多软机器人（软末端执行器，例如抓手/手/手臂/蠕虫）相互连接，以展示开放式创新平台的可移植性。受集成电路的启发，BiologIC的全栈“数字硬件”srCPU架构是软件可配置的，可用于许多市场的横向应用，提高了仓储/物流（处理复杂库存），医疗保健（手术设备/感染性材料），核退役和农业的工业弹性。软机器人可以在全球范围内以40%的复合年增长率从6.45亿加元（2019年）增长到50亿加元（2025年），前提是中央处理限制得到解决。我们估计，通过这个改变游戏规则、以用户为中心的项目，srCPU可以解决高达20%的市场。

Our motivation is to integrate Industry 4.0 technologies to solve enormous challenges faced by humanity (feeding 9.8 billion people by 2050, improving health/quality of life, addressing climate change) contributing to a $5bn market opportunity in an industrially resilient, environmentally sustainable, economically accessible way.This programme addresses grand challenge 1 "Artificial intelligence and data" and aligns to 2 "Ageing society".In the same way the integrated circuit revolutionised information processing, new highly-integrated architectures have the potential to revolutionise major industries including soft robotics.BiologIC Technologies (UK SME) will lead the programme. This pioneering project deploys BiologIC's industry 4.0 UK technologies in highly-integrated 3D-printed systems, establishing critical UK capability in this growth industry.The project will undertake a feasibility study into a soft robotics CPU ("srCPU") that will provide the core cyber-physical architecture central to new soft robotic development. The srCPU will use multi-material 3D-printing and flexi-electronics to integrate hardware components together with embedded software as a central operating system to control the information processing and actuation of soft robots. The srCPU will be able to interconnect to 3D-printed, integrated soft robot prototypes either as standalone systems or to interface with hard robots and remote devices such as Unmanned Autonomous Vehicles.The project will significantly advance the total technology readiness level of the whole soft robotics market segment. New generations of soft robots will operate in dynamic-task/unstructured environments in increasing collaboration with humans. Advantages of soft robots are easy-fabrication/low-cost/lightweight/high-flexibility/safety. However, there are critical operational needs to advance core central processing architectures that reduce the significant control infrastructure burden (pumps/valves/electronics/optics), improve remote operability, broaden application areas and accelerate customer speed-to-market.The objective is to demonstrate feasibility of a prototype standardised srCPU from BiologIC capable of being interconnected to a number of soft robots (soft end-effectors e.g. grippers/hands/arms/worms) to show portability of the open-innovation platform.Inspired by integrated circuits, BiologIC's full-stack "digital hardware" srCPU architectures are software-configurable with horizontal applications across many markets, increasing industrial resilience in warehousing/logistics (handling complex inventory), healthcare (surgical devices/infectious material), nuclear decomissioning and agriculture.Soft robotics can grow globally from c$645m (2019) to c$5bn (2025) at CAGR\>40% \[Research and Markets\] provided central processing constraints are addressed. We estimate the srCPU can address up to 20% of this market through this game-changing, user-focused programme.