PAL Robotics has chosen four teams to be offered TIAGo Steel robots for participation in the European Robotics League (ERL) Service Robots competition. Three lucky teams will each be loaned a robot for just €650 a month, and one team will be loaned a robot for free.

The four successful teams are:

• The University of Koblenz–Landau, Germany
• The Institute of Robotics and Industrial Informatics, CSIC-UPC, Spain
• A consortium of the Disruptive Hub of Everis and the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, Spain
• The Carlos III University of Madrid, Spain

The team from the University of Koblenz-Landau has been awarded the free TIAGo Steel robot because of its incredibly thorough application paper, prior ERL experience and clear passion for its research. Its application successfully conveyed both its breadth of experience and the extent to which it would benefit from competing in the tournament.

All robots are eligible to rent for up to 12 months, with the condition of mandatory participation in at least one ERL Service Robots tournament.

The TIAGo Steel

The TIAGo Steel (shown below) is a mobile manipulator with a parallel gripper, workspace of 86cm and maximum payload of 3kg. The robot has a mobile base with a combination of lasers, sonars and actuated motors, a maximum speed of 1m/s and batteries that provide up to 10 hours of autonomy.

 With 12 degrees of freedom, a torso lift of 35cm and 100% ROS-compatible open-source software, the TIAGo Steel is a versatile robot with modular capabilities that make it perfectly suited for the ERL Service Robots competition.

ERL in Barcelona

As a Platinum Sponsor of the competition, PAL Robotics will be hosting one of the local tournaments in Barcelona. Keep an eye on the company’s blog for further details, but what can be revealed at the moment is:

Date: 20–27 November 2017 (during European Robotics Week)

Location: PAL Robotics’ office

If any of the four teams participating with a TIAGo Steel robot wants to take part in the local Barcelona tournament, PAL Robotics will provide it with a robot in order to avoid the cost of transportation of its TIAGo Steel.

ERL Service Robots tournaments

The teams with TIAGo robots must participate in at least two ERL Service Robots tournaments each, during the current 2017/18 season, in order to be eligible for a prize. The upcoming ERL Service Robots tournaments planned for the remainder of the season are as follows:

• 28–31 August 2017, Major Tournament at ISR/IST, Lisbon, Portugal, co-located with IEEE RO-MAN 2017
• 11–15 September 2017, Local Tournament at University of Leon, Spain
• November 2017 (during the European Robotics Week), Local Tournament at PAL Robotics, Barcelona, Spain
• 4–7 December 2017, Local Tournament in Peccioli, Italy

Press contact

Elisa Alston

Corporate Communications Manager

PAL Robotics S.L.

Telephone: +34 934 145 347

E-mail: tiago@pal-robotics.com

Notes for editors

About euRobotics

The European Robotics League is funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement n° 688441.

It is part of the SPARC public-private partnership set up by the European Commission and euRobotics to extend Europe’s leadership in civilian robotics. SPARC’s €700 million of funding from the Commission in 2014̶20 is being combined with €1.4 billion of funding from European industry. old.eu-robotics.net/sparc

euRobotics is a European Commission-funded non-profit organisation which promotes robotics research and innovation for the benefit of Europe's economy and society. It is based in Brussels and has more than 250 member organisations. old.eu-robotics.net. Website: www.robotics-league.eu. Twitter: @ERLrobotleague. Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ERLrobotleague

About PAL Robotics

 PAL Robotics’ mission is to create collaborative service robots that work alongside humans to improve our quality of life and solve everyday problems. The company designs and manufactures highly customisable, reliable platforms and modular robotic parts that adapt to the needs of the user.

With over 10 years’ experience in the industry, PAL Robotics is one of the leading global providers of humanoid robotics platforms for research.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/PALRobotics