The Robotics Group, of the Mechanical Engineering and Aeronautics Department, University of Patras, exhibits a wide range of expertise in the development of innovative open-architecture robots, intelligent robot-systems control based on Neural Networks, Fuzzy Logic and Genetic Algorithms, as well as automatic generation of assembly strategies and intelligent control for manufacturing processes. Furthermore, knowledge-based methods for handling of non-rigid materials have been developed; and now the Robotics Group through a national project aims to the development of an intelligent system for robot handling of fabrics in separation, seam operation and quality control. This expertise can contribute to the next generation of flexible assembly automation and agile, clean and re-configurable manufacturing systems.

The Robotics Group has a considerable research experience in the theoretical foundation of mechanical and systematic mechatronic design and has developed design indices for the monitoring of the mechatronic approach during the design process. A CAD system for shoe design has been developed and efforts to incorporate qualitative knowledge into CAD systems as well as intelligence into Robot simulators are attempted. These research efforts are aimed to the next generation of intelligent CAD systems for designing devices - machines and intelligent robot simulators for performing knowledge-based design and optimisation for the virtual factory of the future.

The Institute of Production Engineering and Machine Tools (Institut für Fertigungstechnik und Werkzeugmaschinen, IFW) is one of the academic departments of the University of Hannover and among the well known research institutes of the Federal Republic of Germany in the field of production engineering. It has a strong reputation in the fields of production management and organisation, machining technology, machine tools, robotics and controls as well as technological information systems. Its activities are aimed at rationalise the manufacturing processes though a balance of fundamental and application oriented research works. The results of the institute’s efforts are accredited world-wide. The close co-operation of the institute with the industry accounts for the good insight of the problems and demands in production environments. Approximately 40 % of the yearly turnover of the IFW is achieved by means of projects which are directly financed by industrial partners, many of whom are SMEs. Beside these sort of projects and the basic research programs funded by the German Research Council (DFG), the IFW has been successfully involved in several European projects like Brite/Euram, Esprit and Copernicus. Related EU-funded projects are HIPARMS, EASYCON, BETTI, COCOS, TOPSYS, FLAMINGO, MAREA, EUROSHOE, AMADEUS, ECOWIRE and ENGY. The IFW employees around 65 research engineers, several technician, programmers, staff personnel as well as about 150 students working as part-time employees.

Industrial Research Institute for Automation and Measurements – PIAP was established in 1965. Currently, PIAP employs about 170 people, including 20 researchers with Ph.D. degree or higher – i.e. professorship – degrees, 80 researchers with M. Sc. degrees, administrative and technical staff - 70 employees. Generally PIAP activity consists in scientific and technical research, design and small to medium scale production, as well as introducing modern control and instrumentation technologies and systems (including robotics) to industrial enterprises, especially SMEs. In particular, PIAP has significant knowledge and experience in:
• systems and devices of automation,
• robotics and robotised systems including mobile robots,
• telemetry and monitoring in industry, monitoring of industrial installations and transportation forms with the aid of satellite links,
• measuring methods, systems, technologies and equipment for industry as well for environmental protection and environmental technologies,
• industrial communication networking,
• vision systems supported by software packages, especially in SMEs.

Schneider Electric is a global leading company in the automation and electrical distribution business. Main development sites of Schneider Electric Industrial Automation are in France, Germany and USA. It combines the Telemecanique, SquareD, Modicon and former AEG master brands of the parent company Schneider Electric Industries. The Schneider Electric Industrial Automation brands offer its target industrial process end users and OEM customers superior products and services throughout their automation journey. Currently Schneider Electric Industries is employing 64 000 people world wide with revenues of about 6 billion Euro. Industrial Automation as part of Schneider Electric Industries is employing around 2000 People. Key customers like DaimlerChrysler, Coca Cola, VW, Mars, Opel, Merck, General Motors, Ford, BASF, Thyssen, Burton using the competencies and project experiences in the automation and electrical distribution business of Schneider Electric Industrial Automation. Innovative technologies like PC based control systems are developed and driven by Schneider Electric Industrial Automation as well as contributions to international standards for automation like IEC 61131 and IEC 61499. Further Schneider Electric Industrial Automation is leading in the combination of IT and industrial automation, in the usage of internet based protocols and in development of agent-oriented software for flexible control systems.

The Production Systems Engineering Research Centre (CESP) is the main research centre in the Production Engineering and Systems Department of the Engineering School of Minho University. This research centre has actually 24 affiliated members consisting of 14 doctors and 10 PhD students. Apart from those affiliated members the centre also includes other 15 external researches, PhD and MSc students. The CESP human resources that we are directly assigning to I*PROMS are five researchers with PhD degrees as well as four PhD students. However, other members of CESP will participate in I*PROMS activities and contribute with the related research.

The CESP research centre is organised through four research groups, that cover four main scientific research areas: Industrial Management and Systems, Human Engineering, Economics Engineering, and Numeric Computation. The labs that are related to those scientific research areas are: LASAP (Automatic Production Systems Lab), Ergonomics Lab, CAD/CAPP/CAM Systems Lab, and Economics Engineering Lab. There are two new labs in the process of creation: LABVE (Lab for Virtual Enterprises and LABESP (Lab for Production Systems Engineering).