On Tuesday, July 9, FER hosted the “Get Future Ready: AI x Robotics” conference, where the EDIH CROBOHUB++ and AIFORS projects were presented, as well as the latest trends in artificial intelligence and robotics. This event, organised by the Nikola Tesla Innovation Centre and FER’s Laboratory for Autonomous Systems and Mobile Robotics (LAMOR), brought together about seventy experts from the academic community, industry and the public sector.
The event was opened with a warm welcome by the academician Prof. Ph.D. Ivan Petrović, coordinator of the AIFORS project, dott.eng. Fabio Bonsignorio, ERA Chair on the AIFORS project, and Prof. Ph.D. Hrvoje Džapo, coordinator of the EDIH CROBOHUB++ project. The conference started with an inspiring lecture by Emer. Prof. Paolo Dario from the BioRobotics Institute from the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna and EDIH ARTES 5.0 from Italy. Prof. Dario spoke about the potential of research in biomedical robotics as a key driver of economic development. This was followed by the presentation of the services of the EDIH CROBOHUB++ project, which provides support to entrepreneurs, presented by Prof. Ph.D. Hrvoje Džapo and Emir Imamagić from the University Computing Center (SRCE).
Dott. eng. Fabio Bonsignorio opened the second part of the conference with a lecture on “AIFORS Lab: Towards a Novel Deeply Bioinspired Physical AI Paradigm”, while prof. Ph.D. Ivan Petrović presented impressive examples of cooperation between FER’s laboratory and industry, resulting in innovative solutions on the market. The second part of the conference brought several exciting presentations from industry representatives. Tomislav Haus, VP Software from the Gideon company, presented innovative solutions for logistics that use artificial intelligence and 3D visualization. Juraj Peršić, CEO of startup Calirad, demonstrated an advanced alarm system for rally race organizers, showing how new technologies can significantly improve safety at sporting events. After the representatives of the industry, the presentation of the Competitiveness and Cohesion Program 2021-2027 and the upcoming calls for investments in research and development was held by Hrvoje Meštrić, director of the Science and Technology Administration of the Ministry of Science, Education and Youth.
The conference was closed by a panel discussion on cooperation between academia and industry, moderated by Prof. Ph.D. Ivan Petrović and dott. Eng. Fabio Bonsignorio. Panelists Paolo Dario (BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna and EDIH ARTES 5.0, Pisa, Italy), Hrvoje Džapo (UNIZG-FER, EDIH CROBOHUB++), Hrvoje Meštrić (Ministry of Science, Education and Youth), David Matthew Smith (Ruđer Bošković Institute), Tomislav Haus (Gideon) and Juraj Peršić (Calirad) shared their experiences and discussed the potential of future cooperation, providing insight into new opportunities and challenges in this area.
This conference was a great opportunity to bring together experts and enthusiasts from different fields, providing a platform to exchange ideas and create new opportunities in the world of artificial intelligence and robotics.
