Pick and place are basic operations in most robotic applications, whether in industrial setups (e.g., machine tending, assembling or bin picking) or in a service robotic domain (e.g., agriculture or at home). In some structured scenarios and with certain types of parts, picking and placing is a mature process. However, that is not the case when it comes to manipulating parts with high variability or in less structured environments. Handling systems are present in any logistics system to interface between the storage and the transportation systems. For non-structured scenarios, picking, packing and unpacking systems do exist at laboratory level. However, they have not reached the market yet due to factors like the lack of efficiency, robustness and flexibility of currently available manipulation and perception technologies. The market demands systems that allow for a reduction of costs in the supply chain, increasing the competitiveness for manufacturers and bringing a cost reduction for consumers. Handling systems represent the highest impact in the short-tomidterm in warehouse-based systems (mainly at order picking and distribution centres) and in intra-logistics operations in factories and retail. The technology gap is the lack of flexible solutions that can handle objects of variable size, shape and weight as well as different surface properties and stiffness. PICKPLACE proposes combining human and robot capabilities to achieve a safe, flexible, dependable and efficient hybrid pick-and-package (PAK) solution. It includes dynamic package configuration planning, flexible grasping strategies using an innovative multifunctional gripper, robust environment perception and mechanisms and strategies for safe human-robot collaboration. These scientific and industrial objectives are motivated by the real requirements demanded by the industry, represented in this proposal by ULMA, System Provider, who will facilitate a realistic and relevant scenario for the validation

Scenarios have forecasted a long lasting amplification with PV electricity becoming the cheapest electricity source in many regions with costs in the range of 4 to 6 c€/kWh for EU by 2024, while 2.2 c€/kWh has been achieved for a 800 MW PV plant planned in Abu Dhabi for 2019. The PV market will continue to expand in the coming years with more than a doubling in the production capacity expected for 2024. At the same time investment in production capacities is foreseen to keep growing hence maintaining the sector highly competitive. For the European PV industry, which is struggling to survive after years of massive investments in China and south-east Asia, the growth of the market represents a chance to come back as a prime player on high-efficiency premium technologies. This is the positioning of GOPV to develop highly competitive technologies for the PV utility market and strong synergies between European players. The project will accelerate reduction of electricity cost implementing advanced PV features and creating synergies across 5 topic areas: Light Management; Energy Efficiency; Material Efficiency; System Reliability; and System configuration and O&M. Ultimately, it will set up an integrated 250 kW PV system to demonstrate a competitive electricity cost of 0.02 €/kWh for irradiation levels of 1900 kWh/m²/year GHI in Southern Europe. The levelised cost of electricity (LCOE) will hence be reduced by 50% (currently 0,04 €/kWh) and the energy payback time reduced by 40%, both in respect to actual standard solution and to PERC best in class mono-facial solution. GOPV project will deliver a 35 years lifetime for the PV string instead of 25 years standards. Beyond GOPV, the global turnover for the six industrial partners exploiting the results of the project will be close to 48 M€ (2022) and will reach 680 M€ in 2027 (x 14 compare to 2020) with an expectation of creating more than 2000 jobs on the 2022-27 period.