Launched in September 2022, the European EARASHI project* supported European SMEs and start-ups* to uptake advanced technologies, including AI, data* and robotics, to improve working conditions and the well-being of industrial operators. Over three and a half years, twelve partners—including academic institutions, research and technology organisations, a competitiveness cluster, industrial companies and SMEs—provided a selected group of European companies with technological building blocks, expertise and support. This covered technical aspects, innovation management, human-centred human-robot collaboration, eco-design, ethics and acceptance.
“EARASHI was based on the following observation: Europe is home to excellent research centres on the one hand, and highly capable SMEs and start-ups on the other, but getting them to work together is not always easy when they come from different countries," explains Isabelle Dor, a research engineer at CEA-Leti. “The project aimed to encourage collaboration across borders and show each stakeholder the many benefits they could gain from working together, thereby strengthening Europe's industrial ecosystem."
Computer Vision to Improve Industrial Operators' Safety
The twelve-partner consortium was coordinated by CEA-Leti, which also contributed expertise in other areas, including cybersecurity, the management of calls for projects and awareness-raising around eco-design. “A project of this kind draws on several professions and teams within CEA-Leti. Its success would not have been possible without the involvement of our financial, legal and, of course, technical teams," says Isabelle Dor.
CEA-Leti also contributed a technological building block based on its expertise in computer vision and AI-powered detection systems. This technology had originally been developed as part of a previous European project, HADRIAN, to improve driver comfort and safety by identifying how drivers held their vehicle's steering wheel. For EARASHI, however, it was put to use in a very different context.
The technology was selected by two Greek partners chosen through EARASHI's open call for projects: SMEs Plegma Labs and Helios Bakery. Plegma Labs developed a tool to improve working conditions—including safety, stress management and well-being—at Helios Bakery's industrial bakery. To achieve this, it used CEA-Leti's technological building block to check whether operators were wearing the required safety equipment and whether they were positioned in accordance with safety guidelines.
The SME also incorporated monitoring of external parameters, such as temperature, workshop air quality and machine energy consumption, to develop a predictive maintenance tool.
Successful Partnerships That Continue to Grow
The two partners co-developed the solution, with Helios Bakery notably providing the data used to train the AI. By the end of the project, the tool had begun to be deployed and tested at Helios Bakery.
“All ten selected projects achieved significant progress, reaching a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of 7 or 8," notes Isabelle Dor. “These achievements created business opportunities and opened up funding prospects for the companies, whether from private investors or institutional funding programmes. More broadly, EARASHI brought two worlds that are often far apart closer together, enabling them to better understand one another and collaborate: the industrial world of SMEs and start-ups, and that of research centres."
This successful experience encouraged some partners who had worked together on the selected projects to continue their collaboration. Some are even seeking further European funding, drawing on their now deeper understanding of how these programmes operate.
“We are working on new European project proposals with some of the twelve consortium partners, as well as with SMEs and start-ups that have developed a taste for European collaboration," says Isabelle Dor. “It is too early to reveal the details, but the projects will once again focus on AI and data, as well as prescriptive maintenance and digital twins."