ROBOTICS The European project Coroma seeks to develop a new intelligent, modular and exible industrial robot concept INTELLIGENT, FLEXIBLE AND SAFE ROBOTS for a more competitive manufacturing industry Advances in the scienti c and technological deve- lopment of robotics is one of the mainstays of Industry 4.0 and constitutes one of the priori- ty lines of action established by the European Commission for driving the competitiveness of industry in Europe. The Coroma (Cognitively Enhanced Robot For Flexible Manufacturing of Metal and Composite Parts) European project, an initiative coordinated by the IK4-Ideko techno- logy center, is being developed within this context and seeks to de- velop a new intelligent, modular and exible industrial robot concept with the capability to carry out multiple processes and manufacture of metal and composite material parts for sectors as demanding as aeronautics, shipbuilding and energy generation. > Javier Hernández, Project Coordinator. IK4-Ideko technology center 18<< Coroma has a budget of more than 7 million, of which 6 have been funded by the European Commission through the program to boost research and innovation, Factories of the Future, within the Horizon 2020 multiannual fra- mework. The consortium has the mission to develop a modular robotic system that will carry out numerous manufacturing tasks that are adapted to production requirements. Speci cally, the new system will carry out tasks such as drilling, trimming and deburring, polishing, sanding, non-destructive inspections and could even be used as a moving support for the manufactured parts themselves. To achieve this, the system will be equipped with a simple interface for the robots to receive basic commands that require minimum programming effort by the human opera- tor. The technical team will work to ensure that the design will allow quick programming through the human-robot interface. The control system will also be optimised so that the robotic system is aware and reactive to the process condition. The modularity of the Coroma robotic system allows it to be adapted to the speci c requirements of different manufacturing companies. The initiative, which began at the end of last year and will conclude in October 2019, has the participation of a total of 16 companies, research centers and universities, as well as a standardization body from seven different countries. Guaranteed safety One of Coroma’s top priorities is safety. The project team will work to equip the new robotic systems with cognitive abilities that will enable them to interact safely both with humans and other machines.