Robot manipulators and unmanned vehicles continue to make their way into more and more applications within inspection and maintenance (I&M), and in combination with AI and data, they provide value to the industry and public sector in a variety of sectors. There are lots of potential use cases for I&M robotics, but to bring the industry and research forward we need to identify further what are the use cases with high-value, and what latest results from the technology development and research can meet the needs of these use cases, and other future use cases. These are the topics of this ERF2025 workshop. The topics will be addressed through a series of short presentations by key stakeholders, followed by an engaging plenary discussion.
The workshop will be focused on two main questions
- What are the latest advancements and future trends in inspection and maintenance (I&M) robotics, including AI integration, digital twins, and human-robot collaboration?
- How can robotic systems provide value and be effectively scaled and implemented in real-world maintenance scenarios, particularly for hard-to-reach areas and large-scale infrastructures?
Overall program (80 minutes)
- Short introduction by the organizers.
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(ca. 50 min) Short presentations addressing the key questions of the workshop and highlighting insights from real use cases and relevant technologies.
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(ca. 30 min) Active plenary discussions among all workshop participants (speakers and attendees). In parallel, we use online tools such as Slido or Google Drive to gather inputs on the key questions for the workshop.
Short presentations will be given by the following speakers
- Offshore wind and I&M robotics. Andry Maykol Pinto, Inesctec.
- UGVs for I&M of industrial facilities. Lukas Silberbauer, Taurob.
- Autonomous robotics through embodied AI. Kostas Alexis and Mihir R. Dharmadhikari, NTNU.
- Autonomous aerial inspection of GNSS-denied and confined maritime assets. Evangelos Boukas, DTU.
- Robotics for data collection and maintenance. Mirko Kovac, Imperial College London (Aerial Robotics Laboratory) and EMPA/EPFL (Laboratory of Sustainability Robotics).
- AI-driven context understanding and action enhancement for Robotics. Selen Pehlivan Tort, VTT.
- A Novel Remote Visual Inspection System for Predictive Maintenance, Adriano Mancini, Polytechnic University of the Marches, Italy
- Employee Centric Change Management - The Key to Future Proof Automated Inspections with Robotics, Benjamin Mottis, ANYbotics
The list of speakers may be subject to change without notice. This workshop is being organized by the euRobotics topic group on inspection and maintenance robotics in collaboration with other initiatives. If you wish to join the topic group, then please contact
Note that to participate in the workshop you need to be registered for the European Robotics Forum (ERF). To register for the ERF and check out the time and room for the workshop, please visit this site: https://erf2025.eu/
What is the European Robotics Forum (ERF)?
- A conference and exhibition gathering the industry, public sector and research working on robotics, unmanned systems and AI in Europe.
- The conference is a series of parallel workshops on different application areas and technologies relevant for robotics (e.g., inspection and maintenance, safety, innovation, agile production, software systems, etc.).
The organizers of this workshop are Aksel A. Transeth (SINTEF), Ferdinando Cannella (IIT), Evangelos Boukas (DTU), Mehdi Boukallel (CEA List), and Malcolm Mielle (Schindler AG). The preparations of the workshop has been supported by RIMA Alliance, the ADRA topic group on I&M, SPRINT Robotics, the RINVE network, the Nemonoor EDIH, and the Naine network. The EU-projects called JARVIS (101135708), AEROSUB, and AUTOASSESS are also contributing to the organization of the workshop. RIMA and RINVE promote robotics in inspection and maintenance, while RINVE and NAINE mobilize Norwegian companies to participate in EU calls. RINVE and NAINE have received funding from the Research Council of Norway (project numbers 328799 and 328788, respectively).
