The REXASI-PRO project aims to release a novel engineering framework. The REXASI-PRO project aims to release a novel engineering framework to develop greener and Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence solutions. In the methodology, safety, security, and explainability are entangled. In addition, throughout the entire lifecycle of the framework, ethics aspects will be continuously monitored. To this end, the REXASI-PRO project introduces several novelties. The project will develop in parallel the design of novel trustworthy-by-construction solutions for social navigations and a methodology to certify the robustness of AI-based autonomous vehicles for people with reduced mobility. The trustworthy-by-construction social navigation algorithms will exploit mathematical models of social robots. The robots will be trained by using both implicit and explicit communication. REXASI-PRO methodology augments existing system-level and item-level engineering frameworks by leveraging novel eXplainability methods to improve the entire system's robustness. REXASIPRO will release additional verification and validation approaches for safety and security with the AI in the loop. Among the other developments, a novel learning paradigm embeds safety requirements in Deep Neural Network for planning algorithms, runtime monitoring based on conformal prediction regions, trustable sensing, and secure communication. The methodology will be used to certify the robustness of both autonomous wheelchairs and flying robots. The flying robots will be equipped with unbiased machine learning solutions for people detection that will be reliable also in an emergency. Thus, REXASI-PRO will make the AI solutions greener. To this end, both an AI-based orchestrator to augment the intelligence of the robots and topological methods will be developed. The REXASI-PRO framework will be demonstrated by enabling the collaboration among autonomous wheelchairs and flying robots to help people with reduced mobility.

The main objective of AERIAL-CORE is the development of core technology modules and an integrated aerial cognitive robotic system that will have unprecedented capabilities on the operational range and safety in the interaction with people, or Aerial Co-Workers (ACW), for applications such as the inspection and maintenance of large infrastructures. The project will integrate aerial robots with different characteristics to meet the requirements of: (1) Long range (several kilometres) and local very accurate (subcentimetre) inspection of the infrastructure capability; (2) Maintenance activities based on aerial manipulation involving force interactions; and (3) Aerial co-working safely and efficiently helping human workers in inspection and maintenance. AERIAL-CORE technology modules will be based on Cognitive Mechatronics and apply cognitive capabilities to aerial morphing in order to combine long range endurance and hovering for local observations, manipulation involving force interactions, and co-working with humans. The project will develop: (1) Cognitive functionalities for aerial robots including perception based on novel sensors, such as event cameras, and data fusion techniques, learning, reactivity, fast on-line planning, and teaming; (2) Aerial platforms with morphing capabilities, to save energy in long range flights and perform a very accurate inspection; (3) Cognitive aerial manipulation capabilities, including manipulation while flying, while holding with one limb, and while hanging or perching to improve accuracy and develop greater forces; (4) Cognitive safe aerial robotic co-workers capable of physical interaction with people; and (5) Integrated aerial robotic system for the inspection and maintenance of large infrastructures. The system will be demonstrated in electrical power system inspection and maintenance, which is an application with a huge economic impact that also has implications in the safety of workers and in wildlife conservation.

LANDMARK is a pan-European multi-actor consortium of leading academic and applied research institutes, chambers of agriculture and policy makers that will develop a coherent framework for soil management aimed at sustainable food production across Europe. The LANDMARK proposal builds on the concept that soils are a finite resource that provides a range of ecosystem services known as “soil functions”. Functions relating to agriculture include: primary productivity, water regulation & purification, carbon-sequestration & regulation, habitat for biodiversity and nutrient provision & cycling. Trade-offs between these functions may occur: for example, management aimed at maximising primary production may inadvertently affect the ‘water purification’ or ‘habitat’ functions. This has led to conflicting management recommendations and policy initiatives. There is now an urgent need to develop a coherent scientific and practical framework for the sustainable management of soils. LANDMARK will uniquely respond to the breadth of this challenge by delivering (through multi-actor development): 1. LOCAL SCALE: A toolkit for farmers with cost-effective, practical measures for sustainable (and context specific) soil management. 2. REGIONAL SCALE - A blueprint for a soil monitoring scheme, using harmonised indicators: this will facilitate the assessment of soil functions for different soil types and land-uses for all major EU climatic zones. 3. EU SCALE – An assessment of EU policy instruments for incentivising sustainable land management. There have been many individual research initiatives that either address the management & assessment of individual soil functions, or address multiple soil functions, but only at local scales. LANDMARK will build on these existing R&D initiatives: the consortium partners bring together a wide range of significant national and EU datasets, with the ambition of developing an interdisciplinary scientific framework for sustainable soil management.