The Innovation Authority has approved the work plans and budgets of two magnet associations in the amount of NIS 57 million

Dror Bin, CEO of the Innovation Authority: “The Innovation Authority sees great importance in promoting the field of robotics in the State of Israel. Development and strengthening of “soft” capabilities in the field of robotics may give the relevant companies a significant competitive advantage in the sale of advanced robotic systems in the world market, both as complete systems and as an important component of autonomous systems produced by third parties.”

Dr. Aviv Zaevi, VP of Technological Infrastructure Arena: “The vision of autonomous vehicles is approaching. The products of the association will give some of its partners the ability to offer a complete solution of a remote control and control center and others to market required assemblies and/or integrate these assemblies into systems developed by the companies not only in the classic autonomous vehicle field – for example in the management and control of fleets of drones, distribution robots, agricultural tools and more .”

The Research Committee of the Innovation Authority approved this week the work plans and budgets of two magnet associations in the amount of NIS 57 million, of which approximately NIS 39 million are grants.

Magnat Magnat Track, operated by the Technological Infrastructures Arena at the Innovation Authority, offers grants for cooperation in research and development within the framework of Magnat (an association of industrial companies and research institutions for the joint development of technologies), with the aim of promoting and supporting technological collaborations for infrastructural and pre-product developments , at the forefront of global technology, having a significant economic impact on Israeli companies and the economy.

The fields of operation of the two associations are:

Maged HIR (Human Robot Interaction) – which will begin its activities in April 2022 – will open  Advanced technologies for the purpose of imparting social abilities to robots, which will enable the execution of joint tasks and effective interaction with different types of users, in a variety of operating environments. The various technologies will be implemented, among other things, as part of a tool kit based on the ROS system (an operating system for robots that is common today among manufacturers, developers and users. The products of the association will be integrated into the robotic systems of its partners and will give them superior capabilities to strengthen their position in the global market. In addition, some of the technologies that will be developed will be given to companies that wish to integrate in a form Relatively simple, HRI capabilities in the systems they produce or use. In the consortium the Israeli companies partner: Deep Learning Robotics (DLR), Robotican, ReWalk, Intuition Robotics, Cogniteam, Seamless Vision and Elbit IT and Cyber ​​Systems. The consortium is accompanied by leading researchers from research institutions: Ben Gurion University , Bar Ilan University, Tel Aviv University, the Technion and Reichman University. International bodies such as the American NIST agency (National Institute of Standards and Technology) and Samsung Global (through the concern’s research center in Israel) have expressed a desire to participate in the association as observers.

Bean further added: “The HRI association is a good example of proper cooperation between companies from different disciplines around the same issue, which may yield results with a significant economic impact.”

The ANDROMEDA association (remote control and control of autonomous fleets) – which ends this month   its first period of activity (18 months) and begins its second period of activity (18 months) – aims to develop Technologies that will enable efficient and economical operation of control centers and remote control of autonomous fleets (with an emphasis on autonomous vehicles) in the ratio of one (human) operator for every 1000 monitored vehicles. The technological goal is an ambitious goal that requires responding to a number of technological challenges, among them: communication limitations (bandwidth), cyber security, a variety of vehicles, man-machine economy, etc. In the joint venture the Israeli companies DriveU, Mprest, Cognata, R-GO, Elbit ICT and Cyber ​​and Elbit Aircraft. The association is accompanied by leading researchers from the research institutions: Ben Gurion University, Haifa University, the Technion and Ariel University. A number of international car manufacturers serve as observers in Magad, as well as Natibi Israel.

Zavi also added: “I believe that Maged Andromeda’s timing is right, and will allow his partners to mature advanced technologies for a large future market.”