GMV heavily involved in the H2020 R&D program
The technology multinational GMV is participating actively in the European Commission’s Strategic Research Cluster in space robotics technology, coordinated by the PERASPERA project (“Per aspera ad astra”, Latin for “Through hardships to the stars”). The project develops and promotes new space robotics technology that will be necessary for future missions. PERASPERA is being coordinated by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the partners are the Italian Space Agency (Agenzia Spaziale Italiana: ASI), Spain’s Industrial Technology Development Center (Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnológico Industrial: CDTI), the French Space Studies Center (Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales: CNES), the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt: DLR) and the UK Space Agency (UKSA).
Space robotics has been identified by the aforementioned main European stakeholders as a key technology for the future of the sector. For this very reason the European Commission, within the Horizon 2020 R&D program (H2020), is funding implementation of a strategic research cluster on "Space Robotics Technologies”, the aim of which is to consolidate space robotics technologies designed for “on-orbit maintenance” and space-exploration missions.
In the first phases of the PERASPERA project, working with an estimated budget of 22 million euros for the 2015-2018 period, 30 European institutions employing about one hundred space-robotics experts and technicians will develop six technology building blocks to serve as the basis for future orbital and surface missions. Four of them are being led by Spanish firms and three by GMV, thus confirming its status as a worldwide expert in the development and ground validation of space-robotics technologies.
GMV will specifically be taking on responsibility for the European Space Robotics Control and Operating System (ESROCOS project); the European Robotic Goal-Oriented Autonomous Controller (ERGO project); plus the Facilities for Testing Orbital and Surface Robotics Building Blocks (FACILITATORS project), which will validate the developed technologies in highly representative space environments.
In 2018 the objective of the PERASPERA Consortium is to make a start on integration of the technologies developed in the first phase, doing so in a series of activities applied to planetary and orbital scenarios.
The technology multinational GMV, like Spain’s other leading hi-tech firms, has been investing heavily in innovation and development across all its business areas since its very foundation 33 years ago. Its innovation drive is the bedrock of its business strategy. The company plows back 10% of its sales revenue into R&D, enabling it to boost its earnings year by year. As well as the abovementioned robotics projects, GMV is also participating in close to twenty H2020 projects, covering areas as diverse as space, robotics, aeronautics, defense & security, cybersecurity, healthcare and transport. Some of them are: UBBICK, PASARO, AMASS, BEYOND, EMA4FLIGHT, NOSY, EUCISE, ENABLE-S3, IODISPLAY, CRYSTAL, NSAFECER, I-MECH, MARISA, NEOSHIELD-2, VALEMA, REMOURBAN and PROTECTIVE.
GMV is thus joining forces once more with the many Spanish firms whose innovation investments are giving them a competitive edge, participating in the EU Framework Program for Research and Innovation Horizon 2020. The program, working with an almost €80 billion budget for the 2014-2020 period, is financing projects in various fields.