A huge EU-funded project has demonstrated how big data and artificial intelligence could transform Europe's transport sector, cutting costs and fuel consumption on road, rail, air and sea while boosting operational efficiency and improving customer experience.
Climate change, pollution, mass tourism, and invasive species are wreaking havoc on large lagoon areas like Venice. To help monitor - and mitigate - the impact these factors have underwater, one EU-funded project is using a swarm of autonomous aquatic robots. As a result, researchers can now take multiple measurements at the same time and from different places, which will be hugely beneficial in the fight against climate change.
Harvesting white asparagus relies heavily on manual labour, an expense that places a financial strain on farmers. To address this, an EU-funded project has developed an automated harvesting tool that selectively picks only ripe asparagus and doesn’t damage the crop. This saves farmers money, improves crop quality and removes the need for back-breaking work.
Employees can often have difficulty working with sophisticated machinery in modern factories. EU-funded researchers have now devised a control interface that can adapt to the experience and abilities of any operator.
Food-processing technology advances can help producers make healthier, more attractive food with a longer shelf life. To boost uptake of new methods, an EU-funded project has trialled three promising technologies under industrial conditions.
Robot makers tend to assume that their creations will make people's lives easier. Prospective users may not share their enthusiasm, or indeed their perception of the needs. Talk to each other, say EU-funded researchers. Otherwise, the uptake of this fantastic technology will suffer, and potential benefits to society may be lost.
EU-funded researchers have developed innovative particle accelerator technology capable of removing harmful sulphur and nitrogen oxide emissions from ship exhaust in a breakthrough that will support the transition to a greener, less-polluting and more sustainable global shipping industry.
For years, researchers have struggled to understand how bees navigate so effectively with such small brains. Now, an EU-funded project has developed new technology to enhance our understanding and to potentially advance efforts in bee conservation. This new knowledge could also be transferred to other sectors, such as engineering.
EU-funded researchers have mapped out possible pathways to achieve the drastic technological, economic and societal transformations needed for the EU to become carbon neutral by 2050, meet its commitments under the Paris Agreement and lead global efforts to tackle climate change.
An EU-funded consortium is developing advanced X-ray and 3D imaging technologies to enable European miners to extract essential metal and mineral resources more efficiently and sustainably.
