Short for ‘Socio-physical Interaction Skills for Cooperative Human-Robot Systems in Agile Production’, SOPHIA unites 12 partners from 6 countries who specialize in robotics and the social and physical interactions of robots in the workplace. The BruBotics research center of VUB – one of Flanders’ universities – is joining the project with 3 research groups. Each will oversee a different aspect of the SOPHIA project.  

As such, robotics and core lab manager Bram Vanderborght from strategic research center Flanders Make will be responsible for the software design to control the robots. Kevin de Pauw, project coordinator at MFYS Human Physiology research group, will conduct research into how people react physically and cognitively to the use of robots. Finally, Prof. An Jacobs – associated with research group SMIT, which was cofounded by strategic research center imec – will evaluate the social acceptance and desirability of the innovations from a centrally human point of view.