About IUVO
IUVO’S MISSION IS TO DEVELOP INNOVATIVE WEARABLE ROBOTICS TECHNOLOGIES AND FOSTER THEIR MARKET EXPLOITATION IN DIFFERENT BUSINESS AREAS, SUCH AS MEDICAL, INDUSTRIAL AND CONSUMER.
IUVO is a spin-off company of Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna (SSSA) in Pisa and its BioRobotics Institute.
IUVO was founded on January 2015 by Prof. Nicola Vitiello and his colleagues of the Wearable Robotics Laboratory, which is part of the BioRobotics Institute of Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna in Pisa. Visit Website
IUVO has an agreement with SSSA for the exclusive license to commercially exploit patent applications and know-how of several wearable technologies.
In August 2017, COMAU (an Italian company that is a member of Stellantis N.V. and a leader in the field of industrial automation and robotics) and Össur (an Icelandic company that is a market leader in the field of prosthetics and orthotics) invested in IUVO through a joint venture, which holds the majority share of the company. The two investing companies have the ultimate goal to foster a wide adoption of wearable robotic technologies in daily-life scenarios.
Solutions
Dedicated wearable robotic devices and exoskeleton solutions for various user and industrial needs. From invention to finalized products IUVO offers its services for the design and development of solutions based on analysis of specific applications.
IUVO for COMAU
A spring-loaded passive upper-limb exoskeleton.
Develop
IUVO invented and developed an innovative passive spring-loaded upper-limb exoskeleton.
Develop
IUVO invented and developed an innovative passive spring-loaded upper-limb exoskeleton.
IUVO for ÖSSUR
Active Pelvis Orthosis (APO).
Develop
Development of a powered active pelvis orthosis (APO) to support the gait of patients.
Develop
Based on the APO technology licensed to IUVO by Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna.
Projects Funded by the European Commission
Under the Horizon 2020 Program.
H2020 CYBERLEGs Plus Plus
The global goal of the CYBERLEGs Plus Plus project is to validate the technical and economic viability of the powered robotic ortho-prosthesis developed within the FP7-ICT- CYBERLEGs project framework. The robotic
ortho-prosthesis was developed as a means to enhance/restore the mobility of transfemoral amputees, as well as enable them to perform locomotion tasks in their daily lives.
Role of IUVO: development and validation of an active pelvis orthosis for amputees.
H2020 HUMAN
The HUMAN project aims to define and demonstrate workplaces where automation and human workers operate in harmony to improve the productivity, quality, and performance of the factory, as well as worker satisfaction and safety.
Role of IUVO: development and validation of semi-active spring-loaded upper-limb exoskeleton
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 723737.
H2020 INBOTS
The objective of INBOTS is to create a community hub that brings together experts to debate and create a responsible research and innovation paradigm for robotics.
This project provides a platform to establish a working synergy between four pillars that covers all stakeholders in interactive robotics: the technical expertise pillar, the business expertise pillar, the ethical/legal/socioeconomic expertise pillar, and the end-user/policy maker/general public pillar.
Role of IUVO: contribution to road-mapping activities; focus on identification of strategies to foster the adoption of exoskeletons into the society.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 780073.
H2020 EUROBENCH
The EUROBENCH project aims at creating the first benchmarking framework for robotic systems in Europe. The framework will allow companies and researchers to test the performance of robots at any stage of development. The EUROBENCH framework will be composed of both methodological and experimental components, the latter being state-of- the-art test facilities for wearable and humanoid robots.
These facilities will allow companies and researchers to perform standardized tests on advanced robotic prototypes in a unique location.
With the EUROBENCH project, IUVO defines the functionalities of the facility for benchmarking robotic exoskeletons for lower limbs.
Role of IUVO: contribution to identification of criteria to benchmark exoskeleton system abilities and support to the experimentation/validation of test benches for exoskeletal technologies.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 779963.
H2020 REHYB
The ReHyb project will develop a hybrid upper-limb exoskeleton that uses its own sensing and novel actuation capabilities for generating the digital twin of the user. The user will experience multiplicative improvements in underlying technologies, in terms of wearability of the device, robot motion much more sympathetic to the user need and intention, and intuitive human-robot communication through the feedback design. For simplicity and a strong societal impact, the ReHyb project adapts its use case to the healthcare of stroke patients in the participatory design which would allow a full exploration of the concepts and techniques as a user-centric device, accompanied by detailed ethico-legal analyses and exploitation potentials.
Role of IUVO: development and validation of exoskeletal technologies for post-stroke upper-limb rehabilitation.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 871767.
H2020 CONBOTS
The CONBOTS project proposes a paradigm shift that aims to augment handwriting and music learning through robotics, by creating a physically interacting robotic platform connecting humans in order to facilitate the learning of complex sensorimotor tasks. CONBOTS is building on recent neuroscientific findings that showed the benefits of physical interaction to perform motor tasks together, where the human central nervous system understands a partner motor control and can use it to improve task performance and motor learning.
Role of IUVO: development and validation of exoskeletal technologies for violin and drum beginners.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 871803.
H2020 SHERLOCK
A genuine collaboration between human and robots require more holistic solutions encompassing smart mechatronic systems designed to improve the quality of work and to increase flexible production. SHERLOCK will proceed to achieve this genuine and seamless collaboration by considering all the human factors, combined with the automation systems such as robots safely.
Role of IUVO: development and validation of semi-active spring-loaded exoskeletal technologies.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 820689.
H2020 Mari4_YARD
Mari4_YARD builds on existing technologies and previous H2020/FP7 projects by focusing on delivering productivity and business case benchmarks to shipbuilding sector, their investors, and suppliers of new production assets, by addressing SME shipyards needs and challenges. Mari4_YARD implements smart and cost-effective solutions in the manufacturing process to improve working conditions and enhancing productivity while at the same time making working in small and medium sized shipyards more attractive.
Role of IUVO: development and validation of exoskeletal technologies for shipyard workers.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 101006798.
InteX – Next Generation AI based Testbeds for Wearable Robotics
Wearable robotics constitutes an emerging technology that promises to revolutionize manufacturing. However, the full potential of exoskeletons cannot be realized without establishing proof of value prior to their deployment. There is a strong need to look for tools and methodologies that can support these rapidly evolving technologies and the businesses that could use them. InteX provides a set of test beds for evaluating the use of exoskeletons in working conditions of special interest for manufacturing, such as: a) confined/narrow spaces, b) heights, including climbing ladders and stairs, and c) overhead activities, each of which poses specific challenges for the safe and effective use of exoskeletons. InteX will lower the costs and barriers to the adoption of wearable systems that can protect worker health, thus improving job quality and workspace conditions while at the same me reducing costs and burdens on health and social services related to workplace injuries.
Role of IUVO: Definition of a set of requirements and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for the design of test beds; support to partners in the development of material for the training of potential users of the technologies developed within the project; support to partners in the definition of a commercial exploitation strategy for the project results.
Deterministic6G
Digitalization is transforming industries and society with the adoption of edge/cloud computing, AI, and digital twins. In the future, physical processes, collaborating machines, but also novel human-system-interactions will move towards a cyber-physical continuum merging the physical world of senses, actions as well as their digital programmable representations. Fundamentally new requirements for deterministic communication with predictable performance will appear for such cyber-physical end-to-end services. Driven by pivotal use cases from Industry 5.0, DETERMINISTIC6G addresses three central challenges of future deterministic end-to-end communication enabled by 6G:
- a new architecture for 6G systems providing predictable performance and integrating it end-to-end with TSN and DetNet,
- novel data-driven awareness of stochastically evolving network performance, with time synchronization over heterogeneous domains,
- leveraging novel digital twins of both 6G networks and cyber-physical systems, to anticipate situational circumstances impacting determinism of networks and safety of cyber-physical systems. DETERMINISTIC6G will also devise security-by-design for deterministic communication including the integration of edge computing and the support of OPC UA into deterministic network paths. With a strong consortium driving these standards, DETERMINISTIC6G will ensure uptake of the results and insights towards global 6G standards and industry fora.
Role of IUVO: IUVO acts as industrial player that will lead the use case analysis on exoskeletons for industrial manufacturing, focusing on requirements of 6G network for low- and middle-level exoskeleton control. IUVO will work also on the KVIs for the exoskeleton use case.
This project has received funding from the Smart Networks and Services Joint Undertaking (SNS JU) under grant agreement No. 101096504. The JU receives support from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme.
Tuscany Health Ecosystem - THE | PNRR
Tuscany Health Ecosystem (THE) is one of the 11 innovation ecosystems financed at the national level for the PNRR and is the result of a project proposal submitted by the University of Florence, as lead partner, in line with one of the strategic lines of the Region of Tuscany. THE is the only ecosystem dedicated to Life Sciences, which focuses on the needs of the population. THE’s challenge is to make Tuscany the ‘health region’ by pushing research towards applications and companies to grow technologies dedicated to health and wellbeing.
Role of IUVO: Design and develop robotic exoskeleton to support workers in labor intensive/strenuous tasks, such overhead manipulation and load lifting and aged adults in wellness activities.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 780073.
People
IUVO key people
Duilio Amico
Chief Executive Officer
Senior manager, COMAU
Tiziano Becchi
Chief Financial Officer
Senior manager, COMAU
Nicola Vitiello, PhD
Co-founder & Advisor for Innovantion and Business Development
Associate Professor, Scuola Sant’Anna
Francesco Giovacchini
Co-founder & Head of R&D Unit
Senior scientist
Simona Crea, PhD
Co-founder & Advisor for Business Development and Scientific Investigations
Assistant Professor, Scuola Sant’Anna
Andrea Maria Vitiello
Co-founder & Head of Administration Unit
Accounting and finance
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IUVO is looking for motivated and talented engineers to work in the field of wearable technologies for assistance, rehabilitation and/or augmentation of human movement abilities.
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