Summary
- Profile Type
- Technology request
- POD Reference
- TRIT20250109023
- Term of Validity
- 28 January 2025 - 28 January 2026
- Company's Country
- Italy
- Type of partnership
- Research and development cooperation agreement
- Commercial agreement with technical assistance
- Targeted Countries
- All countries
Contact the EEN partner nearest to you for more information.
Find my local partner
General information
- Short Summary
- The Italian Start-Up is devoted to creating robotic arms for HARSH environments, with extreme reliability, simplicity and cost-efficiency. Its technology is validated in lab (TRL4) using a 4-degrees-of-freedom prototype, some parts in relevant environment (TRL5). To validate the complete system in relevant environment, it is looking for companies operating in harsh environments (radiation dose up to 1.5MGy / temperature up to 300° / underwater up to hundred meters depth / vacuum up to 10⁻⁵ mbar)
- Full Description
-
The Italian Start-Up specializes in developing robotic systems designed to operate in ANY environmental condition, including some of the harshest and demanding ones.
It was incorporated as recently as June 2024, as a spin-off from the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna in Pisa, but it has already closed a fully committed seed funding round, raising €1.2M from investors.
It was also selected by ESA, for its ESA Business Incubation Centre programme, which, besides business and technical support for go-to-market, offered a €300k grant.
Starting in January 2025 it also joined the 6 months NATO’s DIANA programme (the Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic), established by NATO, to find and accelerate dual-use innovation capacity across the Alliance, particularly enhancing Critical Infrastructures. Besides networks and guidance, a further €100k grant was awarded.
The Italian Start-Up's robots are built with a focus on extreme reliability, simplicity, and cost-efficiency. The current solutions have been successfully validated in controlled laboratory settings (TRL 4), besides the arm's operations, that is of the more relevant sub system of the entire solution, have been successfully tested in shallow water, under radiation up to 1.5 MGy, and at high temperatures up to 160°C.
Now the start-Up is ready for further development through testing the entire solution in relevant environments.
To advance to the next stages of validation and development, the Start-Up is actively seeking partnerships with companies operating in harsh or hazardous environments. These partnerships should validate the complete system in real-world conditions, including but not limited to:
• High radiation areas (up to 1.5 MGy),
• Elevated temperature environments (up to 300°C),
• Underwater settings (up to several hundred meters depth), and
• Vacuum conditions (up to 10⁻⁵ mbar).
The Start-Up envisions this collaboration taking the form of a Proof of Concept (PoC). Through a PoC, it aims to deliver a working prototype of its robotic system, which would be rigorously tested in a relevant environment specific to the partner’s industry. The goal of this collaborative effort is to refine and validate the functionality, performance, and adaptability of the robotic technology in operationally challenging scenarios.
The outcome of the PoC would serve as the foundation for the next stage of development. Once the prototype has been successfully validated, it can be engineered into a fully realized product and customized to address the unique requirements of the partner’s operational environment. The resulting product would be ready for commercial deployment, supporting the activities of companies operating insimilar scenarios, with a robust, efficient, and reliable solution.
The Italian Start-Up is particularly interested in establishing partnerships with companies working in the following sectors:
1. Nuclear industry – Addressing challenges such as inspection and maintenance, waste management, and decommissioning tasks in environments with high radiation levels.
2. Space industry – Requiring robotic solutions to perform in-orbit servicing operations, in-space robotic assembly, and lunar ground exploration activities, where vacuum conditions and potential overheating issues limit the performance of traditional space robots.
3. Underwater/marine/oil & gas industries – Seeking automation and robotic assistance for tasks ranging from inspection and maintenance of underwater and offshore infrastructures to deep-sea exploration activities.
The Italian Start-Up leverages a modular design approach and the intrinsic simplicity of its technology to create custom solutions tailored to specific needs, recognizing that each industry and operational context has its unique challenges. By working together, the Italian Start-Up aims to bridge the gap between current laboratory validation and the deployment of a fully engineered solution that meets industry-specific needs. - Advantages and Innovations
-
The Startup is developing a first-of-its-kind, fully-electric, lightweight, reliable, and force-controllable robot based on its proprietary fluidic transmission. Actuators, electronics, and sensors are housed in an external actuation box, transferring power to the robot joints via a low-friction, high-bandwidth flexible transmission. This results in a simple, passive, and lightweight arm with no onboard electricity, enabling operation in harsh environments such as high-temperature, underwater, vacuum, radioactive, and explosive settings without complex redesigns. The external box simplifies cooling, shielding, and sealing while the transmission’s transparency prevents the use of fragile force sensors and enhances control stability. Its modular design allows cost-effective robot customization, reduced complexity, and easier manufacturing and maintenance.
Nuclear – The actuation box ensures shielding, sealing, and cooling, enabling reliability in high-radiation doses and cost-effective use of non-rad-hard components. A slender design allows access to narrow spaces, like nuclear vessels. Sensorless-yet-accurate force control enables teleoperation, making the robots suitable for waste processing, remote maintenance, and hot-cell tasks. Their ability to operate in mixed radioactive and underwater or radioactive and high-temperature conditions extends applications to underwater decommissioning and reactor cooling ponds
Space – Housing the actuation box inside the spacecraft body protects components from cosmic rays and thermal extremes. This design enables actuators to connect to cold plates, reducing mass and improving performance. A single box controlling multiple arms reduces costs further. Smaller inertial disturbances improve energy efficiency by reducing thruster use. Perfect sealing, low outgassing, and thermal management protect sensitive instruments. The robots’ low inertia and controllability make them ideal for in-orbit servicing and in-space assembly. - Technical Specification or Expertise Sought
- The potential partner must have a specific need for a robotic solution to address a well-defined use case with clear technical requirements, involving harsh environmental conditions such as high radiation, high temperatures, or vacuum. If the use case requires integrating the solution into an existing platform or system, the potential partner must have the necessary system integration capabilities to support the Italian Startup.
- Stage of Development
- Lab tested
- Sustainable Development Goals
- Goal 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
- IPR status
- IPR granted
Partner Sought
- Expected Role of a Partner
-
There are two categories of partners that the Italian Startup is willing to collaborate with within a PoC framework:
- specialized system integrators
- end-users in the nuclear and space sectors.
Specialized System Integrators – These partners include companies like Amentum, Altrad Babcock, Ansaldo Nucleare, Framatome, and Assystem, just to make some examples of the typology, which offer services to the nuclear and space industries. System integrators must have a proven track record in these sectors, a well-established network of end-users, and an understanding of their needs regarding robotic solutions. These partners will also be responsible for system integration and providing installation support during the deployment phase.
End-Users – These are companies in the nuclear and space industries that directly operate or manufacture systems where robotics could offer significant value. Examples include:
- Nuclear Sector: SMR/AMR manufacturers (e.g., Westinghouse, Nuward), nuclear power plant operators (e.g., Cavendish Nuclear, Orano), and companies involved in radioactive waste management and decommissioning (e.g., Sogin, Belgoprocess).
- Space Sector: Spacecraft and satellite manufacturers (e.g., D-Orbit), in-orbit servicing companies (e.g., Thales Alenia Space), and large multi-business companies (e.g., Airbus Space and Defence).
End-users must have a clear, unmet need for robotic solutions in their operations and a dedicated financial budget for PoC development. - Type and Size of Partner
- R&D Institution
- SME 11-49
- Big company
- University
- Other
- SME 50 - 249
- Type of partnership
- Research and development cooperation agreement
- Commercial agreement with technical assistance
Dissemination
- Technology keywords
- 02009008 - Navigation and embedded systems
- 02011005 - Space Exploration and Technology
- 04004 - Nuclear Fission / Nuclear Fusion
- 01001001 - Automation, Robotics Control Systems
- Market keywords
- 08002004 - Robotics
- 01005001 - Satellite services/carriers/operators
- 06002002 - Nuclear
- 06002001 - Oil, gas and coal
- Sector Groups Involved
- Maritime Industries and Services
- Energy-Intensive Industries
- Aerospace and Defence
- Targeted countries
- All countries
Files
Fluid Wire Robotics - Pitch Deck - October 2024