‘Rewire’ aims to double the amount of recycled content, lower resource consumption and emissions, and build new capabilities.
Irish Manufacturing Research (IMR) is leading a new €6.9m pan-European project to help scale high-quality remanufacturing through robotics, AI and digital twins.
Called Remanufacturing with Intelligent Robots for Wide-Scale Remanufacturing, or ‘Rewire’, the project is coordinated by IMR with the participation of University College Dublin (UCD) and Enterprise Ireland client Dromone Engineering of Ireland, as well as 10 other institutions from eight countries across the bloc.
The project’s total funding of approximately 8 million received approximately 7 million euros from the EU under the Horizon Europe program.
Rewire aims to double the volume of recycled products in Europe, lower resource consumption and emissions, and build new capabilities and business models in line with EU net-zero and circular economy goals.
The project plans to achieve these goals by combining digital, automated and circular economy technologies with traditional methods of productivity improvement and remanufacturing.
Participating organizations, including Italy’s Universita Degli Studi Di Genova, and Austria’s Linz Center of Mechatronics, will face significant barriers to industrial adoption and scale-up such as poor traceability, disparate digital systems, limited robotics, weak decision support tools and skills shortages.
With funding available until April 2030, Rewire will focus on the heavy machinery, automotive and electronics sectors, areas where complexity, diversity and cost often limit the adoption of new processes.
“Rewire represents an important step in building Europe’s capacity for advanced remanufacturing,” said IMR CEO Barry Kennedy.
“By combining industrial knowledge with robotics, AI and digital technologies, this project will help manufacturers get more value from products and materials, strengthen competition, and support the transition to a circular and sustainable industrial environment.”
Dr Aswin Ramasubramanian, robotics specialist at IMR said: “As Rewire Coordinator, I am proud to lead this multi-billion euro project and bring together a team of European experts capable of demonstrating that rewiring can be as fast, flexible and reliable as original manufacturing, while keeping valuable products and components usable for a long time.
“By combining advanced robotics, AI, digital twins and traceability, we want to make it easier for manufacturers in sectors such as heavy machinery, automotive and electronics to find value, reduce waste and build stronger supply chains.”
Earlier this year, Ireland launched its first European Space Agency Phi-Lab at IMR in partnership with Amber, an Irish Research Center based at Trinity College Dublin. The lab is poised to become Ireland’s national space technology development platform.
In March, the University of Limerick partnered with IMR to design and manufacture the Republic of Ireland’s first 3D printed liquid rocket engine – called the Lúin of Celtchar.
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