UCBMTHE GROWT5 PROJECT IS LAUNCHED: MORE SAFETY IN THE MANUFACTURING SECTOR THANKS TO ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, WEARABLE SENSORS AND COLLABORATIVE ROBOTS 

coordinated byUniversità Campus Bio-Medico di Roma and funded by the EU with six million euros, focuses on Human Augmentation to reduce fatigue, prevent risks and enhance workers' skills 

Rome, October 19 2026 Textile sensors integrated into workwear, artificial intelligence capable of recognizing signs of fatigue, and collaborative robots capable of alleviating the most demanding tasks. These are some of the technologies that the project will be developing. GROWT5, coordinated byUniversità Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, aims to integrate to contribute to the realization of the manufacturing of the future, bringing together international universities and companies in a consortium comprising 14 partners from across Europe. 

GROWT5, funded by the European Union with six million euros, will develop new solutions to improve worker safety, well-being, and performance by combining robotic technologies, intelligent systems, and wearable devices. The challenge is to demonstrate how innovation can contribute to the transformation of work, putting technologies at the service of people and their skills. 

At the heart of the project is the Human augmentation, an approach that aims to enhance people's physical and cognitive abilities through technologies designed to integrate with the human bodyThese tools will enable workers to tackle complex and physically demanding tasks with greater safety, reducing strain and improving operational effectiveness. 

The researchers ofUniversità Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, through the complementary skills of the Research Unit of Neurophysiology and Neuroengineering of Human-Technology Interaction (NeXTLab) and the Laboratory of Advanced Robotics and Person-Centered Technologies (CREO Lab), will work in particular on the development of communication and shared control systems between people and robots.  

Semi-automated robotic limbs will be able to assist operators in the most tiring activities, contributing to reducing the physical load and facilitating operations that require experience, precision and adaptability. In parallel, systems will be developed capable of providing operators with sensory feedback that helps them understand the robot's operating state and interact with it more naturally and effectively. These same signals can also draw attention to what's happening in the workplace, signaling requests, dangers, or critical conditions. The goal is to make work not only safer and less tiring, but also more fluid and efficient. 

Italy is the second manufacturing country in the European Union, with a manufacturing tradition that represents one of the distinctive traits of its economy. A heritage built not only on production capacity, but also on the experience, craftsmanship, and specialized skills of millions of workers. In this context, GROWT5 intends to develop solutions applicable to different production realities, with particular attention to processes that require a high physical effort and a significant contribution of human experience. The technologies developed will find application in various manufacturing sectors, from from precision mechanics to packaging production, right up to food processing. 

This last one represents a particularly significant example of the opportunities offered by the project. The production of some excellent food products closely linked to the territory, such as DOP dairy products, is based on processes that require experience, sensitivity and specialist skills, fundamental elements for preserving the identity and quality of the productAt the same time, these jobs often involve repetitive and physically demanding activities, which can put a strain on workers' health in the long term. GROWT5 aims to develop solutions capable of lightening the physical load of operators, preserving the authenticity of the products and the value of traditional skills. 

For the coordinator of GROWT5 Domenico Formica, Professor of Bioengineering UCBM “The project makes an important contribution to the development of technologies for a modernization of the manufacturing sector that keeps people and their work at the centerOur Research Unit in Neurophysiology and Neuroengineering of Human-Technology Interaction has been working for years to understand how the human nervous system interacts with new technologies, developing solutions that allow people to collaborate with robots in increasingly natural, intuitive, and effective ways. GROWT5 - goes on Formica - It represents a significant opportunity to bring this knowledge out of the laboratory and apply it concretely to the world of work, developing technologies capable of not only reducing physical fatigue but also supporting operators' perceptive and decision-making skills, improving their safety, well-being, and efficiency. We want to demonstrate that the future of manufacturing does not necessarily depend on replacing human labor, but can arise from an increasingly effective collaboration between people and technology.". 

GROWT5 is a three-year project funded by the European Union under the Horizon Europe program,starting in October 2026, and coordinated by theUniversità Campus Bio-Medico di Roma. Includes as scientific partners the University of Newcastle, Twente, Vienna, Aalborg and CNR National Research Council, in addition to non-university research institutions Fundacion TECNALIA Research & Innovation, Tecnalia Serbia and Joanneum Research. In addition to the scientific partners, five industrial partners are involved in the project: Telegroup, Global Electronic Solutions, Hankamp Gears, Smurfit Westrock Avala Ada, and Latteria Agricola Primavera.