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EXCEED-AIR 

EXCellence Initiative for European Empowerment and Development in AI-Driven Robotics

EXCEED-AIR is a project funded under the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme, aimed at strengthening scientific excellence, research capacities, and international collaboration in the field of AI-driven robotics. 

The project brings together European research institutions with the aim of advancing robotic technologies, strengthening human capital, connecting research infrastructures, and fostering collaborative research and innovation activities.

Project description

Project Name: EXCellence Initiative for European Empowerment and Development in AI-Driven Robotics 
Acronym: EXCEED-AIR 
Type of action: Horizon Europe – Widening participation and strengthening the European Research Area  
Implementation period:1 October 2026 – 30 September 2031 
Total project amount: 5.000.000 EUR 
Project coordinator: Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, University of Zagreb 
Head of the Research Team at CRTA:   Assoc. prof. Marko Švaco 

Project goals 

EXCEED-AIR focuses on four key areas: 

  • institutional excellence and strengthening research capacities 
  • development of knowledge, skills, and researcher mobility 
  • integration of research infrastructure and digital resources 
  • development of collaborative research and innovation activities in AI-driven robotics 

One of the key elements of the project is the development of a Virtual Joint Lab, which will connect the infrastructure, data, and expertise of partner institutions and facilitate international research collaboration. The Virtual Joint Lab will federate partner equipment, testbeds, and simulation resources, supporting reproducible workflows and multi-site experimentation.

Project Partners 

  • Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, University of Zagreb 
  • Jožef Stefan Institute ((IJS) 
  • KTH Royal Institute of Technology 
  • Technical University of Munich (TUM) 
  • Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) 
  • University of Padua 
  • Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (HAZU) 
  • Centre of Excellence MARBLE 
  • European Fund Management Consulting OÜ 

Role of FSB and CRTA 

The University of Zagreb, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture (FSB) participates in the project as a partner, contributing the research capacities and expertise of the Regional Center of Excellence for Robotic Technology – CRTA. 

Participation in EXCEED-AIR will further strengthen international cooperation between CRTA, FSB, and European research institutions and provide new opportunities for: 

  • international collaboration and researcher mobility 
  • knowledge and expertise exchange 
  • integration of research infrastructure 
  • development of new research activities 
  • preparation of future European projects 

Through the project, CRTA will contribute to the development of advanced solutions in AI-driven robotics and to strengthening the European research and innovation ecosystem. 

One of the key activities of FSB and CRTA will be the development of the Virtual Joint Lab, which will connect the robotic laboratories and research infrastructure of the partner institutions. CRTA will contribute to cataloguing robotic platforms, sensors, simulators, digital twins, and computing resources, as well as to establishing common standards that will enable experiments to be conducted across different locations, facilitate data exchange, and support the verification of the robustness, reproducibility, and portability of developed algorithms. The Virtual Joint Lab will enable cross-site replication and complementary experiments using the partners’ research infrastructure.  

CRTA will also participate in collaborative research activities through the analysis of the state of the art and open research challenges in AI-driven robotics, as well as through the development and testing of new methods and algorithms. Research activities will address robust perception and situational awareness, learning and adaptation in unstructured environments, human-aware real-time planning and decision-making, and heterogeneous multi-agent systems. The developed solutions will subsequently be applied and tested in targeted application domains including assistive robotics for aging and healthcare, smart manufacturing and industrial automation, and marine systems for environmental monitoring and infrastructure inspection. 

Expected Impact 

EXCEED-AIR will contribute to strengthening European research excellence, developing new competencies, connecting research infrastructures, and establishing long-term international partnerships in the fields of artificial intelligence and robotics. 

Team members

The project was co-financed by the European Union from the European Regional Development Fund
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