PLOCAN took part in the kick-off meeting for the European EUroMarineRobots –EUMR- (Marine Robotics Research Infrastructure Network) Project held on the 1st and 2nd of March in the facilities of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto, the institution co-ordinating the project.

EUMR proposes infrastructure that includes a full range of marine robots, including aerial drones and surface and sub-surface gliders. The combined value of these robots is far greater than the sum of its parts and the project will offer trans-national access to major national marine robotics R+D assets throughout Europe. The partners are members of a wide variety of existing networks and co-operate with international benchmark research facilities. EUMR is the first stage in connecting these networks and assets as a world leader in supporting and growing a sound community of practise in marine-maritime robotics.

At the meeting, the partners introduced their respective institutions with a view to getting to know each other better and generating synergies for implementing the project. They also planned the activities of the different work packages, determining the responsibilities for the different tasks to be carried out in detail.

The EUMR Project, reference number 731103, is funded by the European H2020 programme through call for projects H2020-INFRAIA-2017-1. It is scheduled to last 36 months with the participation of fifteen partners from Portugal, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Belgium and Croatia. Organised into nine work packages, PLOCAN is responsible for co-ordinating tasks in the areas of highly-specialised training and trans-national access (TNA) to the facilities that EUMR makes available to end users.