The CARTIF technology center has launched CARTIFactory iHub, its new digital innovation pilot designed to provide companies and organizations with access to tools such as collaborative robotics, generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), digital twins, and industrial IoT. This initiative aims to foster collaboration among companies, researchers, and public entities, promoting synergies that accelerate innovation and facilitate the integration of digital solutions across various environments.
The iHub, located in the Boecillo (Valladolid), has officially joined the international FIWARE iHub network, thus reinforcing the center’s commitment to the digital transformation of industry through open, interoperable, and human-centered technologies. Its main mission is to promote the adoption of standards such as FIWARE, Fast DDs, Vulcanexus o ROS4HRI, among others, to accelerate the digitalization of the industrial fabric, particularly SMEs.
“At CARTIF we continue to invest in these open technologies to build a future where collaboration between systems and platforms is the key to success. As an official iHub, CARTIFactory will not only encourage the use of FIWARE, but also serve as a reference center with its experimentation laboratory to promote interoperability in robotic applications for our community and industrial ecosystem,” says Aníbal Reñones, director of the Industry 4.0 area at CARTIF.
An iHub oriented toward Industry 5.0
CARTIFactory iHub is designed to promote an Industry 5.0 model where technology serves human well-being, sustainability, and resilience by combining human–robot interaction (HRI) in production and industrial logistics contexts. It is designed to evaluate adaptive robotic behavior algorithms and to develop interfaces for natural interaction with production environments, offering:
- Training and advisory services in FIWARE technologies.
- Testing spaces with in-house infrastructure for real trials.
- Support for the creation of modular, interoperable, and replicable solutions.
The pilot includes collaborative robots, computer vision systems through cameras along with mixed reality interfaces, various end-effectors, and a central workstation with an independent LED system for operational signaling. Thanks to this combination of technologies, the iHub can be applied to various scenarios, such as:
- Assembly and disassembly of high value-added production.
- Complex handling in logistics environments, such as warehouses.
- Interaction interfaces using natural language and extended reality (XR).
- Evaluation of productivity and safety in human–robot collaborative tasks.
CARTIFactory originates from pilot tests of projects such as 5R y ARISE, focused on the adoption of collaborative robotics, AI, and digital twins in industrial environments. It is currently validating two key use cases at its facilities:
- Assembly and disassembly of high-value products, improving precision and ergonomics.
- Picking of complex products in industrial warehouses for high product variability tasks.
Both use cases reinforce the human-centered and safe approach proposed by Industry 5.0.
A European cluster for industrial innovation
The CARTIFactory iHub digital innovation pilot is also a co-founder of the FIWARE iHubs Cluster for Manufacturing, together with Faubourg Numérique (France) and Tampere University of Applied Sciences (Finland). This cluster seeks to:
- Develop shared services and common methodologies using open technologies such as FIWARE.
- Integrate results from the ARISE project and its 4 TEFs (Testing and Experimentation Facilities), DIH FbN with its LP4.0 project, Tampere with its “Power by FIWARE” laboratory, and results from other national projects in Finland.
- Facilitate collaborations with European EDIHs in joint training and technology validation programs for agile manufacturing, such as Proxinnov.
FIWARE as a technological pillar
FIWARE provides an open technological foundation, ideal for developing interoperable industrial solutions. Thanks to components such as FIWARE Orion-LD, CARTIFactory can support the development of technologies that enable:
- IT/OT convergence in production environments.
- Real-time monitoring and predictive analytics.
- Plug-and-play solutions adaptable to different sectors.
With this initiative, CARTIF strengthens its leadership in industrial innovation and positions Castilla y León as a key hub in Europe’s digital transformation.