Again to highschool: robots study from manufacturing facility staff

By Anthony King

What if coaching a robotic to deal with soiled, harmful work on the manufacturing facility ground was so simple as exhibiting it how? Czech startup RoboTwin is doing precisely that, serving to manufacturing facility staff educate robots new expertise by demonstration.

As a substitute of writing advanced code, staff carry out the job as soon as and RoboTwin’s know-how turns these actions right into a robotic programme – opening the door to automation for smaller producers.

Based in Prague in 2021, RoboTwin builds handheld units and no-code software program that seize human actions and translate them into directions for industrial robots. The goal is to make automation quicker, easier and extra accessible to producers that should not have specialist robotics programmers.

“The robotic principally copies the human demonstration,” mentioned Megi Mejdrechová, RoboTwin’s co-founder and chief know-how officer. “Folks with no coding expertise can switch their know-how and expertise to robots.”

Mejdrechová, a mechanical engineer skilled on the Czech Technical College in Prague, developed the core know-how behind RoboTwin throughout her work in robotics analysis and trade. Her expertise in robotic management utilizing AI and pc imaginative and prescient impressed her to create one thing sensible for European producers.

“Czech engineering is kind of conventional and targeted on scientific papers,” mentioned Mejdrechová. “Visits to Singapore and Canada and different work experiences led me to concentrate on making a product that individuals might use.”

Getting began

In 2021, Mejdrechová entered a bounce‑starter programme and received first prize within the manufacturing class. “We noticed then that there was potential for the know-how,” she mentioned.

This inspired her to start out RoboTwin with colleagues Ladislav Dvořák and David Polák, who shared her enthusiasm for human‑robotic partnerships. Mejdrechová obtained backing from Ladies TechEU, an EU scheme supporting ladies founders of deep‑tech startups. 

The RoboTwin group shared their outcomes on the Horizon Outcomes Platform, a web-based showcase for EU‑funded improvements, which led to an invite to the EU’s Empowering Begin‑ups and SMEs initiative. 

This helped fund their journey to Hannover Messe 2025, a serious world manufacturing commerce truthful, and opened doorways to new enterprise contacts and offers.

By a mixture of private and non-private funding, RoboTwin has secured funding to refine its know-how and develop to producers in Central Europe, the Netherlands, Mexico and Canada.

In 2025, Mejdrechová was named in Forbes Czechia’s 30 Underneath 30 listing for her work in making the coaching of robots accessible to extra producers.

Education robots

On the coronary heart of RoboTwin’s system is a handheld gadget geared up with sensors. When a employee performs a activity, for instance spray portray a steel element, the system data the motion and converts it right into a robotic programme that may be reused in manufacturing.

As a substitute of requiring a specialist engineer to manually code each motion, the system captures the employee’s pure method and interprets it into exact directions a robotic can comply with.

“We began with jobs which can be ugly, soiled and unhealthy for staff to do manually,” mentioned Mejdrechová.

Because of the no‑coding system, the course of will be accomplished in just a few steps and usually takes a few minute. For factories producing small batches or often altering merchandise, this pace could make automation way more sensible than conventional robotic programming.

Making automation straightforward for all

Robotics in manufacturing shouldn’t be new. The automotive trade already leads the way in which with about 23 000 new robots added to manufacturing strains in 2024. However whereas massive corporations can make investments closely, automation stays difficult and costly for a lot of SMEs.

That is the place RoboTwin lends a hand. It has assisted companies within the floor‑therapy trade – corporations that powder coat, paint or polish steel or plastic elements for automobile factories.

“Even when the batch of merchandise you’re producing is small, with our strategy you’ll be able to create a robotic programme quick and simply,” mentioned Mejdrechová.

For instance, RoboTwin has assisted RobPainting, a Dutch firm that robotises portray for SMEs to enhance high quality, scale back prices and minimise rework. 

“With our gadget we will educate the robotic exact trajectories which can be wanted for a product and about its environment,” mentioned David Vobr, a robotics specialist at RoboTwin who usually assists prospects.

Harmful jobs

RoboTwin’s system can work with a variety of business robots, together with collaborative robots designed to function safely alongside people.

“We will have manipulators or portray robots and likewise collaborative robots, which may work alongside people as a result of they’ve sensors that inform them when to cease transferring if somebody might get damage,” mentioned Vobr.

RoboTwin initially targeted on floor therapy in manufacturing, the place duties reminiscent of spray portray require staff to put on protecting clothes and carry out repetitive actions.

“These jobs are tough to automate as a result of there may be usually numerous hidden motion concerned,” mentioned Mejdrechová, referring to small changes and gestures that staff make instinctively.

The sector additionally faces labour shortages.

“Persons are usually not completely happy doing this stuff and there’s a lack of staff prepared to take these jobs. So there’s a excessive demand for automation.”

Prospects report that many robotic programmes can now be created with out shutting down a manufacturing line.

RoboTwin has already labored with various corporations, together with Surfin Know-how, a Czech firm specialising in robotic coating options, and Progressive Ending Options in Canada, which brings its know-how to North American prospects.

Scaling up

EU assist for RoboTwin is ongoing. A €2.3 million grant from the European Innovation Council secured in 2025 will assist speed up product improvement and market growth.

The funding will assist the subsequent era of RoboTwin’s know-how. As a substitute of relying solely on guide demonstrations, the system will more and more use saved expertise and knowledge to generate robotic programmes routinely primarily based on the form of an object.

The corporate says this might make automation viable for a lot of manufacturing duties that have been beforehand too advanced or pricey to automate.

For Europe, applied sciences like RoboTwin might play an vital function in strengthening digital sovereignty and good industrial innovation. They might help smaller producers undertake superior robotics without having specialised programming experience.

As factories turn into extra versatile and data-driven, the flexibility to rapidly educate robots new duties could show more and more helpful.

Mejdrechová believes this shift will assist carry automation inside attain of a a lot wider vary of corporations.

“Our purpose is to make robotic coaching one thing that staff can do themselves,” she mentioned. “If we succeed, automation will not be restricted to massive factories with specialised engineers. It’ll turn into a software that any producer can use.”

Analysis on this article was funded by the EU’s Horizon Programme. The views of the interviewees don’t essentially replicate these of the European Fee. If you happen to preferred this text, please contemplate sharing it on social media.

This text was initially revealed in Horizon, the EU Analysis and Innovation journal.