How robots can learn from nature to handle fragile products: EU project publishes new video
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How robots can learn from nature to handle fragile products: EU project publishes new video

06/11/2026 youris.com

The video presents the origami-inspired, sensorised surfaces developed by the EU-funded project MOZART to help robots handle soft and delicate products.

The EU-funded MOZART project has released its final video: How MOZART Rethinks Robotic Manipulation | One Small Adaptation at a Time, presenting the results of its research on robots able to handle soft, fragile and highly variable products. Such products remain a challenge for conventional automation, which is why many tasks in sectors such as food processing are still carried out manually.

Instead of gripping objects, MOZART guides and supports them through a reconfigurable surface, an approach known as non-prehensile manipulation. Its AUTOMAT (Autonomous Manipulation using Morphing Modular Mats) combines ORA, the Origami Robotics Actuator developed at EPFL, whose modules fold and reshape in coordination, with COPESS, a soft sensing skin from the Italian Institute of Technology that detects pressure, contact and motion in real time. The concepts were tested in representative scenarios from the food-processing sector.

“The next step is to further develop, validate and scale these concepts beyond the laboratory, so that future robotic systems can operate safely and effectively in complex industrial environments,” says Kasper Støy, professor at the IT University of Copenhagen and MOZART coordinator. “MOZART has laid the foundations for a new generation of adaptive manipulation technologies.”

Watch the full video on YouTube and follow MOZART on LinkedIn.


Context
MOZART is an EU-funded project developing AI-powered soft robotic systems for safely handling delicate foods. Its AUTOMATs – reconfigurable, sensorised soft mats – adapt their shape to fragile items, enabling efficient human–robot collaboration and automating tasks such as fish and poultry handling. The project also prioritises sustainable and socially responsible automation within the food industry.

Contacts:
MOZART Project coordinator:
Kasper Støy - IT Universitetet i København
ksty@itu.dk

Communication and Dissemination Officer:
Davide Valenti - ICONS
davide.valenti@icons.it

Project website: https://mozart-robotics.eu
LinkedIn: MOZART: LinkedIn
YouTube: MOZART - YouTube

Attached files
  • Picture courtesy of Alexander Shatov, Unsplash
06/11/2026 youris.com
Regions: Europe, Belgium, European Union and Organisations
Keywords: Applied science, Artificial Intelligence, Computing, Technology, Business, Electronic hardware & software, Universities & research

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