Humans are the most flexible “components” of assembly systems, offering many advantages over machines.

Rather than remove human workers and develop fully automated solutions, PISA’s main objective is therefore to keep human workers in the loop and support them with qualified tools.

Such an integrative approach combines human creativity, intelligence, knowledge, flexibility, and skills as well as the advantages of sophisticated technical systems and tools, such as electronic and physical power, speed and accuracy.

This approach makes it possible to produce complex on-demand products at greatly reduced cost.

PISA is divided in nine interrelated sub-projects SP1, SP2, SP3, SP4, SP5, SP6, 7, 8 and 9.

In order to spread the ideas of this novel technology and to initiate a societal dialogue, an Advisory Board has been established integrating the social partners (employers and unions), an organisation of technical experts of the relevant industries and occupational safety and health administrations. Since PISA deals with the collaboration of human workers and machines, safety aspects are of central importance. In order to reach the envisaged project goals, broad know-how in various scientific, engineering, technologies from different branches is required. Partners selected for their practical and scientific perspectives provide this knowledge. The project involves 4 large companies, 7 SME’s, and 7 research institutes from 6 European countries. The integrated project approach enables parallel work on all SP's and is therefore most efficient. The breakthrough of this IP will be the development of innovative Intelligent Assist Systems (IAS) technology and the related methods and tools for planning, integration and reusability of assembly equipment. The results are flexible, cost-effective and highly productive solutions. Human integrated solutions require lower investment and are much more flexible compared with fully automated systems. This results in highly productive and technologically advanced workplaces. Their planning, design and operation require both engineering know-how and human skills which avoid the outsourcing of such workplaces to low-cost labour countries outside Europe.