The Application for the First Bulgarian Robotics Incubator Has Already Begun

22 December, 2021

The Professional Association of Robotics and Automation (PARA) is organizing the first initiative that will help young people with ideas or projects in the field of robotics, drones, IoT, machine vision or artificial intelligence to reach a complete prototype.

PARA Robotics Incubator will provide participants with over 100 hours of mentoring from engineers, access to laboratories and prototyping development centers, as well as the purchase of the necessary hardware for the project such as boards, motors, sensors, control units and other necessary materials.

The mentors who will join PARA Robotics Incubator are from well known companies such as FESTO, Schneider Electric, Vangavis, ABB, Siviko and others. Additionally, Sofia Tech Park, Milara Shared Innovation Center Resonator, MOS Robotics, Rapid Progress, RAIS, Vocational School of Computer Programming and Innovation Burgas and BG Robots will provide access to their laboratories and development centers in seven different cities.

The Digitalization, Innovation and Economic Development Division of the Sofia Municipality is an institutional partner of PARA Robotics Incubator. The first robotics incubator was established mainly with the financial support of the America for Bulgaria Foundation, BDB Capital Investment Fund, FESTO, Schneider Electric, FANUC Bulgaria, Vangavis. Among the partners stand out the names of School Telerik Academy, Institute of Robotics at BAS, Robo League Bulgaria, ABV Academy, Cluster Artificial Intelligence Bulgaria.

The initiative was launched with the clear goal of young people to have access to laboratories where they can develop their ideas and projects. Mentoring is of key importance for the growth of both the business and the scientific ecosystem in our country. It was under the mentorship of Dr. Svetlin Penkov and Dr. Bogdan Georgiev that 18-year-old Viktor Kolev won first prize in the EU’s most prestigious competition for young scientists – EUCYS.

The knowledge and skills that participants will acquire and improve in PARA Robotics Incubator include: design thinking, product prototyping, navigation and manipulation, machine vision, collaboration, machine self-learning and artificial intelligence, and finding partners to test and buy technology .

The deadline for applications is January 30, 2021, a link to the registration form can be found here. Teams are accepted, as well as independent founders over the age of 14. You will find more about the initiative here.