Contents
- Associated teams & other international projects
- European projects
- National projects
- Regional and other funding
- Industrial contracts
Associated teams & other international projects
MUROTEX — Multi-agent coordination in robotics exploration and reconnaissance missions (2014–2015, PHC Hubert Curien)
Partners: Olivier Simonin (INSA Lyon, CITI lab) and Jan Faigl (Czech Technical University in Prague).
Web: https://members.loria.fr/FCharpillet/projets/murotex/
Main objective: develop a distributed planning framework for efficient task-allocation in exploration and reconnaissance missions by groups of mobile robots operating in unknown environments, considering communication constraints and localization uncertainty. The challenge is to decentralize decisions for scalability to large robot fleets.
06 SCI F2 / L 37 CEDRE (Lebanon) — Urban localisation with GPS/INS, monocular vision and 3D GIS (2007–2008)
With Maan Badaoui. Project on localisation in urban environments using GPS and INS aided by a monocular vision system and 3D geographical models. Funded by the scientific CEDRE program between France and Lebanon (Université Libanaise, Faculté de Génie, Tripoli).
Developed geo-localisation methods combining GPS, INS, monovision camera and a 3D cartographical model. A dedicated 3D-GIS was built to manipulate and navigate in a precise 3D model database (Stanislas Place).
SCOUT — Survey of Catastrophe and Observation in Urban Territories (2006–2009, STIC-Asie)
Participants: Alain Dutech and Olivier Simonin. Partners from Vietnam (IFI, MICA, CARGIS), China (LIAMA), Cambodia (ITC) and France (IRD, LRI-Paris Sud, MaIA-LORIA, IGN).
Goal: develop technologies for district-level decision-making in case of disasters through robotic teams and data fusion. Robots (gound & aerial) gather information with sensors; a fusion system extracts semantic data; a 3D GIS supports simulation and decision-making for local authorities.
Self-Directed Cooperative Planetary Rovers (1999–2004, NASA Aerospace Technology Enterprise)
Partners: Shlomo Zilberstein (University of Massachusetts), Eric Hansen (Mississippi State University), Victor Lesser (University of Massachusetts), Rich Washington (NASA); Collaborators: François Charpillet and Abdel-Illah Mouaddib (GREYC).
Developed pre-compiled control policies for planetary rovers to enable fast autonomous decisions under uncertainty and limited communication bandwidth. Research addressed how rovers can allocate resources, react to failures and optimize task execution in real time without constant ground control.
INRIA–UMass Associated Team — Formal study of coordination and control of collaborative multi-agent systems (1997–2003)
Partner: University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
Objective: develop a decision-theoretic framework for planning and control of collaborative multi-agent systems via decentralized Markov decision processes. Provided formal foundations for coordination strategies and improved understanding of limitations of heuristic methods.
Formal Study of Coordination and Control of Collaborative Multi-Agent Systems (NSF & INRIA)
Decision-theoretic investigation of coordination and control for collaborative multi-agent systems, emphasizing formal models and performance guarantees.
NSF–INRIA Resource-Bounded Knowledge-Based Systems II (1999–2001)
Continuation of Resource-Bounded KBS I with advanced techniques for reasoning and meta-level control under computational constraints.
NSF–INRIA Resource-Bounded Knowledge-Based Systems I (1996–1999)
Development of the Progressive Processing model and an optimal meta-level control architecture for resource-bounded reasoning systems.
European projects
INTERREG INTRADE — Intelligent Transportation for Dynamic Environment (2010–2013)
Funding: 332,500 € subsidy on 677,182 € committed.
PI Inria: François Charpillet.
Web: Project page
Partners: University of Science and Technology of Lille (LAGIS, France, coordinator), South East England Development Agency (UK), CRITT TL (France), Port of Oostende (Belgium), Dublin Institute of Technology (Ireland), Liverpool John Moores University (UK).
Goal: improve traffic management and space optimization in seaports by developing a safe, intelligent transport system combined with virtual site simulation. The Maia team studied decentralized control for automated vehicle platooning and adaptive traffic, funding two PhD theses and one engineer.
ITEA 01011 PROTEUS — Integrated e-Maintenance Platform (2002–2005)
Partners: AKN, ARC Informatique, BIKIT, Cegelec France, Cegelec Germany, ifak, IML, LAB, LIFC, LIP6, LORIA, Pertinence, Schneider Electric, TUM, TIL Technologies, Vartec.
Objective: design a fully integrated platform supporting broad e-maintenance strategies as part of Enterprise Asset Optimisation (EAO). The project delivered a new generation of predictive-maintenance toolchains finalized in 2004.
REAKTANSE — Esprit project n°20938 (1995–1997)
Partners: Thomson (France), VTT (Finland), Rautaruuki Oy (Finland). Duration: 2 years / 77.5 person-months.
Focus: embedding knowledge-based reasoning into real-time industrial applications and defining integration tools and methods.
REAKT II — Esprit project n°7805 (1993–1995)
Continuation of REAKT I. Consolidated specifications, definitions, and prototypes for dependable real-time knowledge-based systems.
REAKT I — Esprit project n°5146 (1991–1993)
Primary goal: develop tools and methodologies for applying knowledge-based systems (KBS) in real-time domains, producing a toolkit for efficient development, deployment, and maintenance of embedded KBS modules.
AITRAS — Esprit project n°2167 (1989–1992)
Partners: Cognitech (France), AI Systems (Belgium), Laborelec (Belgium), Technatom (Spain). Duration: 3 years / 30 person-years.
Objective: design and develop AITRAS, a knowledge-based system for real-time signal understanding including a reusable system shell and design tools for industrial signal interpretation.
National projects
Flying Co-Worker (ANR, 2019–2023)
Funding: 310 k€ (309,528 €).
Consortium: LAAS (coord.), Inria Nancy Grand-Est (PI: François Charpillet).
Goal: develop an aerial manipulator acting as a human teammate for cooperative handling tasks. Combines progress in physical and decisional human–robot interaction with aerial manipulation. Focused on human-aware planning, perception, and safety under floating-base, payload, and energy constraints.
ASMOA — Prediction of User Intentions for Exoskeletons (DGA RAPID, 2019–2022)
Funding: 235 k€ (235,304 €).
Consortium: Kompaï Robotics (coord.), Inria Nancy Grand-Est (PI: François Charpillet), Safran Electronics & Defense.
Goal: predict movement intentions of exoskeleton users handling loads. Develop machine learning–based prediction and control methods to optimize motion assistance and experimentally evaluate user performance and comfort.
LAR — Living Assistant Robot (PIA, 2013–2016)
Funding: 159,425 €.
PI Inria: François Charpillet.
Partners: Crédit Agricole, Diatelic, Robosoft.
Web: Project page
Goal: design an assistant robot to improve autonomy and quality of life for elderly people. Developed RGB-D SLAM algorithms robust to dynamic environments and social interaction capabilities for home use.
PAL — Personally Assisted Living (Inria Project Lab, 2010–2014)
Large-scale Inria initiative involving teams AROBAS, COPRIN, DEMAR, E-MOTION, STARS, PRIMA, MAIA, TRIO, and LAGADIC.
Objective: create a research infrastructure to test technologies improving quality of life for people with reduced autonomy due to age, illness, or accident.
More info: PAL overview
ANR Défi Robotique “Carotte” — Cartomatic (2009–2012)
Funding: ANR project led by P. Lucidarme (LISA Univ. Angers).
Partners: MAIA (INRIA/UHP), Wany Robotics.
Web: Cartomatic
Objective: distributed algorithms for deployment and mapping by autonomous robot fleets for exploration and object identification. Demonstrated benefits of cooperation to reduce uncertainty and improve robustness.
REI DGA “SUSIE” — Supervision de Systèmes d’Intelligence en Essaim (2009–2012)
Partners: MAIA, ENST Brest, PY Automation.
Goal: study human supervision of swarms of drones coordinated through self-organization mechanisms based on digital pheromones (stigmergy). Continued from the SMAART project.
COMAC — Contrôle Non Destructif de Matériaux Composites (2008–2011)
Partners: SLCA, Visuol Technologies, Institut de Soudure, PPE, INRIA (MAIA, CORTEX), TREFLE.
Supported by the MIPI competitiveness cluster. Developed an efficient non-destructive inspection system for composite aeronautical structures in production and operation.
ANR TECSAN PréDICA (2006–2009)
Partners: UTT, LORIA, TIMC, AFM, IRR, CHU Nancy, LAPMA, AEC, ACDM, TEFAL, CHU Toulouse, Hôpital Charles Foix, Résidence La Moline, Résidence Victor Hugo, MEDeTiC, Gym Volontaire, Les Arcades.
Goal: predict and detect falls among elderly people, continuing the RNTS PARAChute project. Developed balance and gait analysis methods using non-intrusive sensors.
ANR TACOS — Trustworthy Assembling of Components (2006–2009)
Partners: LACL, LAS, LAMIH, ROI-SID, LIFC, TFC, LORIA (DEDALE, MAIA).
Goal: specify and verify high-safety systems via component-based approaches. Applied to verification of vehicle-platooning control software.
CRISTAL — Cooperative Urban Transportation Systems (2007–2009)
Partners: Lohr Transitec, GEA, VULog, UTBM, MAIA, TRIO, DEDALE, IMARA, LASMEA.
Major project under the Alsace–Franche-Comté automotive cluster. Focused on automated vehicle platooning and simulation-based validation of control robustness under sensor and actuator noise.
DGA PEA SMAART — UAV Coordination for Surveillance (2007–2008)
Partners: CRIL Technology/Alyotech, PY Automation, ENST Brest, LORIA.
Goal: design decentralized control for UAV swarms using bio-inspired coordination algorithms based on digital pheromones.
FUI PAUSA — Authority Sharing in Aeronautics (2006–2007)
Partners: Eurisco, Airbus, DSNA/SDER, Dassault Aviation, Thales Avionics, LAMIH, ONERA, OKTAL, MAIA.
Investigated human–machine authority sharing in future air-traffic systems within the Aerospace Valley competitiveness cluster.
PREDIT 3 MobiVip — Intelligent Autonomous Vehicles (2004–2006)
Partners: I3S, L3I, LASMEA, LIMOS, HEUDIASYC, GERME, INRIA (VISA, AxIS, Mascotte, Icare, MAIA, eMotion, Lagadic, Vista, Texmex), Robosoft, Ceolia, BeNomad, Caisse Commune, Transitec, Wysiwyg.
Goal: navigation and guidance for the Cycab autonomous vehicle in urban environments. Supported development of intelligent mobility services.
ROBEA COROCOP — Cooperative Planetary Rover Control (2003)
Partners: GREYC, MAD team.
Developed a framework for planning, monitoring, and control of planetary rovers to improve reliability and scientific return. Included PhD co-supervision (Simon Le Gloannec).
RNTS DEPIC — Detection of Peritoneal Infections (2003–2004)
Partners: INSA Lyon (Microcapteurs et Microsystèmes Biomédicaux), ALTIR Nancy, CALYDIAL Lyon, LORIA.
Designed a circular sensor array to detect infections around catheters for peritoneal dialysis using temperature signatures interpreted through signal processing algorithms.
DialHemo — Telemonitoring for Kidney Disease (INRIA, 2003–2005)
Partners: Diatelic SA, Gambro, CHU Nancy, ALTIR.
Developed a telemonitoring and diagnosis aid system for home or hospital hemodialysis patients. Software used by more than 500 patients in France.
RNTS PARAChute — Prevention of Falls (2003–2006)
Partners: UTT, CHU Nancy-Brabois, Institut de Myologie de Paris, Institut Régional de Réadaptation, ACDM Concept, and others.
Aimed at preventing falls among elderly people through interdisciplinary research combining medicine, physiology, and computer science. Formed the foundation for the subsequent PréDICA project.
ACI Technologies for Health — Tiissad (1999–2001)
Goal: integrate information technologies into home health-care services and develop assistive telemedicine systems.
EDF Convention (1999–2001)
Developed a decision-support model for managing signal interpretation tasks in EDF’s monitoring and diagnostics group. Produced a generic intelligent library to guide users in selecting, applying, and interpreting numerical algorithms for industrial data.
INRIA Cooperative Action LIRE — Resource-Bounded Problem Solving (1998–2000)
Research on resource-limited reasoning and anytime computation for real-time decision-making problems.
DBB — Distributed Blackboard (Ministry of Industry, 1994–1995)
Partners: ILOG, Matra, Inria. Duration: 2 years.
Built a distributed real-time multi-agent architecture derived from ATOME-TR in C++, using ILOG Broker and ILOG Server for coordination and reasoning.
DGA CPM Convention — Anytime Scheduling (1994–1995)
Developed non-preemptive scheduling algorithms for naval tactical systems (SENIT). Introduced Hopfield-based anytime approximation methods for real-time constraint satisfaction and robustness under limited computational resources.
DRET & Ministry of Industry — MATRA Defense and MSII Projects (1989–1991)
Duration: 24 months (~120 person-months).
Developed real-time blackboard architectures for combat aircraft self-protection systems (SEGCM). Prototype implemented in Common Lisp. Served as foundation for the later AITRAS project.
Regional and other funding
CPER IT2MP — SCIARAT Platform (2015–2021)
PI : François Charpillet & Pr Rossignol.
Managed budget : approximately 1,200 k€ (non-CHU teams).
Goal : creation and coordination of the SCIARAT robotics-neuroscience platform, part of the IT2MP project funded by CPER.
The platform provided major infrastructure — humanoid and mobile robots (iCub, Tiago), motion-capture systems, Xsens suits, BCI interfaces, and prototyping equipment — to strengthen research in TECSAN and the “silver economy”.
SATELOR — Smart Tele-care for Elderly at Home (AME Région Lorraine, 2013–2017)
Funding : 892 k€ (891,673 €).
Consortium : Diatelic (coord.), Inria Nancy Grand Est (PI : François Charpillet).
Goal : develop services and low-cost sensors to enable elderly and chronically ill people to live safely at home.
Results include :
- environmental sensors for activity monitoring and fall detection,
- a companion robot able to interact and detect emergencies,
- a Bayesian data-fusion toolbox for decision support.
Industrial contracts
CIFRE Diatelic–Pharmagest (2017–2020)
Funding : 49 k€.
Goal : develop smart-home technologies to support aging in place and prevent premature institutionalization.
Based on the CareLib platform, the collaboration improved activity monitoring and emergency detection using probabilistic models and motion-sensor data.
The work enhanced Diatelic’s telehealth ecosystem within the Pharmagest group.
CIFRE PSA–Stellantis (2019–2023)
Funding : 162 k€ (162,235 €).
Context : OpenLab PSA–Inria dedicated to Artificial Intelligence.
Objective : develop predictive AI models for autonomous driving, mobility services, and vehicle design.
Two PhD projects conducted with the Larsen team focused on reinforcement-learning-based decision-making and trajectory planning for cooperative driving.
CIFRE Safran (2019–2022)
Funding : 70 k€.
Thesis related to the FURIOUS project (multi-robot coordination for search-and-rescue).
Objective : propose new distributed coordination mechanisms for autonomous robot groups in unknown environments, continuing earlier work from the ANR Cartomatic project (winner of the 2012 DGA/ANR “Défi CAROTTE” robotics challenge).
Safran (FURIOUS Project, 2018–2019)
Budget : 50 k€.
PI : François Charpillet.
Goal : develop an exploration module for structured indoor spaces, combining target ordering and accessibility analysis to create enriched navigation maps extending beyond standard SLAM approaches.
CIFRE Gambro–Diatelic (2005–2010)
Developed an automated vascular-access risk classifier integrated into Gambro’s dialysis management software.
Improved prediction of complications in home hemodialysis using probabilistic and temporal modeling.
Cardiabase Collaboration (2006–2008)
Joint work on ECG segmentation and clustering using hierarchical continuous-density HMMs and wavelets.
Implemented Bayesian clustering methods and integrated algorithms into the commercial Cardiabase system for cardiac signal interpretation.
DGA/CPM Convention n° 88-78-814 (1988–1989)
Duration : 18 months / 29 person-months.
Developed the X-TRA hypothetical-reasoning engine as an alternative to ART expert-system tools.
Prototype deployed in defense applications; served as basis for the later AITRAS project.
