On December 16 the Research Council of Norway announced the new projects funded through the “Innovation Projects in Industry” (IPN) program, see: https://www.forskningsradet.no/behandling-av-soknad/gjennomforte-utlysninger/soknadsresultat-ipn-2019

In total 352 applications where received from companies all over Norway before the September 25 application deadline. In total 1,25 billion NOK will be handed out to the highest ranked projects.

Two partner companies in SFI Offshore Mechatronics were successful in this round. The the topics in both projects are directly linked to topics being worked on in the centre. The projects are:

MacGregor Norway AS, Project Number 309895. Increasing Operational Efficiency by Retrofitting Sensor-Based Anti-Swing Technology on Offshore Cranes. Funding received 2,625 MNOK. Researchers in SFI Offshore Mechatronics WP3 Robotics and Autonomy will participate in this project.

National Oilwell Varco Norway AS, Project Number 310050. Next generation fiber rope system product for real-time fiber rope condition monitoring. Funding received 9,0 MNOK.

The IPN scheme requires the companies to contribute 50% of the funding themselves, so the total budgets of these two projects are 23,25 MNOK.

As the centre is now in the second half of it’s funding period, the centre administration of SFI Offshore Mechatronics plans to increase it’s effort towards new spin-off projects and activities. The next funding deadlines in Norway are in May and September 2020.