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20. June 2025
In order to remain competitive, Czech industry needs not only the greatest possible degree of automation but also the introduction of artificial intelligence, which can be used to make many production processes more efficient. Support for Czech companies developing and offering AI-enabled products to the industrial environment is now provided by the European AI-MATTERS network, of which CEITEC BUT is a part.
Greece, Italy, Spain, France, Germany, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Denmark. Eight countries that are part of a network of European Testing and Experimentation Facilities (TEFs), which includes technical universities and technological research institutes. In the Czech Republic, the TEF network includes CEITEC BUT in Brno, as well as the CIIRC CTU in Prague and the VŠB-TUO in Ostrava. And according to Pavel Václavek, coordinator of the Industrial Cybernetics, Instrumentation and Systems Integration research programme at CEITEC BUT, all three testbeds are very beneficial, although they each have a slightly different focus. “Here in Brno, we can provide companies that have an innovative idea but lack the necessary equipment with our entire scientific infrastructure to test the functionality of their concept. We can build their entire experiment on our machines that faithfully simulate an industrial environment,” he explains, adding that CEITEC has a range of industrial equipment from CNC machines, laser cutters or welding centres, 3D printers for printing metals and plastics, robotic arms, communication technologies including a private 5G network to a high-performance computing cluster, a supercomputer for very demanding tasks. “We focus mainly on the technology of individual machines, while other testbeds are more dedicated to production planning as a whole, for example, offering help in testing solutions to optimise entire production lines, or mainly supporting training activities or the development of AI tools.”
A huge advantage of the whole Czech TEF/AI-MATTERS is that companies do not have to pay for the use of the research infrastructure. Funding is provided by both the European Union and the Ministry of Industry and Trade through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), specifically the amount of CZK 200 million available to all three research institutions until 2027. However, applicants for help with testing their products must meet a few basic requirements. First of all, they must be small or medium-sized companies only, but they must also meet the conditions for applicants for NRRP support, in particular, the condition of no conflict of interest between them and the entities providing the subsidy. However, Pavel Václavek points out that companies that are officially small and independent, but in reality, have mothers from large technology companies, are also excluded. “A typical recipient of this aid might be a small start-up that develops diagnostic solutions for industrial machinery and has no direct way to test its know-how in real operation. Nevertheless, it is expected that such a company is clear about what it is doing and that its solution should be functional and applicable,” he says, adding that for companies that would like to start developing AI solutions, there are six support centres in the Czech Republic in the form of European Digital Innovation Hubs (EDIHs), where support is provided on the basis of providing computing infrastructure, hardware, as well as consultations with experts.
AI-MATTERS can help innovate Czech industry
As mentioned at the beginning, the AI-MATTERS network aims to help Czech industrial companies remain competitive on a global scale by starting to deploy AI technologies in large numbers. At the same time, however, the programme can also have the opposite effect, helping local technology firms break into the European market with a unique AI product. Compared to Germany or the Netherlands, which are further ahead in terms of digitalisation and the need for innovation, the Czech environment is not yet able to generate as many innovative solutions and the companies in question are struggling to get noticed in neighbouring countries. This is due to historical reasons; in Germany, for example, technological development in many areas is driven by established family-owned companies with often more than a century of tradition. In Czechia, this layer of small, yet extremely important, companies was disrupted after World War II and has not yet been able to fully recover. Although the Czech Republic has remained a strongly industrial country, it mainly focused on cheap production without higher added value for a long time after the fall of the Iron Curtain. “But just as the call of industry for advanced technologies has gradually increased in our country, the number of technology companies with potential and know-how in AI has also increased in recent years. And it is these entities that need to be supported so that they succeed, inspire others and so that the tradition of producing innovative industrial solutions and, consequently, high value-added products is renewed.”
Currently, according to Pavel Václavek, there is a demand for visual quality inspection solutions with AI algorithms, which make it much easier to detect defects in production. ”These technologies are relatively easy to implement without the need to fundamentally change established processes or acquire new machinery. In contrast, the automation of certain parts of production would require that. And although there is a number of such tools available on the European market alone, Czech companies certainly have a chance to succeed, because quality control is a very broad area that almost always requires a tailor-made solution.” Another area that Czech technology companies are focusing on is data collection and machine diagnostics with AI prediction. Typically, this involves monitoring the lifetime of machine tools, for example, but it is also possible to monitor the condition of other components or machine fluids. The goal of such solutions is to change from preventive maintenance, where tools, parts or fluids are changed in cycles regardless of their actual condition, to smart maintenance, which is based on prediction using AI and deep data analysis. “The challenges in the field of occupational safety are also interesting, especially in the context of production automation and the installation of a number of different robots. In the future, I definitely see a requirement for the development of security systems so that people and machines can move in the same space and cooperate without problems,” concludes Pavel Václavek from CEITEC BUT.
Author: Kristina Blűmelová
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