Master in Intelligent Robotic Systems (MIRS)

Unlike industrial robots that operate in factories, in isolation and where the environment is predictable and adapted to the robot's task, intelligent robotic systems must cooperate with or replace humans in complex tasks and in unstructured and often unpredictable environments. The Master in Intelligent Robotic Systems (MIRS) is a university master's degree that aims to train a new generation of engineers who will develop new applications and tools to extend the capabilities of these intelligent robotic systems, in the near future. The technology behind the development of these systems comes from different areas of knowledge such as artificial intelligence, computer vision, control, sensing, machine learning and others, all of them under rapid evolution in the current digital revolution. The MIRS is a two-year master's degree with 120 ECTS promoted by the UdG.

The University of Girona is already participating in a master's degree in Intelligent Field Robotic Systems (IFROS). IFROS is an interuniversity master's degree with Erasmus Mundus mention coordinated by the University of Girona, with the participation of the University of Zagreb (Croatia) and the Eötvös Loránd University (Hungary) and with more than 20 partner institutions offering stays and master's thesis collaborations. With the MIRS master's degree, it is intended to give students the opportunity to pursue a master's degree in intelligent robotic systems entirely at the University of Girona while working together with the part of the IFROS master's degree that is carried out in Girona. This joint work should bring out synergies between the students of both masters as well as with the institutions associated with the IFROS master, providing the MIRS with a higher degree of internationalization and excellence.

The main objective of the master's degree is to provide students with specialized, cutting-edge postgraduate training and research in the area of intelligent robotic systems.

The MIRS aims to provide graduates from different backgrounds (i.e. computer science; electrical, electronic, mechanical or industrial engineering; physics or mathematics) with the opportunity to acquire or enhance knowledge and skills in three key areas: computer vision, artificial intelligence and robotics. The master's degree aims to be highly applied with the completion of several eminently practical modules, but offering a solid foundation of the necessary theoretical knowledge. Students will be confronted with a wide variety of real cases that will allow them to develop the necessary skills to start a professional career or pursue doctoral studies in related subjects.

Academically the MIRS aims at enabling the students to:

• Develop detailed knowledge as well as the skills to cope with the diverse and complex technological systems that exist in robotics in order to develop comprehensive applications in the area of intelligent service robotics.
• Develop and utilize a significant range of general technical and practical competencies and skills in the field of robotics.
• Develop a critical view of existing practices and be able to develop original and creative solutions to problems in the domain.
• Communicate and work effectively with peers and academic staff on a variety of tasks, demonstrating appropriate levels of autonomy and responsibility.
• Plan and execute a major research project, or applied research in an area of specialization, demonstrating broad, detailed and critical understanding of that specialty.

Most of today's manufacturing robots are only found inside factories. While the use of these industrial robots has grown linearly since the turn of the century according to the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), the growth of the robotics market is now driven by intelligent service robots, whether professional or personal, which are growing significantly faster than their industrial counterparts.

The report "Service Robotics Emerges as the Next Technology Frontier with Advancing Skills and Rising Demand" produced by KITA states that "With the aging workforce and rising labor costs, global sales of service robots, is estimated to have increased more than 26-fold from 2008's $3.2 billion to $85.5 billion in 2018 and could reach $190 billion by the end of 2020." These figures indicate an average annual growth rate of 23.7% during the period 2014 to 2020. The forecast for global service robotics demand is to exceed 18 million units by the end of 2020.

Within service robotics, Europe is the market leader in field, logistics and construction robotics. The German market is one of the large markets for robotics and is estimated to grow further in the future. Other markets such as Spain, Italy and the UK are also set to grow to become major players in the service robotics market in the coming years. The main companies in the market like Bosch, Panasonic, Honda, Samsung, Sony, Toyota, Google, etc. are pressing for more robotics applications that serve the market.

In conclusion, the market for intelligent service robots is growing at a rapid pace worldwide, with Europe being a key player in this market.