Robotics in France

The French Association for Industrial Robotics (AFRI) was established in 1977. It is an organization sponsored and partially funded by the Government and run by a staff of three permanent officers helped by several voluntary unpaid members. The purpose of AFro is to bring together people concerned with the promotion of various aspects of robotics, and its main objectives are: To promote in France research work and development of sciences and technologies associated with robots as well as to extend and encourage the responsible use of robot technology; and To facilitate the spread of information on robots by sponsoring courses, exhibitions, symposiums and conferences dealing with the state of the art and future abilities of robots as well as related techniques and components. AFRI membership is international and includes equipment suppliers as well as users and academic, research, governmental and labour organizations. Current membership is 500 and divides up into the following percentages: • Industrial companies 26% • Public or private organizations 6% • Individual members 68% AFRI acts as a meeting point or an interface between government agencies and industrialists and researchers. It operates through commissions which constitute the backbone of its organization; these commissions are the following: research; users;