Industry needs in Robotics Education

This paper presents the outcomes of the investigation conducted in a specific Italian region on the robotics usage and integration within the manufacturing sector. The adoption of robotic solutions has been examined selecting representative users and providing a technical survey. Data collection is based on homogeneous population of about 2500 companies, that 655 have been directly interviewed in 2021–2023 period. The used types of robots, their main applications, the corporate dimension, the issues experienced, are the information collected to build the needs derivate predominantly from the lack of competences. The results of the investigation highlight a presence of articulated robots. Large companies demonstrate a superior ability to adapt to robotic cells and the definite hiring strategy where the M.Sc. degree in Automation Engineering is the preferred figure. The mapped robotic competences gaps are the significant input to fine tuning the educational proposal from University at Engineering profile to react at industrial needs. Finally, companies of all sizes confirmed the vision on approval of the installed robots and indicated the intention to progress the implementation in the 2023–2026 period.