Robotics & Autonomy grants
Funding for physical systems that have to work outside the lab
Robotics sits across Innovate UK, ESA and Defra-linked agricultural programmes, and the winning applications are the ones that stop demoing and start measuring. Assessors reward field data, failure analysis and a feasibility stage that closes a specific autonomy gap.
£190m+ won by our team
PhD-level specialists who have won these awards themselves.
Funders funding robotics & autonomy
- Defra
- Dstl
Programmes that fit robotics & autonomy companies
Innovate UK CR&D competitions
Manipulation, perception, human-robot interaction and mobility.
Innovate UK Scaling quantum computing hardware CR&D
Adjacent hardware-scaling funding relevant to advanced robotics platforms.
Defra-linked agricultural automation calls
Agricultural robotics and automation topics via Innovate UK and Defra.
What assessors actually score
- Quantified autonomy metrics: interventions per hour, success rate, cycle time
- Field or fielded-analogue testing rather than lab-only results
- Safety and certification pathway addressed early
Where we work in robotics & autonomy
Robotics & Autonomy grants in our directory
Live programmes from the UK grant directory that suit robotics & autonomy projects. Deadlines move between rounds, so each listing links through to the current detail.
ARIA
[ARIA] Robot Dexterity: Standards + benchmarks for dexterous robotics – Request for Proposal
Broad consortia encouraged: developers, manufacturers, research groups, end users, test facilities, standards organisations, including overseas partners. Prior ARIA funding not required.
ARIA
[ARIA] Robot Locomotion: TA1 + TA2
Any type of organisation from any location. TA1 (Integrated Robot Bodies) has a strong commercial focus: most competitive applicants expected to be companies or to form one if funded, with a UK benefit case proportional to award size. TA2 (Foundational Technologies) open to research teams at any maturity. Same team should not normally apply to both TAs (different teams in one organisation may).
Horizon Europe
[Horizon - Artificial Intelligence and Robotics] Apply AI: AI-Driven Robotics for Industry: Enabling System Integration and Adopt…
Expected to open. Open to legal entities established in EU Member States, Iceland and Norway, plus the associated countries Canada, Israel, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Switzerland and the United Kingdom; entities from other non-associated countries are not eligible unless specific conditions are met. This is a HORIZON Innovation Action (IA), implementing the co-programmed European Partnership on AI, data and robotics (ADRA), so applicants are expected to allocate tasks for cohesion activities with ADRA.
Horizon Europe
[Horizon - Artificial Intelligence and Robotics] Apply AI: Challenge-Driven AI Innovation Booster in Apply AI prioritised sectors…
Expected to open. Open to consortia (not single applicants) of legal entities established in EU Member States, Iceland, Norway, and specific associated countries (Canada, Israel, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Switzerland, UK); user-industry companies from the targeted strategic sector (healthcare, advanced manufacturing, or autonomous driving) must be core consortium partners. The lead consortium organises a multi-stage competition and provides financial support to third parties (SMEs or small SME-led teams) who compete to develop AI solutions; each proposal must focus on exactly one of the…
Horizon Europe
[Horizon - Artificial Intelligence and Robotics] EU Frontier AI Initiative: Developing frontier AI solutions that are safe and co…
Expected to open. Participation is limited to legal entities established in EU Member States, Iceland, Norway, and specific associated countries (Canada, Israel, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom); this is a Research and Innovation Action (RIA).
Horizon Europe
[Horizon - Industry & Digital] Factory processes & automation for de- and re-manufacturing (RIA, Made in Europe)
Consortium; UK eligible (Assoc. Country); SMEs as partners
Relevant client wins
Grants our team has won for companies solving comparable technical problems.
£452,654
For composite production leap
Mayku
Advanced manufacturing: composites
Read the case study
Grant awarded
NIHR i4i Connect funding secured
Directed Systems
Life sciences: surgical decision support
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