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SPEAR a new approach to energy optimisation for
industry
Flexible and highly generic optimisation platform
SPEAR a pan-European research project proudly bears the ITEA label. Formed by a consortium of 22 partners from five European countries. SPEAR aimed to spawn ground-breaking innovation for energy optimisation in industrial production processes.
SPEAR's heart is an extremely flexible and highly generic optimisation platform, it hosts a comprehensive set of optimisation algorithms - each one facilitating effective and profitable energy efficiency in highly complex production processes. SPEAR does not focus on isolated industry sectors, rather, a broad spectrum of application domains like production processes in common plants, production lines, buildings, hybrid drives, also new tech like wind turbine drive trains is supported. Moreover, the energy-specific optimisation of existing and new production plants during virtual commissioning and during the running production is supported.
SPEAR overcomes available approaches by means of a unique mechanism. Instead of using estimated or simplified models for the simulation-based optimisation, our solution makes use of the real device-provided simulation models to produce highly accurate forecasts for the energy consumption of industrial production processes. The accuracy of these forecasts together with the developed optimization algorithms enables a significant reduction of energy consumption and costs.
AMPER S&C IoT SL, one of the winners of the I-NERGY call
I-NERGY is an EU-funded H2020 innovation project around artificial intelligence (AI) for next-generation energy that aims to reshape the value chain of the energy sector towards better business and operational performance, greater environmental sustainability and the creation of a stronger social fabric that spreads a high social value among citizens.
After the evaluation and assessment of 126 applications submitted from 27 countries of the European Union and associated countries, the I-NERGY project has selected the 10 winning proposals to join its first six-month Technical Transfer Program, starting at the end of April 2022.
Of these 10, one is Catalan; this is the AI4Demand project, which is a multilayered tool based on artificial intelligence for the prediction of the demand and energy consumption of buildings using local weather forecasts and sensor data.
The project is coordinated and implemented by AMPER S&C IoT SL, a technological SME founded in 2006 in Barcelona. This will solve challenges in two areas of experimentation: AI applications in energy and demand forecasting.
May 4, 2021
NEST is a research project funded by Horizon2020 with an aim at research and development of novel CBRN technologies and innovations. NEST mainly addresses the challenge of developing multipurpose CBRN threats detectors embedded in the buildings.
The project with duration of 36 months (May 2021 - May 2024) and a total budget of 3.5 Million Euros brings together European SMEs, industries, and research/academic institutions from the ICT and CBRN domains.
The security of critical infrastructures is a shared responsibility between different stakeholders. The threats detection and response at initial phases falls to the owners and operators who know the infrastructure best. NEST will design and implement a novel and unique standoff system with the capability to detect multiple threats amongst which CBRN threats or pandemic viruses. It will support owners, operators, and security staff by providing (i) threat indications and warnings, and (ii) guidance for facility security by developing appropriate information-sharing and analysis mechanisms. The system will rely on the simultaneous use of low-cost CBRN detectors embedded in one unique detection equipment, which can be located into different sites inside the building or carried by security staff. The use of low-cost sensors will enable to cover a wide space inside. NEST will help in the early detection of CBRN threats in real time, and also provide complementary information-such as such location of threats, temperature, humidity, time, operators involved, etc.-useful for auditing or investigation purposes. These functionalities will be achieved by using an IoT platform capable of acquiring, processing, and merging data from internal and third-party services. Artificial intelligence will be applied to support decision process for securing facilities and for generating automatic alerts. Furthermore, augmented reality will be used to display threats and hazards in a manner that minimise distraction and cognitive failures.
NEST will be validated in three different scenarios by sharing information with the command canters of a stadium in Poland, a transport system in Portugal, and a hotel in Spain. These scenarios include a diverse range of sites that draw large crowds of people. As a result of this action, owners, operators, and security staff will benefit from a universal system that will lay the foundations for creating a standardisation framework.
The consortium with 10 partner organisations is led by AMPER S&C IoT (Spain). The consortium is well-balanced in terms of involvement of industrial and SME partners: WoePal GmbH (Germany), Thales (Portugal), Dynamic Safety Corporation (Poland); Academic and research institutions: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (Spain), University of Lodz (Poland), Asociación Española de Normalización (Spain); end-users partners from commercial and transportation facilities: Comboios de Portugal (Portugal), Lech Poznań (Poland), and Atiram Hotels (Spain). Furthermore, NEST has initiated a Security Advisory Board which consists of Mossos d'Esquadra as Law Enforcement Agency (LEA), and experts in the CBRN field. In addition, an Ethics Committee will assess ethical aspects of the project.
S&C strengths fintech capabilities in the energy sector.
Welcome Hakob!
February 22, 2021
Since 2010 Sensing & Control has been developing advance functionalities for smart grid, both in the supply and the consumption, due to our innovation effort we have been awarded in several occasions by the European Commission with funds to support these activities.
In February 2021, the European Commission through the H2020 program awarded the company with a new funding scheme to invest in the development of blockchain solutions to enable the decentralized energy market and peer-focused business models, enabling effective and active participation of all energy stakeholders (including consumers, prosumers, DERs, utilities) within the energy ecosystem, not just the traditional utilities and the regulators. S&C will contribute developing a new architecture of the energy system and market with new ways of creating and capturing value from a decentralized perspective.
To ensure so starting February, Dr. Hakob Grigoryan joined the company to complement our R&D team on enhancing the energy area. Dr. Grigoryan is PhD in Economic Informatics with an honor MAGNA CUM LAUDE, by the University of Economic Studies, Bucharest with Dissertation title: Machine Learning-based Techniques for Financial Data Analysis and Forecasting Purposes. Hakob also owns a Master's degree in Database and Web Technologies and Bachelor's Degree in Cybernetics. During this project Hakob will collaborate with Dr. Narcis Avellana (CEO) and Dr. Raquel Ventura will (SRSCI).
• First results of the automatic fall detector developed by the Center de Visió per Computador (CVC) and the Sensing & Control company.
• The system will offer peace of mind both to elderly people living in isolation in times of COVID-19, as well as to their families.
• The project has been funded by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities with the RETOS program.
The number of older people living in isolation at home during the COVID-19 pandemic has increased significantly, as they cannot receive visits from family or friends because they are people at extreme risk for this disease. This also increases the chances that if an emergency occurs, it will take time to be detected. With this problem in mind, the SENIOR project, funded by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities with the RETOS program (RTC-2017-6618-1), has presented the results of the automatic fall detector developed by the research team in the automatic analysis of human behavior of the Center de Visió per Computador (CVC) and which is being integrated into the Smart home enControlTM developed by the Sensing & Control company.
The key is to be able to act as quickly as possible after the fall has occurred, in order to minimize damage and increase the chances of a successful recovery. For this, and through the use of technologies such as the Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence, a non-invasive system has been created, based on a depth camera, which allows the generation of 3D images, and a thermal camera. Once the images have been obtained, and applying Artificial Intelligence techniques on them, the system is capable of automatically and non-invasively detecting falls of elderly people living alone, sending an alert to their caregivers in the event of an alert. Unlike most of the existing solutions on the market, this solution does not compromise the privacy of the user, since there are no cameras with video images, nor is any action required by the user. Within the framework of the project, a new interface aimed at caregivers has also been developed that also makes it easy to monitor the activities of older people such as time spent in stays. This continuous monitoring has also been shown to be useful for detecting the first stages and evolution of diseases such as Alzheimer's, as mentioned by numerous investigations published in scientific journals.
It is expected to be able to commercialize this software, aimed at professional caregivers and families of people who live alone, during the year 2022.
More information about the project at https://www.cvc.uab.es/senior/
The Computer Vision Center (CVC)
The Computer Vision Center (CVC) is a non-profit institution, leader in research and development in the field of Computer Vision. The center was founded in 1995 by the Generalitat of Catalonia and the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) to develop both basic and applied research at the highest international level, as well as to promote technology transfer to industry and society.
Thanks to its know-how, the CVC has positioned itself as a benchmark in the field of computer vision and pattern recognition, and is considered an example in the drive to transfer the results of impact R&D to society.
In addition, the CVC is a CERCA center and has been accredited as a Scientific Culture and Innovation Unit (UCC + i) of the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT), and is part of the Spanish network of UCC + i. This accreditation recognizes our role as one of the main agents for the dissemination and communication of science and innovation in Spain, as well as a key service for the improvement and increase of scientific training, culture and knowledge of citizens.
More information here: www.cvc.uab.es
SENSING & CONTROL
SENSING & CONTROL
SENSING & CONTROL (S&C) is a technological SME created in September 2006, with offices in the city of Barcelona. SENSING & CONTROL is specialized in bringing IoT solutions to the market for the energy, security and environmental sectors. It has a team of 14 people divided into research, product development and commercial departments. Thanks to its powerful web-based software platform (nAssist) in combination with its extensive experience in sensor technologies and wireless communication systems, SENSING & CONTROL is at the forefront of entities entering this market sector. For several years it has specialized in the IoT application area, with a general strategy, which consists of:
1. Development of our own and totally customized range of products for the control and measurement of energy, called enControl
2. Participation in relevant EU projects in order to help the development of the world's main products, and gain a broad and deep understanding of the global energy and environment market and further foster alliances with the EC and stakeholders global.
SENSING & CONTROL has created and based its technology on the Cloud environment, which gives it flexibility and generates large-scale economic possibilities that open up new commercial possibilities in the big data market. More recently, it has started to promote its Cloud technology within European research proposals both with the two international research centers and with other companies that have been impressed with the performance offered and scaled up of its solution.
https://www.sensingcontrol.com/r-d-lines/
This project has been subsidized by the national program RETOS-Colaboración 2017 with file number: RTC-2017-6618-1.
February 1, 2021
1st Call for projects involving technology transfer between countries (Cross-domain Technology Transfer Experiments - CTTEs)
Deadline: March 1, 2021 17:00 CET
Aimed at: Universities / Academic institutions, SMEs / Medium companies, and technology providers in general.
Financing: Up to € 80,000 per consortium
More info (English) https://smart4all-project.eu/opencalls-apply-now/
Participation https://smart4all.fundingbox.com/
The European SMART4ALL project opens its first call to finance projects that involve technology transfer between countries (CTTEs). This call is part of the SMART4ALL project program funded under the Horizon 20202 program of the European Union.
PROjECTO SMART4ALL
The SMART4ALL project is a European project funded under the H2020 program (Grant Agreement No. 872614), which aims to create a network of digital innovation centers (Digital Innovation Hubs) to facilitate the use of innovative technologies in those companies that need support and that are located in central and southeastern Europe. SMART4ALL aims to develop cross-border projects that facilitate the exchange of knowledge and technology between industry, research centers and universities. The possible applications / experiments have been divided into the following sectors: Digital environment, Digital agriculture, Digital transport and Digitization in general. You can participate in the SMART4ALL project via the link https://smart4all-project.eu/joinus. For more information about the project, we recommend visiting the following link https://smart4all-project.eu/
Projects with technology transfer between countries (CTTEs)
The projects that involve technology transfer between countries (Cross-domain Technology Transfer Experiments - CTTEs) are projects with a duration of between 6 and 9 months oriented towards one of the 4 sectors defined in the project: Digital environment, Digital agriculture, Digital transport and Digitization in general. The objective of this type of project is to enhance synergies between countries, as well as to support project members towards future commercialization of the product.
The following table summarizes the different possibilities for creating a consortium.
Who can submit a proposal for the CTTE call?
To submit a proposal, a consortium must be created made up of 3 entities from at least 2 different countries that include a technology provider (academic / industrial) that transfers its technology to a pioneering technology recipient that will try to market it through a commercial entity . The consortium supports the following entities:
- Universities and research centers.
- SMEs as defined in the document EU recommendation 2003/361. Medium-sized companies can participate as long as they have less than 500 employees and with a turnover of less than € 100M.
- Technology providers / technology recipients, for example, any entity specialized in
Financing
The proposals submitted must describe both a technical plan and an estimate of the associated costs, taking into account the following restrictions:
Total financing of the proposal: The projects will be financed with a single payment of € 80,000.
Funding per consortium member: Each consortium member can receive funding of a maximum of € 60,000.
The financing of the project will be paid to the coordinator who will be in charge of distributing the corresponding amounts to the different members of the consortium as it must be stipulated in the proposal.
Multiple proposals and participations in other calls of the SMART4ALL project or the I4MS and SAE projects of the H2020 program
No legal entity can be doubly financed in a call for the SMART4ALL project. This means that in the event that an entity is included in several proposals, only the proposal that has a higher score will be financed. In addition, following the rules of the European Commission, entities that have received more than € 100,000 via calls for projects H2020 I4MS (https://i4ms.eu/) and SAE cannot be financed.
(https://smartanythingeverywhere.eu/). This amount does not include the financing that comes from other projects financed with the FP7 or H2020 programs, since participation in European projects does not influence participation in the different calls of the SMART4ALL project. Furthermore, the fact of participating in this call does not exclude an entity from participating in other calls of the SMART4ALL project as long as the aforementioned rules are met.
Matchmaking & Partner Service (Search for partners)
The SMART4ALL project offers a search service for partners who are interested in participating in the call through a consortium. The service is offered at the following link: https://matchmaking.smart4all-project.eu/
How to take part?
To participate in the call there is a guide and a set of frequently asked questions in English that can be consulted on the SMART4ALL Application Kit website (https://smart4all-project.eu/opencalls-apply-now).
The link to submit proposals is: https://smart4all.fundingbox.com/
IMPORTANT: The deadline for submitting proposals is March 1, 2021 at 17:00 CET.
For more information about the project, it is recommended to visit the different social networks where you can find updated information about the different events:
https://www.linkedin.com/SMART4ALLH2020 group: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/12369183/
https://twitter.com/smart_4all
https://www.facebook.com/SMART4ALL.Project/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/SMART4ALL
January 14, 2021
Concluding the ASIVI project
AMPER S&C IoT and the UPC Biomedical Engineering Research Center (CREB) have finished the ASIVI project with promising results. A new gas sensor system based on artificial intelligence was developed to monitor elderly people living alone.
For this innovation project, CREB (center with the TECNIO seal) and AMPER S&C IoT have received a grant within the framework of the INNOTEC program of ACCIÒ - the agency for the competitiveness of the company depending on the Department of Enterprise and Knowledge. The system consists of devices that are installed in the dining room, bedroom and kitchen. The sensors that are incorporated can detect various types of gases, such as carbon dioxide or hydrocarbons, among others, which allow us to know, for example, if the person is present or not in a room, if the gas has been left on or if the air quality is not adequate.