Machinery industry in Europe is a basis for employment, growth and wealth, with around 3.2 million people employed. Industrial equipment is considered a key enabler for industrial development and the EU has a historically strategic position in this sector. However, it lives from a technological edge in a very competitive landscape. Hereby, it is crucial to provide all stakeholders of the EU with AI technologies that guarantee a resilient design, deployment and reuse of industrial equipment for an increased global competitiveness and a reinforcement of its industrial strategic autonomy and resiliency. AIDEAS will develop AI technologies for supporting the entire lifecycle (design, manufacturing, use, and repair/reuse/recycle) of industrial equipment as a strategic instrument to improve sustainability, agility and resilience of the European machinery manufacturing companies. AIDEAS will deploy 4 integrated Suites: 1) Design: AI technologies, integrated with CAD/CAM/CAE systems, for optimising the design of industrial equipment structural components, mechanisms and control components; 2) Manufacturing: AI technologies for industrial equipment purchased components selection and procurement, manufactured parts processes optimisation, operations sequencing, quality control and customisation; 3) Use: AI technologies with added value for the industrial equipment user, providing enhanced support for installation and initial calibration, production, quality assurance and predictive maintenance for working on optimal conditions; 4) Repair-Reuse-Recycle: AI technologies for extending the useful life of machines through prescriptive maintenance (repair), facilitating a second life for machines through a smart retrofitting (reuse) and identification of the most sustainable end-of-life (recycle). The AIDEAS Solutions will be demonstrated in 4 Pilots of machinery manufacturers that provide industrial equipment to different industrial sectors: metal, stone, plastic and food.

In traditional models of manufacturing, the information flow from product design, over production processes, to the manufactured product has been strictly unidirectional. The production equipment “blindly” executes tasks that have no direct relationship to the concepts that are present in the original design models and the product is used with little or no feedback concerning product use patterns. In order to enhance the manufacturability of products and at the same time the flexibility of both factory production systems and modern products, both effective configurability and feedback to design and production is required to assure their highest efficiency. The SAFIRE project will provide technology and infrastructure to enable Reconfiguration as a Service for dynamic smart factory systems and manufactured smart products that take advantage of cloud-based services and computing power to continually optimise the performance of manufacturing systems and products with respect to key performance characteristics including throughput, power consumption, utilisation, maintenance and other factors. A key objective of the project is to develop cloud-based analytics and reconfiguration capabilities that extend the operating systems of smart factories with: 1) both reactive and predictive reconfiguration for production systems; 2) flexible run-time reconfiguration decisions during production rather than pre-planned at production planning time; 3) real-time reconfiguration decisions for optimisation of performance and real-time production functions. The advanced analytics and reconfiguration capabilities will be based on innovations in shared situational awareness and mastering the big data challenges associated with sensor, smart objects and process data from manufacturing, logistics and enterprise systems.

As a significant source of greenhouse gasses (GHGs), it is essential that the maritime transport sector focuses on ways to become climate neutral. Partial electrification of power systems has already been adopted as a GHG reduction measure. However, further advances are necessary on such aspects as the provision of high charging powers to minimise costs and improve standardisation. In this context, HYPOBATT will be focused on the development of an interoperable charging solution with a cost-competitive performance. HYPOBATT will deliver a modular, fast, and easy multi-MW recharging system demonstrated in two European ports with fast turnaround times. The project will assess the end-to-end services between both ports, and compatibility with other ports. A modular approach on electrical and mechanical integration will minimize the required connection time, the charging time, land from port side and the number of components and costs. The charging system will be designed to achieve interoperability and compatibility with different electric ships, grid constraints, components, modularity, logistic and handling, monitoring and safety systems, power flow, maintenance, digitalization/automation, cybersecurity, and human element aspects. The standardization of the charging modules, the interfaces, and the communication protocol, will scale up the charger based on and on/offshore sides; flexibility of power levels will be addressed and the impacts on the electrical grid infrastructure and on the battery degradation during fast charging will be minimized. HYPOBATT unites key actors from the European maritime sector to develop and demonstrate the charging system. A key element is to develop business mechanisms to exploit the flexibility of the charging system amongst shipbuilders, integrators, ports and stakeholders. This will enable the wide adoption of the solution, thus increasing Europe’s lead in fast charging systems.