ARNO
Self-Powered and AI-Driven Water Grid Management System
| Type | Open Call No. | Funds granted |
| Twin AE | OC 3 | €109,690 |
Challenge
Today, a massive 23% of drinking water is lost in the EU due to the inefficient management of distribution networks. Old drinking water pipes suffer from leakage and failures. As their replacement rate is low, the implementation of smart functionalities, including smart monitoring and predictive maintenance, would drastically improve pipeline life and safety, resulting in a greater efficiency of the water distribution networks. However, if pipelines are placed away from the electric grid, the lack of power limits the implementation of smart capabilities.
Solutions provided
We will develop a technology for prediction of system failures and pipeline water leakage. We will collect and analyze available metrics and develop and validate different Artificial Intelligence models, based on Machine Learning. The models will be deployed as a cloud-native application for real-time predictive maintenance and water leakage detection.
Consortium strength
The project Consortium blends two companies with diverse skills and expertise. On the one hand, Advanced Microturbines Srl (AMT), a technology-driven company and inventor of the integrated, miniaturized microturbine and a spin-off of the Italian Institute of Technology. On the other hand, Medius, a Slovenian software company, and a region’s leading Artificial Intelligence and Java enterprise software.
AMT technology enables self-powered, real-time monitoring of water pipelines management. Its mission is to develop its innovative idea and bring to the market novel solutions for energy harvesting in off-grid applications.
AMT technology in partnership with Medius will leverage on their AI-software know-how to jointly develop an innovative and affordable self-powered IoT solution. This, coupled with AI technology, will lead to a unique all-in-one product in the water utility industry scenario able to digitalize water assets, increasing their operational efficiency and resilience, leading to a better service and increased environmental friendliness. DigiFed is instrumental in co-designing the integrated product for the water industry. At this moment no product in the water industry market includes all the features we plan to have in a single product.
Business development
Our business model is based on three revenue streams:
- Sales of ARNO complete turn-key solutions.
- Sales of individual components/retrofitting.
- Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) on a pay-per-use basis.
Our final customers are the water utility companies, IoT sensor manufacturers and other water industry suppliers, installers and distributors that will also act as our distribution channels.
Companies involved
AMT core business is energy harvesting, based on compact patented microturbines, ranging from 30 W (for IoT applications) to 50 kW (for energy recovery). Our microturbines can be installed on existing infrastructures with minor modifications and minimal maintenance. Our vision is to make microturbines the standard solution for improving the environmental sustainability of distributed piping networks
| Website | Company size | Country | Industry sector |
| https://microturbines.it/en/ | Micro (1-10) | Italy | Energy |
Medius is a software engineering company specialized in development, design, implementation and integration of the most complex enterprise IT solutions. Its purpose is to bring the best innovative custom software solutions and support to companies, organizations and governments around the world.
| Website | Company size | Country | Industry sector |
| www.medius.si | SME (11-50) | Slovenia | Industry 4.0 |
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 872088.