Category: IoT

Resilient Trust

Resilient Trust- Trusted SMEs for Sustainable Growth of Europeans
Economical Backbone to Strengthen the Digital Sovereignty

  • Duration: 10/2023 – 09/2026
  • Funding: Horizon Europe

Partners: Universite Gustave Eiffel, Fraunhofer Gesellschaft Zur Forderung Der Angewandten Forschung Ev, Imst Gmbh, Dgs Spa, Akkodis Italy , Centro Nautico Permare, Ro Technology , Rulex Innovation Labs , Universita Degli Studi Di Genova, Link Campus University, Universita Degli Studi Dell’aquila, Almende, Intrinsic ID, Technische Universiteit Delft, Beammwave Ab, Lunds Universitet, Arteris Ip, Commissariat A L Energie Atomique Et Aux Energies Alternatives, Institut Polytechnique De Grenoble, Centre National De La Recherche Scientifique Cnrs, Microwave Characterization Center, Seamless Waves, Sorbonne Universite, Centre National De La Recherche Scientifique Cnrs, Stmicroelectronics Rousset Sas, Globalfoundries Dresden Module One Llc & Co. KG, Csem Centre Suisse D’electronique Et De Microtechnique Sa – Recherche Et Developpement, Securosys SA, 3db Access AG, Rheinisch-Westfaelische Technische Hochschule Aachen, Politechnika Gdanska

Resilient Trust

The RESILIENT TRUST initiative seeks to advance the IoT5.0 paradigm—an AI-enhanced Internet of Things ecosystem—by addressing its inherent security vulnerabilities, particularly those that disproportionately affect SMEs.

As IoT technologies proliferate, offering unprecedented automation and solutions for demographic shifts, labor shortages, and production inefficiencies, they also elevate the risk landscape.

The project underscores the necessity for scalable security frameworks capable of countering sophisticated threats, including post-quantum and AI-driven attacks.

Focusing on the development of specialized hardware and a meticulously designed secure processing chain architecture, RESILIENT TRUST aims to fortify end-to-end security across IoT networks.

By conducting comprehensive threat modeling, asset identification, risk analysis, and defining security objectives and requirements, the project endeavors to build a resilient and trustworthy IoT ecosystem.

The main goal of the RESILIENT TRUST project is to ensure end-to-end security in the AI-driven Internet of Things (IoT5.0), specifically focusing on empowering small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to participate safely and effectively.

Contribution

Almende will coordinate the task and will help in defining the “Ambient Intelligence in Office Spaces” use case, focusing on secure HW and SW improvements for its Crownstone technology aimed at large-scale trustworthy applications in office spaces.

Results

The main goal of the RESILIENT TRUST project is to ensure end-to-end security in the AI-driven Internet of Things (IoT5.0), specifically focusing on empowering small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to participate safely and effectively.

More info?

Need specific information regarding our projects? Please contact our senior consultant for more information.

Jan Kraaijeveld

Senior consultant

+31 (0)10 404 9444

jan@almende.com

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DAIS

Distributed Artificial Intelligent Systems

Duration: 05/2021 – 05/2024  Funding: ECSEL                                 

Partners: RISE, BEYOND VISION – SISTEMAS MOVEIS AUTONOMOS DE REALIDADE AUMENTADA LDA Danfoss Power Electronics A/S (DANFOSS) Brno University of Technology – Vysoke uceni technicke v Brne, DANMARKS TEKNISKE UNIVERSITET, Eindhoven University of Technology, INSTITUT JOZEF STEFAN, Instituto de TelecomunicaçÃĩes, INSTITUTO TECNOLOGICO DE INFORMATICA, MAELARDALENS HOEGSKOLA, RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, TECHNICKA UNIVERZITA V LIBERCI, TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITEIT DELFT, Universidad de Cantabria, UNIVERSIDAD DE GRANADA, UNIVERSITAET zu LUEBECK, Akim Metal, ANYWI TECHNOLOGY BV, Arctos Labs Scndinavia AB, CENTRICA BUSINESS SOLUTIONS BELGIUM, COSYLAB LABORATORIJ ZA KONTROLNE SISTEME DD, ESC AEROSPACE GMBH, Eventigrate, EXPERT ANALYTICS AS, FRAUNHOFER GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FOERDERUNG DER ANGEWANDTEN FORSCHUNG E.V., FUNDACION CENTRO TECNOLOXICO DE TELECOMUNICACIONS DE GALICIA, GIESECKE+DEVRIENT MOBILE SECURITY GMBH, Greensphere Unip. Lda, INNATERA NANOSYSTEMS BV, INSTITUT MIKROELEKTRONICKYCH APLIKACI S.R.O, JOTNE EPM TECHNOLOGY AS, Koala Tech Unipessoal LDA, lNUROMEDIA GMBH, NXP SEMICONDUCTORS GERMANY GMBH, NXP SEMICONDUCTORS NETHERLANDS BV, Octavic PTS IVS, PDM E FC PROJECTO DESENVOLVIMENTO MANUTENCAO FORMACAO E CONSULTADORIALD, SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC ESPANA SA, SENSATIVE AB, SESTEK Ses ve Iletisim Bilgisayar Teknolojileri Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S., SEVEN SOLUTIONS SL, Sirris, Step Solutions AS, STICHTING IMEC NEDERLAND, TECNOLOGIAS SERVICIOS TELEMATICOS YSISTEMAS SA, Tieto Enator, TPV AUTOMOTIVE, Tovarna avtomobilskih komponent d.o.o., VESTEL ELEKTRONIK SANAYI VE TICARET

DAIS

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in Edge computing is entering a new era based on the use of ubiquitous small and connected devices. Until now, Europe has not been doing well, as America sets the standards and most components are produced in Asia or America. 

This project believes doing better is realized by (1) Putting European values of selforganization, privacy by design and low use of energy in the core of the Edge Computing components that shape this new era, and delivering the technology needed to promote these values; (2) Focusing on pan European cooperation to ramp up the capabilities needed to deliver these new components at a scale that can make a real impact. Europe does not have huge IT leaders so cooperation from a very early phase is key. All partners in the project participate in delivering key parts of these new Edge Computing components; and (3) Demonstrating the use of these components in key European industrial areas. Clear and early examples are needed to un-lock corporate and external funding to deliver on the promise of this very exciting project. 

The DAIS project will research and deliver distributed artificial intelligent systems. It will not research new algorithms, as such, but solves the problems of running existing algorithms on these vastly distributed edge devices that are designed based on the above three European core values. The research and innovation activities are organized around eight complementary and mutually supportive supply chains. Five of these focus on delivering the hardware and software that is needed to run industrial-grade AI on different types of networking topologies. Three of the supply chains demonstrate how known AI challenges, from different functional areas, are met by this pan European effort. The DAIS project consists of 48 parties from 11 different countries. The DAIS project fosters cooperation between large and leading industrial players from different domains

Contribution

Almende will develop and test machine learning algorithms for IoT networks which can fulfill specific tasks within the network. These tasks include indoor asset localization and, specifically targeted at Crownstone networks, appliance identification.
Additionally, Almende brings Crownstone technology to the table as a platform for a demonstrator combining the DAIS efforts of various partners.

Results

The project will deliver new insight in how IoT networks can function in an inherently more private, secure and sustainable manner by keeping user-generated data within the network. The developed machine learning algorithms may be used by Crownstone to improve the functionality of their product, and might also inspire other IoT-related applications. 

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Need specific information regarding the project? Please contact our senior consultant for more information.

Jan Kraaijeveld

Senior consultant

+31 (0)10 404 9444

jan@almende.com

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ACAI

Autonoom context-aware IoT platform voor de ouderenzorg

Duration: 10/2019 – 10/2020                                 

Partners: Undagrid

ACAI-platform

The ACAI-platform project was a joint R&D effort between Almende and Undagrid, making use of both companies’ expertise in the localization of people using the Crownstone IoT device, and Undagrid’s beacon technology. The project extended these technologies by analyzing data from electronic appliances connected to the Crownstone, and inferring activities of daily life (ADLs) based on this analysis. The use case for the project was to support elderly residents living independently; by passively monitoring their daily patterns in a non-intrusive manner, residents and their family could ensure that accidents or other worrisome patterns get detected in a timely fashion, while otherwise healthy residents are not unnecesarily bothered by the system. Through the establishment of a baseline of normal behavior and an optional SMS-based alarm when a deviation occurs, the resident could make sure that a family member or formal caregiver was informed in case of an emergency.

Contribution

Almende contributed the Crownstone technology as one of the main data sources for the project, and built a first proof-of-concept of the ADL recognition platform, which consisted of a classification algorithm that interpreted the status of connected appliances, a dashboard where users could set (combinations of) ADLs which should raise an alarm, and an SMS-based alarm system that could warn authorized users in case an identified deviation occurs.

Results

The project allowed us to explore a new use case for our Crownstone technology, namely that of elderly care. The first proof-of-concept generated by this project showed that it is possible to infer ADLs from a selection of electric appliances present in most homes.

More info?

Need specific information regarding the project? Please contact our senior consultant for more information.

Jan Kraaijeveld

Senior consultant

+31 (0)10 404 9444

jan@almende.com

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COMP4DRONES

COMP4DRONES

Drones can perform air operations that manned aircrafts struggle with, and their use brings significant economic savings and environmental benefits while reducing the risk to human life. However, drone-based service and product innovation, as driven by increased levels of connectivity and automation, is limited by the growing dependence on poorly interoperable proprietary technologies and the risks posed to people, to other vehicles and to property. COMP4DRONES aims to create a holistically designed ecosystem ranging from application to electronic components, realized as a tightly integrated multi-vendor and compositional drone embedded architecture solution and a tool chain complementing the compositional architecture principles.

The ecosystem aims at supporting (1) efficient customization and incremental assurance of drone embedded platforms, (2) safe autonomous decision making concerning individual or cooperative missions, (3) trustworthy drone-to-drone and drone-to ground communications even in presence of malicious attackers and under the intrinsic platform constraints, and (4) agile and cost-effective compositional design and assurance of drone modules and systems. COMP4DRONES will also build an open sustainable ecosystem around public, royalty-free and goal-driven software platform standards that will ease the development of new drone functionalities for multiple application domains. Lead applications driving ecosystem development and benchmarking on the fields of transport, inspection, logistic, precision agriculture, parcel delivery.

Contribution

Almende will develop software that performs sensor fusion, and creates a multi-agent framework for safe path planning, as well as a real-time interference engine for path exploration. Finally, Almende will develop a visual analytics module designed for ground-based mission control.

Results

The results of the project are highly relevant for DoBots, a spin-off venture from Almende that focuses on autonomous robotic devices, and we expect that many of the software elements, specifically related to sensor fusion and agent-based planning, can be re-used for other applications and projects run by DoBots.

More info?

Need specific information regarding the project? Please contact our senior consultant for more information.

Jan Kraaijeveld

Senior consultant

+31 (0)10 404 9444

jan@almende.com

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Fireswarm

FireSwarm

Duration: 11/2011 – 3/2013  Funding: Agentschap NL

Fireswarm

In the spring of 2011, several fires scourged the dune area in the province Noord-Holland. Such large fires in natural reserves are difficult to locate and monitor. Even when witnesses report smoke, the fire department has a difficult time accessing the area and finding the actual site. Personnel has to move into the area, which can be dangerous because of toxic smoke and fast-moving fire.

FireSwarm proposed to use robots to take over the dangerous task of detecting and monitoring large fires. FireSwarm developed and tested swarms of small, autonomous flying robots: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, or UAV’s. UAV’s are already being used in several comparable application areas, but these projects use large, expensive drones. FireSwarm used smaller, cheaper drones, which has several advantages.

A large swarm of small drones can cover much more ground than a single UAV, and individual drones are expendable, both technically and financially. A swarm is also highly scalable: if the area to be covered is bigger, you can simply launch more drones. Finally, small drones are safer; they cause less harm if they crash.

Contribution

Almende was involved in the development of the control software which enabled the UAVs to function as a swarm, respond to each other's measurements and coordinate their actions to maximize effectiveness. Furthermore, Almende offered technical support during the test flights performed in the field as part of the demonstration activities done in the project.

Results

The project contributed to our knowledge of swarm behaviour and swarm mechanics when applied to the concrete use case of UAVs, which presented a number of interesting challenges. Since individual UAVs are considered expendable due to the potentially hazardous environmental conditions, the swarm as a whole must be robust and distribute responsibilities among all actors, so there is no single-point-of-failure. This enabled us to develop robust communication and control algorithms.

More info?

Need specific information regarding the project? Please contact our senior consultant for more information.

Jan Kraaijeveld

Senior consultant

+31 (0)10 404 9444

jan@almende.com

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SCRATCh

SeCuRe and Agile Connected Things

Duration: 9/2018 – 8/2021  Funding: ITEA3 

SCRATCh

The main problem addressed in SCRATCh is how to balance the tension between security and agility of large-scale IoT systems. On the one hand, the hardware, firmware and software of Internet of Things systems and devices evolve continuously and rapidly: there is a clear need for integrated approaches
and mechanisms for their continuous deployment. On the other hand, users of such complex IoT systems expect them to be completely secure and reliable.

The SCRATCh approach to this problem is threefold:
1. We apply cryptographic elements at multiple levels (software, firmware and hardware) to improve the management of device identities and the establishment of reliable security metrics.
2. We create a DevOps IoT platform framework which integrates continuous deployment strategies at multiple levels (cloud software, device software, device firmware) and implements security- by-design.
3. We realise processes and procedures for the roll-out of secure and reliable system upgrades.

The SCRATCh project investigates these three approaches within the scope of a specific use case: the retail store of the future, in which IoT devices inform and guide users through the store.

Contribution

Almende is in charge of creating the software platform which facilitates information transfer between IoT devices and the cloud, presenting and visualizing the results to end-users, and performing cryptography on a software level. The software platform will be built using principles of security-by-design and continuous deployment.

Results

The project will lead to generic insights and principles in the field of cybersecurity which can be further commercialized in new innovation projects, and through the spin-off companies Sense IoT and Crownstone. In the latter cases, security-by-design represents a key feature requested by customers.

More info?

Need specific information regarding the project? Please contact our senior consultant for more information.

Jan Kraaijeveld

Senior consultant

+31 (0)10 404 9444

jan@almende.com

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