Project “SMARTBOX 2 - Advanced integration of Artificial Intelligence solutions and Edge, Fog, and Cloud architectures in assistive and commercial home automation applications” - Funded by the Marche Region (ID 17242)

The project, presented as part of the call for proposals "Supporting the competitiveness of Made in Italy through the development of innovative applications aimed at revitalizing production chains affected by the earthquake," The Smart Box 2 project aimed to develop an innovative building automation system for the safety and automation of living environments, based on innovative Artificial Intelligence and Deep Learning technologies and new distributed edge, fog, and cloud architectures built around the concept of device integration in sensitive spaces, with a strong focus on a home automation market capable of promoting simple, low-cost solutions integrated into systems for the construction or renovation of buildings.

The project is set against the backdrop of the evolution of home automation towards the Internet of Things (IoT), Cloud Computing, and Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Smart Box 2 is the evolution of the previous Smart Box project towards new technologies and new business models related to fog and cloud services and AI. It combines the cross-disciplinary skills of sensor and advanced electronics developers with those of home automation and AI technology manufacturers to achieve a highly innovative result in the field of future spaces: "smart spaces refer to built environments such as apartments, offices, museums, hospitals, schools, malls, university campuses, and outdoor areas that are enabled for cooperation between smart objects and systems, and for ubiquitous interaction with visitors."

The main results of the project have led to innovation, compared to the state of the art and the market, in all the main product lines of the companies, leading to innovation towards servitization in the companies' business models and expanding their positioning on international markets through the new products and new service models described above.

Among the main results of the research, consideration should also be given to the multimedia nodes developed and integrated into the proposers' sensor networks: these are true intelligent electronic eyes, with high application flexibility, capable, through modern deep learning approaches, of understanding human behavior, analyzing changes within anthropized spaces, classifying dangerous situations, etc.

These analyses were in turn integrated within the project's microservices cloud environment with other information from the environment in order to improve the accuracy of all behavior analysis systems, access control systems, alarm systems, and systems related to environmental safety.

Financial support from the European Union: €114,150.00.