In October 2022, the AIDEAS project was successfully launched with the intention of developing artificial intelligence technologies to support the entire life cycle (design, manufacture, use, and repair/reuse/recycling) of industrial equipment as a strategic tool to improve the sustainability, agility, and resilience of machinery manufacturing companies. This ambitious R&D initiative is granted with 6 million euros by the European Commission under the Horizon Europe framework programme, and 16 partners from 8 European countries are involved in it, among them some prestigious Universities from Spain, Finland, Portugal, and Italy, as well as several industrial partners, who are mainly machinery manufacturers supplying industrial equipment to different industrial sectors such as metal, stone, plastic, and food.
The AIDEAS Project
The 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 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 the sustainability, agility and resilience of 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.
The AIDEAS Objetives
1. To develop and share among the different consortium partners and other stakeholders the AIDEAS Project Vision, to establish the state of the art in terms of technologies for industrial equipment design, manufacturing, use, and repair/reuse/recycle, and to set the requirements driving the creation of AIDEAS Solutions.
2. To design the AIDEAS Framework and deliver the Reference Architecture for smart manufacturing and devised using multiple perspectives, related to business, usage, functional and implementation viewpoints.
3. To build the AIDEAS Industrial Equipment Design Suite, providing AI-assisted optimisation modules that generate design proposals for the construction of industrial equipment.
4. To build the AIDEAS Industrial Equipment Manufacturing Suite, a set of AI technologies for the manufacturing phase of industrial equipment with the objective of achieving a high level of agility and sustainability between the manufacturing parties.
5. To build the AIDEAS Industrial Equipment Use Suite, a set of AI technologies for the use of industrial equipment to be exploited by the companies that buy the machines.
6. To build the AIDEAS Industrial Equipment Repair-Reuse-Recycle Suite, a set of AI technologies for the repair/reuse/recycle of industrial equipment to be used by the companies that perform such operations.
7. To test and validate the AIDEAS Solutions in 4 use cases, machinery manufacturers covering different industrial sectors (metal, stone, plastic and food).
The AIDEAS Expected results
AI Driven Industrial Equipment Product Lyfe Cycle Boosting Agility, Sustainability and Resilience (AIDEAS)
AIDEAS is a complete package of 4 suites consisting of 15 AI-based solutions covering the entire life cycle of industrial equipment, from Design, Manufacturing and Use, to Repair, Reuse and Recycling.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe
Research and innovation programme under grant agreement Nº 101057294
