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AIoT Lab Heilbronn

The AIoT Lab was set up in 2021 to help validate AIoT-enabled business ideas and do practical research on the key concepts described by the AIoT Framework. The goal of the AIoT Lab is to provide a collaboration platform for testing and validating some of the concepts which we are developing in the AIoT User Group. The primary motivation is to provide smart connected products and solutions that illustrate how the challenges in real world can be overcome. The AIoT Lab Heilbronn is operated by Ferdinand-Steinbeis-Institute at the Research Campus in Heilbronn. This setup ensures access to the academic network in Heilbronn, which can be easily extended to include the greater Stuttgart area and Baden Würtemberg. Technological as well as practical expertise is offered in the duality of research and entrepreneurship in order to create an environment that reflects the AIoT Playbook.

The AIoT Lab is planning to support additional industrial use cases in the digital.industry Working Group. The research focus is on making the creation of AIoT-enabled industrial solutions more efficient and better manageable for industrial users. The lab is also a significant contributor to the digital.auto Working Group. Participants can propose new research topics or initiate micro testbeds. The lab provides AIoT expertise and access to an academic ecosystem.

Motivation and Goal

AIoT Lab Business perspective

Our Focus

AIoT Lab Focus
Value Stream Management (VSM)
  • Processes and methods
  • AIoT DevOps
  • Metrics
Scalability

The ultimate goal is to ensure that the business can be scaled up to the level that matches the business and technical objectives. This is usually a step-by-step process, involving exploration, acquiring early adopters, and then continuous growth.

  • Business model-The development and validation of a detailed business model is usually the first step in the journey towards developing a new smart, connected product or solution. The business model will usually play a central role in product and solution development. New market entrants are looking at disruptive new business models enabled by the combination of physical products with AIoT.
  • Organization - Ensuring organizational scalability is another key success factor for smart, connected products. Understanding how an organization can successfully grow and evolve alongside the product as it matures from idea to large-scale business is one of the main key points.
  • Architecture- the AIoT Playbook proposes to create and maintain a product/solution architecture that captures key requirements and design decisions in a consistent manner.
  • DevOps -DevOps organizations breakdown the traditional barriers between development and operations, focusing on cross-functional teams that support all aspects of development, testing, integration and deployment. Successful DevOps organizations avoid overspecialization and instead focus on cross-training and open communication between all DevOps stakeholders.
Re-Use

How can re-use of existing product/solution be maximized, especially from the point of view of smaller companies with limited R&D capabilities.

  • AI Model - An AI model is a program or algorithm that utilizes a set of data that enables it to recognize certain patterns. This allows it to reach a conclusion or make a prediction when provided with sufficient information.
  • Datasets- Training data is the data you use to train an algorithm or machine learning model to predict the outcome you design your model to predict.
  • Sensors / sensor packs - Sensor edge nodes are edge nodes that are specifically designed to process sensor data.
  • Infrastructure: The hardware for a smart, connected product must include all required physical product components. This means that it will include not only the edge/cloud/AI perspective but also the physical product engineering perspective. This will include mechatronics, a discipline combining mechanical systems, electric and electronic systems, control systems and computers.
  • Patterns

Projects

Domain Usecase Description
digital.industry
Pneumatic systems The first real-world research project by the AIoT Lab is about pneumatic systems: The project has implemented an AIoT-enabled air leak detection system. Currently, 4 test systems are deployed around the globe, including an installation at the Bosch Connectory in Chicago, the Bosch research facility in Shanghai, the TÜV Süd test lab in Singapore, as well as the lab HQ in Heilbronn, Germany.
digital.auto
Playground
Simulation
digital.building
Elevator Monitoring

Collaboration Benefits

Stakeholder Benefits
Enterprise Users
  • Outcome-oriented research + exploration
  • Technical validation of business ideas
  • Access to AIoT experts
Developers
  • AIoT methodology / hands-on
  • Technical guidance
Solution Providers
  • Customer feedback
  • Networking effects
Other research labs
  • Access to global network for real-world AIoT field tests
Universities / academia
  • Joint research
  • Joint publications