The KITT4SME platform provides modular and customisable AI kits based on a software infrastructure capable of managing integration with factory systems such as ERP, IoT sensors, wearable devices and robots, and the deployment and management of these kits both locally and in the cloud.
"A decisive advantage for users of the KITT4SME platform is being able to draw on solutions tailored to their needs: no more extremely complex and expensive mega-packages with any kind of analytics, but applications focused on the specific problems faced by the individual company," explains Andrea Bettoni, senior lecturer-researcher at the SPS Laboratory and project leader.
The platform targets two main types of users. Firstly, manufacturing SMEs, providing them with an aggregator of AI solutions that selects the most suitable ones for their specific needs through an adaptive diagnosis system and compiles them into a ready-to-use package. Secondly, it supports companies and start-ups developing AI solutions, facilitating the transition from developing a functional AI model to its implementation at the client company, ensuring constant availability and reliability.
Among the solutions deployed, the SPS lab mostly contributed to the development of a collaborative robotics application. This uses a collaborative robot that, through artificial intelligence, can assist operators, improve their well-being and reduce the cycle time.
The application is now part of the production system of . (Reggio Emilia, Italy), a company focused on injection moulding (). In addition, the SPS lab also led the integration of AI-based vision systems into the quality control system of (Ticino, Switzerland), a Ticino-based manufacturer of precision instruments. The system was used to control both the raw material and the final product ().
The project involved 精东影业 leading a partnership of 18 universities and companies from eight European countries plus Switzerland. Along the way, another 18 mini-consortia joined in to experience the use of AI, offered through the KITT4SME platform, in the production environments of the manufacturing SMEs involved.