Digitization of society is one of the prerequisites for achieving the climate goal of 70 percent CO2 reduction by 2030. And there small sensors (IoT devices) installed in e.g. buildings, heating systems, and treatment plants will play an important role in managing energy consumption, heat, indoor climate, etc.

In a new project Embedded AI – supported by the national research center DIREC – researchers together with industry will investigate how to develop AI (artificial intelligence) that can be implemented in IoT devices so that they can do more themselves. Today, sensors are dependent on AI algorithms on cloud platforms or decentralized networks (Edge Computing), where data and commands are sent via internet / wireless networks.

“It is quite obvious that you will not be able to do the same as with the cloud and edge, but it will cost less, use less energy and be able to react faster. It will also increase security and privacy because data can be kept where it is collected. So there are many benefits to embedded AI, says the project manager, Professor, Section Manager, and Deputy Director at DTU Compute Jan Madsen.

In the project, DTU, Aarhus University, the University of Copenhagen, and CBS collaborate with the pump manufacturer Grundfos Holding, the engine and machine manufacturer MAN Energy Solution, the window manufacturer VELUX, and the technology company Indesmatech.

Move AI from large platforms to small ones
During the three years, the partners will work on specific issues within the four industry partners. They are strong representatives of companies that will be able to strengthen competitiveness by knowing the right tools and platforms to leverage embedded AI (eAI) in their products.

The project will examine the process of going from large platforms to small ones, explore suitable tool platforms, check what opportunities new types of chip provide for embedded AI and map out how embedded AI will be able to change the business models for companies.

Grundfos is experiencing a knowledge gap
The idea for the DIREC project has come through network meetings, where research institutions and industry talk about future competencies and technology needs. Here, Thorkild Kvisgaard, Head of Electronics, Director Technology Innovation at Grundfos, has participated.

He says the company sees a clear need to be able to move some of the artificial intelligence from the large platforms that run on mainframe computers, etc., down and run in more embedded devices (AIoT), even though it will be very resource-limited platforms to work on. Because you can save energy, and you avoid having to send data over the Internet and be dependent on the Internet and cloud solutions that run outside your own control.

“It will, of course, turn out that you can not do quite as much on platforms with limited resources, but we do not know those limits today. And maybe we can do a lot more than we think. If we work with something that is not time-critical, it does not matter that the embedded AI has to spend several minutes figuring something out if it is a slow and complex process,” says Thorkild Kvisgaard.

“At Grundfos, we have experimented with the technology ourselves, but we are experiencing a gap between what data science experts work with on large cloud platforms and what IoT programmers work with. So we hope that the project will also create a better understanding of each other’s work areas.”

Chip becomes crucial

The industry partner Indesmatech acts as both the local office for chip manufacturers, facilitates various development projects with new technology and helps companies to develop technology.

The company is looking forward to clarifying the possibilities when working with Embedded AI algorithms, explains Co-founder of Indesmatech Rune Domsten:

“What is interesting about the Embedded AI project, in addition to the software used for AI, is to investigate which chip and hardware platforms to execute on and use in the different situations. Because the battery consumption in sensors really depends on which chip you use, and it can be a question of whether the battery lasts for e.g. five or ten years.”

Although the industry partners in the DIREC project as large companies are already working on AI, the project could also have great significance for especially small companies that lag behind with artificial intelligence, says Project Manager Jan Madsen:

“While it may seem rather uninteresting in research to develop small AI algorithms, there are actually major research challenges in developing efficient architectures and methods that can be used in smaller and resource-limited sensors / IoT devices. It can also be what gets a small business started using AI for complex tasks and processes.”

Professor Jaco van de Pol will lead the DIREC project Secure IoT systems (SIoT), which aims to model security threats and countermeasures for IoT systems and services, to develop secure solutions, and to analyze residual security risks.

“Our goal with the SiOT project is to make it easier to design and certify secure IoT devices. Security and privacy are very important to many people and organizations that use IoT devices for measurements in smart cities, natural environments, logistics chains, and in their private homes. Engineering IoT devices is challenging, since they are physically small and must run on low power. Yet, they must perform accurate measurements and communicate with high efficiency. So how can one achieve security on top of that? We will provide new tools to model security threats, implement countermeasures, and analyze the final security risks”.

Jaco van de Pol continues: “I am happy to be able to work with a team that includes both academic researchers and industrial experts. This will ensure that the project addresses the right questions, and that we can find new solutions by combining the expertise from several disciplines. And we can evaluate the solutions in an industrial setting.”

The strategy is to use algorithms from automata theory and game theory to automate risk analysis and security strategy synthesis. The implementation of the security policies will consider both technical as well as social aspects, in particular usability in organizations and training of people.

For TERMA A/S, who are part of the project, their motivation is to be aware of the landscape in IoT systems in order to make them more cyber-resilient. Samant Khajuria, Chief Specialist Cybersecurity at TERMA A/S, explains:

“When we integrate IoT systems in our line of business, our main purpose is to provide safety for critical systems. Our systems go both to the defense and civilian sector such as Wind Farms, airports or harbors. We know that IoT devices sooner or later become obvious pieces of the puzzle in providing good systems in the future. And before integrating in systems like this we need to understand the threats and risks. Secondly, we would like to collaborate with universities in Denmark, because the researchers are working with this everyday. We are merely the users of the technology.”

Jørgen Hartig is Managing Director and Partner in SecurIOT, who are also part of the project. He hopes the project will help create the needed awareness on both sides of the “table” about the environment of industry 4.0. They often hear customers saying: “Why would the hackers go for us? We do not produce anything interesting…” or “the production has been for 25 years, and we haven’t had an issue” or “there are no connections between IT systems and OT systems.”

“The last statement will be challenged dramatically in the next 5-10 years. IoT and OT vendors will come out with new technology solutions that will utilize cloud-enabled applications and 5G connections to the factory floor, so there will be no “air-gap” in the future. I am not saying it is wrong, I am just saying that the consumers and IoT vendors need to work with the cyber threats and risks in a structured way.”

According to Gert Læssøe Mikkelsen, Head of Security Lab at the Alexandra Institute, there is a need for improved cyber security in IoT, which is also the reason why they participate in the project:

“We see a need for academic research in close collaboration with industry to deal with this. We hope that the tools and methodologies developed in this project will be deployed and improve the cybersecurity of IoT so we are all ready for the future, where we both expect an increase in the threats from cybercriminals and, as a consequence, an increase in requirements and regulation in this area that the industry must be ready to handle.”

There are a multitude of reasons to embrace remote and hybrid work. Climate concerns are increasing, borders are difficult to cross, work/life balance may be easier to attain, power distributions in society could potentially be redressed, to name a few. This means that the demand for systems that support hybrid work will increase significantly.

The recent COVID-19 pandemic, and the attendant lockdown, demonstrated the potential benefits and possibilities of remote work practices, as well as the glaring deficiencies such practices bring. Zoom fatigue, resulting from high cognitive loads and intense amounts of eye contact, is just the tip of an uncomfortable iceberg where the problem of embodied presence remains a stubborn limitation.

The research project REWORK: The Futures of Hybrid Work, led by associate professor Eve Hoggan, aims to enrich digital technologies for hybrid work. The goal is to design and develop artefacts and processes to support organizations in exploring and preparing for successful collaboration in the future.

Remote and hybrid work will certainly be part of the future of most work practices, but what should these future work practices look like?

“I think we need to aim higher than merely fixing the systems we already have,” says associate professor Eve Hoggan, and continues; “We need to be bolder and consider a different future for our workplace if we want to secure successful collaboration. And that is what REWORK is all about. We will, in particular, focus on representation of embodiment and physical surroundings in a digital/analog setting, as this is one of the most important obstacles for successful hybrid work.”

Bankdata is a company which needs such tools. To them it is crucial to be able to attract and retain the best employees. According to Peter Bering, Head of Digitalization at Bankdata, the workplace must be flexible with good opportunities for socializing, and in this regard the company’s digital products play an important role.

“The hybrid workplace is more than just a good video connection. It should also be characterized by a high level of commitment, creativity and cohesion, which is not easy to achieve with the technology we use today. But we are ambitious in this area, and therefore we have decided to engage in – and not least contribute to – the latest research in the field through a collaboration with DIREC,” says Peter Bering.

Lene Bach Graversen, Head of Facility at Arla, hopes that in the project will provide more digital tools that can support the agile collaboration at a distance.

“Like many other companies, we do not know exactly what will happen in the future. We hope that the feedback and knowledge we gain can direct our focus towards what tools are needed by the employees to optimize their online meetings, which have become a regular part of our work. Many of our employees work both at home and at the office, and we see that it offers advantages as well as disadvantages. We need to look at other available tools and how to develop them so that we can continue to support our employees. The strength of collaborating is that you learn from each other.”

Mads Troelsgaard, CEO and co-founder of SynergyXR, participates in the project to knowledge-share with the universities, but also because they want to make their AR/VR and Mixed Reality platform available for the project. For the past ten years, SynergyXR has developed AR/VR and Mixed Reality applications for some of the largest companies in the world.

On their platform, you can meet colleagues in Hololens, with VR glasses or in a room on a PC, and in this way explain complicated knowledge on a completely different level than is possible on Zoom or Teams. The companies may also upload videos, photos, pdf files or other, and in this way establish their own AR/VR setup. They build ‘the corporate metaverse’, where companies can build their own metaverse.

A lot of things appeal to us in this collaboration. We have a platform that is easy to access, and which provides the opportunity to meet in a completely new way, and which changes the way companies collaborate at a distance. In addition, we would like to contribute with our many years of experience as tech specialists within XR technology. In return, we hope to gain a lot of new knowledge both about what’s happening out there, but also to get feedback on our platform. We can also help train future employees to better understand the potential of XR technology which is another advantage. In this way, we see a lot of ‘wins’ from the collaboration”.