Periodic Reporting for period 1 - SmaRMS COM (Smart Road Modular Sensor (SmaRMS) Prototype Testing and Commercialization Viability) Reporting period: 2015-07-01 to 2015-12-31 Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project Action context was to prepare business plan and to perform first development/testing activities for SmaRMS in smart cities.The main project objectives were:- to develop SmaRMS prototype- to perform prototype testing in operational environment- to identify main technical objectives for the industrialisation phase- to assess the economic viability of SmaRMS- to define the approach to industrialisation/commercialisation Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far During the project, we have performed several business and technological activities. We have performed an in-depth market analysis, determining customer segment sizes and their geographical distribution. We have identified the need to search for new partners, i.e. potential production partners, resellers, strategic partners and investors. We have also explored possible marketing and sales approaches and channels and included related budgets into the business model. Finnaly we prepared a business plan, which contains financial data (costs, projections), market segmentation, product segmentation and service segmentation aspects.The main result of the project is Feasibility study, concentrating of technological and economic viability of the project.Work performed during the project:- Construction of SmaRMS prototype- Testing of SmaRMS in operational environment: - testing of SmaRMS's WiFi signal strenght in under different environmental conditions - testing of two different microcontrollers (functional and non-functional testing)- Analysis of potential en-user groups: - Winter service & winter maintenance - Intelligent transport systems - Smart cities- Analysis of competitive technologies and competitive products- Market analysis - determination of market size in EU- IP analysis: - analysis of potential infringing patents (Freedom to operate) - potential for the patent protection of SmaRMS- SWOT analysis- Definition of future SmaRMS requirements- Analysis of potential approach to market from the perspective of - stakeholders - final commercial product (whole range from sensor to service) - cooperation with production and commercialisation partners- Performing financial projections for different scenarios Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far) "We expect to fully develop, test and pilot the SmaRMS in the next two years together with first production and commercialisation partners. After the product is finalized, most effort will be put into commercialization activities (marketing & sales). Winter service will serve as a market entry point through which we plan to addres the most important market segment of Smart cities.Several recommendation for future were defined:- development of ""traffic congestion"" module- development of operational regimes- development of remote configuration- development of new easy-to-exchange housing- development of ""adaptable product/service"" approach to target different user groupsThe impacts of SmaRMS usage will be promoted, to attract main user-groups:- A 40% savings on winter road-treatment materials- Environmental impacts of lower usage of de-icing agents- Increased efficiency & resource allocation in winter service- Safer roads due to better road conditions- Less traffic jams/congestions in cities contributes not just to reduced time-spending by travellers but also to lower emissions of CO2" SmaRMS range of commercial products
