wheel.me Autonomous – Novel Smart Home and facility management solution from embedded robots and indoor navigation

Project Information

wheel.me Autonomous

Grant agreement ID: 782788

DOI

10.3030/782788

Project closed

EC signature date 14 July 2017

Start date 1 August 2017

End date 31 December 2017

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies - Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)

Total cost

€ 71 429,00

EU contribution

€ 50 000,00

Coordinated by

WHEEL.ME AS
Norway

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - wheel.me Autonomous (wheel.me Autonomous – Novel Smart Home and facility management solution from embedded robots and indoor navigation)

Reporting period: 2017-08-01 to 2017-12-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Problem being addressed:
By embedding robots in the form of motorized smart wheels on furniture or other heavy objects, the user will be able to move these to their desired position through wireless communication, an app and/or voice activation. Value stem from simplifying everyday life for end-users by providing almost endless options for how the smart wheels can move and arrange objects. Autonomous will contribute to reduced wear, improved health, hygiene, indoor air quality and overall well-being. A facility management offering towards professional users provides for improved asset control and HSE benefits, efficiencies and savings related to operations and maintenance by further leveraging the value of usage and positioning data, sent and received from the cloud. We also see Autonomous spawning completely new and not yet thought out uses to solve everyday problems and save manual labor.

Why important for society:
Positive environmental effects from Autonomous stem both directly from simplifying life and delivering efficiency savings

Overall objective:
Wheels make it considerably easier to move and handle furniture and other heavy objects. wheel.me Autonomous (Autonomous) will put the world on hidden and motorized wheels. In essence, what is being attempted by Google and others with respect to self-driving cars outdoors, wheel.me will perform indoors through small and cost-effective embedded robots (“smart wheels”). The solution can be used to move virtually anything in any direction; sofas, beds, chairs, refrigerators – and even walls.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The work plan has consisted of one 5-month Work Package, the Feasibility Study. Detailed tasks have been performed as per the below:

• Task 1: Market and competitor analysis
Workshops, interviews, and more informal discussions have taken place with market participants and stakeholders across wheel.me's value chain. Besides a series of meetings in the Nordics, market visits have also been carried out throughout Europe, China, Israel, and the US. As a result, wheel.me has further confirmed the uniqueness of its Internet of Things (IoT) solution.
wheel.me's products have been on display at various events in 2017, including the Interzum (DE) furniture conference. Also in relation to the above, wheel.me has been selected to participate at the CES conference in Las Vegas in January 2018 based on a successful application to the SME Instrument's Overseas Trade Fairs Programme.

• Task 2: Cost and resource assessments
An updated cost calculation and overview has been made down to the smallest component. wheel.me has reiterated with a series of suppliers to bring down costs.

• Task 3: IPR analysis and strategy
wheel.me has continued to make progress to secure its IP assets (5x patents and pending patents per end 2017) during the project period. Work and strategic plans have been refined together with wheel.me's patent attorney office.

• Task 4: Regulatory feasibility
Both general IoT concerns such as data security and application-specific standards have been covered as part of the Feasibility Study.

• Task 5: Detailed Phase 2 development plan
Work is underway to address the SME Instrument phase 2 program after successfully concluding the SME Instrument phase 1 project. The primary objective of the project will be to bring a novel Facility Management and Smart Home & Smart Building solution to a level of technical and commercial maturity where it is tested, completed and qualified - and a detailed commercialization plan underpins the market launch.

• Task 6: Detailed business plan
Multiple iterations have taken place during the project period to mature the detailed business plan. Valuable input has come from wheel.me's Board and external advisors/consultants including the H2020 appointed coach

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)

The commercial state-of-the art related to “moving heavy objects indoors” is represented by Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) that are guided by wire, guide tape, magnets or other means – and cleaning robots relying on infrared sensors and/or camera technology. Such units are however inflexible and are significantly more expensive than the solutions propagated by wheel.me.

In terms of wider societal implications of the project, wheel.me is following the developments of the Alliance for Internet of Things Innovation (AIOTI) and the Digital Single Market (DSM) strategy (European Commission, 2017). We place significant emphasis on interoperability and are committed to avoid a fragmented solution.

smart wheel inserts

smart home and smart building applications - example