Can you describe your project in a few words?

SPIRE, led by Plaixus, a deep-tech company from Greece, will produce an Edge-AI platform, built on top of open-source technologies such as ROS and KubeEdge, to be offered as an add-on to robotic solutions enabling predictive maintenance of Photovoltaic (PV) panels.

Who will help implement the AI solution?

SPIRE is being developed in collaboration with ELVAN, a leading manufacturer of PV Panel structures, with over 100 sizeable solar farm operators among their clientele, who are spinning out a new company, Solbotix, which will commercialise a robotic PV panel cleaner. ELVAN provides access to their operational PV panels and will facilitate engagement with solar farm operators to validate the complete SPIRE platform.

What is the AI solution the project plans to implement?

SPIRE is an Edge-AI Platform that will facilitate AI service providers to develop, train and deploy federated models at the edge, accelerating the adoption of solar energy AI applications. It will be implemented as an add-on to cleaning robotic solutions. It will enable solar farm operators to streamline their maintenance schedules, facilitating rapid deployment of data-driven, AI-powered predictive maintenance algorithms. By the end of the project, SPIRE will comprise ML models trained on both images and vibration signals to detect dirt and loosened bolts, respectively.