Focus on First Open Call winners: Human-Centric Environment (HCE) for Sustainable Production Process of a Bakery

WHAT ABOUT THE EXPERIMENT? 
 

The goal of the proposed experiment is to create a Human-Centric Environment (HCE) to support Target S.p.A. to optimize its production process while maintaining proper level of well-being for human workers. Target S.p.A. is a bakery company based in Catanzaro, southern Italy, that activated a worthwhile partnership with Revelis, that in the context of this project will take the role of Technology Provider, as subcontracting.

The objective of this proposal is to create a Technology and Regulatory Sandbox (TERESA) experiment comprehending the following three subgoals:

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(i) O1 – Defininition of a general architecture for Human-Centric IoE. This architecture is strongly based on the use of IoE (Internet of Everything), a paradigm involving collaboration between smart objects and people. This paradigm plays a key role in ensuring a human-centric approach, since data coming from biophysical sensors and production devices, are processed together to enhance the human-AI interaction, while focusing on the human well-being.

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(ii) O2 – Definition of a Component for supporting workers during job tasks. This component receives information from the IoE system to monitor workers' psychophysical parameters, environmental parameters, and production-related parameters. It processes all this information to decide which tasks to be associated with the workers, with the dual objective of optimizing production while not overloading workers. In other words, tasks assigned to each worker and the risks associated with them must be compatible with the worker's current psychophysical condition. Thanks to this strategy, task assignment does not only bring to a more efficient and effective production process, but also promotes a healthier AI-based human-machine co-working environment;

 

(iii) O3 – Design and Development of validation tests for assessing the WISE aspects of the Sandbox. The whole process of design and implementation of the experiment will take advantage of the valuable contribution of the Didactic Factory (DF) and its Competent Authority (CA), that will support Target S.p.A. and Revelis with a technical, ethical, and regulatory validation of the Human-AI interaction. The continuous involvement of DF and CA will promote sharing of ideas and common understanding, with the mutual objective of addressing the WISE aspects (Well-being, Inclusion, Safety and Ergonomics) of the proposed sandbox.

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Overall, the HCE system explores how an IoE-based AI solution can be used to enhance human-centered digitalization of a bakery company. The adoption of IoE improves the interaction between machines and humans, by creating a human-centered human-machine co-working environment with a synergistic collaboration between humans and machines. The system can support Target S.p.A. to maintain the proper working condition of human workers.

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WHAT IS THE EXPECTED IMPACT?  
 

It is often difficult for small-medium companies to maintain high level of performance while avoiding high level of stress for their workers. HCE provides a digital infrastructure heavily based on AI techniques that enables interaction with humans by implementing a human-centric approach.

Contributions and expected impact can be summarized as follows:

- Streamlined Production Processes: by integrating IoE devices and sensors throughout the bakery's production line, Target can gather real-time data on various aspects of production such as temperature, humidity, ingredient levels, and equipment performance. HCE can analyze this data to optimize production schedules, minimize downtime, and reduce wastes.

- Improved Safety and Compliance: IoE sensors can monitor environmental conditions such as temperature and humidity to ensure compliance with food safety regulations. AI algorithms can also analyze production data to identify potential safety hazards and recommend corrective actions to prevent accidents or contamination. Moreover, HCE may take care of the current health and stress state of the workers, taking actions on the workload to reduce stress and fatigue.

Overall, implementing an Industry 5.0 system based on IoE and AI can lead to increased efficiency, improved product quality, reduced costs, and minimized wastes for Target S.p.A., while ensuring that the distribution and allocation of tasks is safe and well balanced. It can also position the company as an innovator in the industry, paving the way for future growth and competitiveness.

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