Using sensors and AI to develop simple prototypes without the need for IT skills

Using a combination of the internet of things (IoT), environmental sensors (air quality) and artificial intelligence (AI), the team led by ignite AI GmbH and Urban Lab gUG aims to support SMEs in developing sustainable business models. The goal is to empower people who do not have specialist IT skills to develop their own solutions with a user-friendly toolbox comprising hardware and software applications, thereby enabling them to actively participate in the digital transformation.

Drei Teammitglieder — The team behind the project idea

What makes you a strong team?

We bring together creative ideas from business practice and concentrated AI and IoT knowledge from science and practice, paired with experience from exciting, sustainable projects with a high level of citizen participation.

Explain your idea in three sentences.

Our platform allows every citizen to develop simple prototypes with sensors and AI, even without IT skills. With an easy-to-use toolbox of hardware and software solutions, we empower companies, municipalities and environmentalists to develop their own solutions. By making (environmental) influences measurable and identifiable, we jointly develop resource-saving solutions. We use inexpensive microprocessors and sensor kits that are already available on the market for just a few euros.

What makes your idea special?

Developing sustainable business models is a major challenge for SMEs. The combination of the internet of things (IoT), environmental sensors (air quality) and artificial intelligence (AI) is the fundamental basis for sustainable and digital change.

What’s next?

We use existing approaches that have already been tested at several institutions, such as the Environmental Campus Birkenfeld, and expand them with commercially usable components. We will then hold our first citizen participation workshops on various sustainability topics in Nuremberg.