International Partner Search

Research & Development Request

SME Instrument Phase II - A Spanish company is looking for partners to implement a pilot around an Internet of Things water device

Country of Origin: Spain
Reference Number: RDES20181105002
Publication Date: 5 November 2018

Summary

A Spanish SME is looking for a European company to cooperate in an R&D project aiming at setting a series of demonstrative tests of Internet of Things (IoT) water devices. The proposal will be presented at SME Instrument Phase II call.  The partner sought should be a facilitator for the implementation of the technology in several sites. After the project, the company should be interested in license or commercial agreement.

Description

R&D engineering SME (<10 employees) company specialized in product development and strategy consultancy for technological businesses that creates products based on innovation, efficiency and simplicity for customers and several sectors. On the engineering side, their activity includes mechanical & electronic engineering, product & process design, packaging design, prototyping, CE marking management and commercial product design. They own the Young Innovative Company and Technology-based Innovative Company certificates as proof of the quality of our work.



The project relates to their patented technology, which aims at creating more sustainable housings, businesses and people. The main purpose of the technology is to help reduce the amount of water needed every time hot water wants to be consumed. As it is widely known, when the user wants hot water, there is a certain amount of cold drinking water that must be wasted before the water comes hot. They thought it should not be that way.



This technology is already in the Spanish market in a basic version. What they want to do now is creating an evolution based on notably incresed connectivity and functions towards the IoT/Smart City market.



This technology is nowadays using RF to communicate between modules, but it is not still connected to the internet of things or recording data for users and smart cities administrations later usage. The main purpose of this project is to develop this connectivity feature and some relevant functions within the device in order to use it as an IoT element ready to market take-up. For that objective, the technology should undergo a series of processes:



- research and design

- prototyping

- performance verification and testing

- development of pilot lines

- validation por market replication

- scaling-up



On a general basis, the project will consist on:



- CONSORTIUM: Initial description of the design requirements and implementation opportunities.

- LEADER: Design and creation of prototypes for the pilot.

- PARTNER: Pilot configuration. Installation of the prototypes.

- PARTNER: On-site follow up of the prototypes functioning.

- LEADER: Remote follow up of the prototypes functioning.

- CONSORTIUM: Results analysis. 

- LEADER: Modifications. Re-desing.

- CONSORTIUM: Final validation.

- LEADER: Scale-up analysis. Manufacturing pilot.

- LEADER: Final device desing. CE marking.

- CONSORTIUM: Results dissemination.



Thus, at the end of the project, the technology will be sufficiently developed and tested so that the manufacturing processes permit a scalable and replicable business for the companies in the project, a measurement method for environmental impact, a society awareness tool for water usage and a platform for companies and administrations to improve smart city planning and water resources distribution.



The company is interested in another SME (>50 employees) or MNE (Multinational Enterprise) with interest in developing the IoT device pilot and future manufacturing, license or commercial agreement in several European regions (mainly, Germany, France, UK, Sweden. Other areas might be considered). The partner participating should have at least 5 years of expertise in the field of construction, installation, efficiency or related.The potential to become a technical or commercial local partner after the project results will be taken into account for partner selection. 



The deadline for expressions of interest is the 15th of January 2019, as the are planning  to submit the project proposal at the cut-off date of the 1th of May 2019.



The interest of the company is starting the project as soon as possible after the deadline. For a proper collaboration workplan synchronization, April-May 2019 is acceptable.

Advantages and Innovations

The current technology is based on up to 5 different modules that complement each other in order to create a temporary on demand recirculation cycle inside the house/business using its existing plumbing installation. The user triggers the cycle using an activator, which also shows when hot water is ready at the desired bathroom or kitchen where it is going to be used. As it is made of different modules, it has the flexibility to adapt to different kinds of installations and users, just by adding the number and type of modules needed in each case. More over, once a layout of this technology modules has been settled, the configuration and functions can increase during its lifecycle, adding new modules at anytime later.



The new evolution to be developed during the project will be the first IoT domestic water controlling device in the world. Besides the activation and temperature measurement, the new device will control the amount of water saved in every use, so the user knows when Return on Investment (ROI) happens. Another important function is that the cycle will trigger automatically (so, heating the installation) when water inside the pipes is about to reach the freezing temperature, which is dangerous for the safety of the plumbing installation and the users. If there is a leakage in one of the pipes or a tap has been left turned off, the device will allow the user to cut the flow of water immediately through its smartphone.



These and some other features will be implemented during the pilot to be validated, and then, included into the final product design.



This innovation is registered by patent.

Requested partner

The partner sought should be a facilitator for the implementation of the technology in several sites (whole buildings, individual houses or businesses) that should provide mainly: access to the site where the installation and measurements are to be made; installation of the modules in its different configurations; collaborative tracking of the experiments by visits to the sites, questionnaires to the users/customers, resolution of incidentes, etc.; analysis of the technology and its compliance with local building and installation norms; analysis of modifications to be made in the technology ir order to: solve problems, improve efficiency or applicability, comply with local directives and norms, addition of functions as a result of user experience; an other related tasks.



The profile of such partner should be one related to the building, installation or real estate sectors (construction or installation companies, real estate agencies) or that operates as a professional services company for such sector (like engineers, architects, home automation companies, efficiency analysts, etc.). Partner can be private or public: like City Halls, clusters and entities of the sort that might be interested in participate. Partner ought to have the capabilities to accomplish the described tasks individually or in collaboration with third parties whom it will be responsible for.

Dissemination Countries

Austria, Belgium, Canada, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, France, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, United Kingdom, USA