Circular Cities inspired by nature
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The term Smart Cities refers to cities that take advantage of the potential of technologies and innovation, to more efficiently promote sustainable development and improve the quality of life of their citizens.
It is expected that by 2050 a 85% of the world’s population will live in cities, so we are facing with challenges related to energy supply, CO2 emissions, mobility, provision of goods and raw materials, provision of health and security services for those who reside or visit these huge and overcrowded urban centers.
At CINNID Innovation Partners, we participated in two open innovation challenges from Enel X and Volkswagen, which were seeking new services and functionalities for Smart Cities infrastructure and for the connected cars of the future. We solved them by approaching them holistically and getting inspiration from nature; we were winners of both challenges. Following next, I will share our methodology and some insights from these enriching experiences.
At the beginning of the exploratory phase of the first challenge, with Alejandro Bollana we dedicated a few weeks to research in order to update knowledge, put ourselves in context and analyze the potential of some new technologies for Smart Cities. It should be noted that unlike other open innovation challenges in which we participated, such as NASA Space Poop Challenge, NASA Cubesat Challenge and Kura Kura Ecodesign Challenge, in this case we had some previous experience in the subject. In fact, we met with Alejandro in 2016 working at the Undersecretariat of Innovation and Smart City of the Ministry of Modernization of the City of Buenos Aires, where Alejandro was the leader of technology projects for Smart City and I was the manager of sustainable innovation.
We did some catch up on Smart City technologies, focusing on digital services, necessary infrastructure, and associated technologies. We explored from basic improvements such as infrastructure digitization, through sensorization systems, IoT and Big Data, to analyzing Digital Twins advanced models, through which we can generate virtual replicas of physical systems, feed them with real time data, process them using Artificial Intelligence and machine learning, and create living representations that can feel, think and act.
Digital Twins allow us to propose optimizations and even predict events and solve incidents before they occur. While it seems like a science fiction movie concept like Minority Report, we are talking about technologies that are currently used in various industries throughout the life cycle of a product or service, from the design of an airplane turbine, the simulation of a wind farm or smart building, and even the planning of a big city.
For a previous project we had explored generative design technology, where design tools such as CAD are enhanced with the possibility to enter the basic parameters of the part to be developed, such as measurements and location of connection points or anchors, resistance, torsion, etc., and the Artificial Intelligence engine is in charge of iterating and proposing thousands of design alternatives, where the designer will choose the one that best suits his needs. Once the prototype is manufactured, it is equipped with sensors, tested in the real world and then fed back with real data that will allow its performance to be analyzed and improvements proposed to optimize its operation. In this way, innovative designs are achieved, with better performance than conventional design, reducing materials and weight, optimizing energy use and the consequent carbon footprint.
What most caught our attention at the time was that the pieces designed using generative design had biomorphic geometries; they were more similar to the forms that we can find in nature, than to elements coming out from an industrial production line. Using generative design we can achieve extremely efficient designs in a few minutes, accelerating what nature took billions of years through mutation and natural selection. Is there a better way than combining the potential of new technologies with the principles of nature to achieve more efficient Smart Cities?
Next, we analyzed the characteristics, functionality and interdependence of some of the subsystems and components: water, gas and energy networks, smart grids, smart sensors, smart meters, transportation and eMobility, data networks and communication protocols, and of course everything related to the needs of intelligent citizens themselves, who ultimately are the ones who inhabit, give life and purpose to the Smart cities.
We approached the challenge using biomimicry, inspired by the 3.8 billion years of experience of nature, using methodologies from the Biomimicry Institute and design processes from BioInspired Argentina, our own R+D+ i lab. We begun by translating the functions of the different systems that make up Smart Cities into the domain of biology. We explored how nature performs these functions by visualizing the conditions of ecosystems, natural habitats and living organisms; We set out to incorporate the unifying patterns of nature, known as the 10 principles of life, as an aspirational design parameter and an opportunity to generate more sustainable innovation.
The unifying patterns of nature are a fundamental guide when starting a design process: 1) Nature uses only the energy it needs and relies on freely available energy; 2) Nature recycles all materials; 3) Nature is resilient to disturbances; 4) Nature optimizes rather than maximizes; 5) Nature rewards cooperation; 6) Nature runs on information; 7) Nature uses chemistry and materials that are safe for living beings; 8) Nature builds using abundant resources, incorporating rare resources only sparingly; 9)Nature is locally attuned and responsive; 10) Nature uses shape to determine functionality.
We devoted a few days to the discovery process, including a review of the taxonomy of life strategies, and the visit to asknature.org website. Then we dedicate time to reflection and introspection, using creative visualization exercises to connect concepts and generate disruptive insights and ideas. Like the Design Thinking process, it is a dynamic divergent and convergent process, in which we alternate and iterate between the Distill, Translate, Discover, Emulate and Evaluate phases.
Thus the communication and data system found its counterpart in the central nervous system, the brain, neurons and axons. The transport systems for water, gas, goods and waste, in the circulatory, respiratory, digestive and excretory systems. The energy system in the cell, the mitochondria and ATPs. The security system in the immune system. The vehicles became white blood cells and red blood cells, with clearly differentiated functions, running through arteries, veins and blood vessels; The Smart City became the structure of a living body and as such, its self-regulation and balance are governed by the principle of homeostasis.
Without further introduction, I present the challenges and some of the proposed solutions:
Enel X Challenge. Innovative services for citizens and / or municipalities using smart light poles.
The smart light pole infrastructure can be used to host a number of devices such as video cameras, sensors, Wi-Fi antennas, etc. This has resulted in many services in the fields of surveillance, weather information, traffic information, environmental monitoring, people flow monitoring, mobility flow optimization, waste management, smart parking, SOS, digital signage and many others. For the purposes of this Challenge, Enel X wanted to go beyond these already known “standard” services and launched an open innovation challenge to seek innovative services and functions to be delivered to citizens and / or municipalities that can be provided by the use of light pole infrastructure. This Challenge was not only technical, but also consisted of formulating a service based on a sustainable business model.
We developed and presented three different solutions; We set up three teams and worked remotely for several weeks:
Water Pole, powered by Pura ®
Water Pole is an improved atmospheric water generator (AWG) and bottle filling station for smart cities. It provides a service of great value to citizens, promotes the conservation of natural resources and the preservation of our environment by helping to reduce the solid waste generated by single-use plastic water bottles.
Bio inspiration: Namibian desert beetles, located on the southwest coast of Africa, live in one of the driest habitats in the world. But some species of dusky beetles can get the water they need from ocean spray and mist, using their own body surfaces. Several researchers are studying beetles, as well as synthetic surfaces inspired by the body of the beetle, to discover the roles that structure, chemistry and behavior play in capturing water from the air. The micro-sized grooves or bumps in the The hardened front wings of the beetle can help to condense and direct water towards the beetle’s waiting mouth, while a combination of hydrophilic (which attracts water) and hydrophobic (which repels water) areas in these structures can increase harvesting. of mist and dew.
For the present open innovation challenge we worked in partnership with:
Lucas Barrionuevo and Leandro Barrionuevo from Pura ®, a leading Argentine company specialized in water treatment and purification.
Air Pole, powered by PURETi ®
Air Pole is an easily deployable solution based on photocatalytic organic coatings containing titanium dioxide (TiO2), to convert (retrofit) a regular 8” light pole into a highly efficient self-contained air purifying device in approximately 3 hours. Photocatalytic Oxidation is an innovative way to reduce pollution levels, eliminating NOX, methane and VOC from the air. Each Air Pole has a nitrogen oxide (NOx) absorption capacity equivalent to 5 adult trees and that, unlike these, works even at night. The light poles are already there, why not turn them into trees?
Bio inspiration: trees clean the air. Trees absorb odors and polluting gases (nitrogen oxide, ammonia, sulfur dioxide and ozone) and filter particles from the air by trapping them in their leaves and bark. We can’t mimic all of its benefits, but we can provide light poles with one of its functions!
For the present open innovation challenge we work in partnership with:
Alejandro González, CEO of the company Asociación Aire Cultura Urbana.
Glen Finkel, CEO de PURETi. American manufacturer of patented smart coatings in space (NASA). PURETi produces and sells the world’s most advanced self-cleaning, air-purifying and light-activated surface treatment.
Power Pole, powered by Innobattery ®
Power Pole is a revolutionary and cost-effective energy storage system for Smart grids, based on hybrid ultra capacitor smart modules. It functions as a “virtual power plant” that contributes to optimal use of generation assets and the grid, supporting clean energy and reducing emissions.
Until now, energy storage in a utility pole has only been used to support self-generated solar powered LED lighting and as a backup for surveillance or other critical applications alike. Nickel metal batteries do not reach the required energy density and the TCO of lithium ion batteries are not cheap enough for a feasible business model. We combine the most innovative cell formats and chemistries with advanced charge / discharge management technology to develop the first power module for use inside regular light poles.
Bio inspiration: Mitochondria is a double membrane bound organelle found in most eukaryotic organisms. Mitochondria generate most of the cellular supply of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is used as a source of chemical energy. In addition to supplying cellular energy, mitochondria participate in other tasks, such as signaling, cell differentiation, and cell death, as well as maintaining control of the cell cycle and cell growth. Mitochondrial biogenesis is in turn temporally coordinated with these cellular processes.
In nature, each cell produces and stores its own energy. In cities, energy is usually generated hundreds of kilometers from the place of consumption, with millions of dollars in investment in infrastructure and maintenance of power lines and energy losses due to transport of around 30%.
For the present open innovation challenge we work in partnership with:
Leonardo Valente Co-founder of Innobattery, a company building blocks for sustainable energy.
Volkswagen Challenge. Improving the connected vehicle experience.
The challenge was looking for novel solutions to incentivize drivers to share their car diagnostic and usage data (big data) in order to improve quality assurance and the customer experience; and may include, among others, new services, application functions, features or additional digital services around the car that can add value for customers and / or be fun for drivers. The solutions had to take into account the current functions of We Connect, a free App that allows users of the brand’s cars to access information from the on-board computer via Bluetooth.
For the present challenge we took advantage of the research done on Smart Cities, particularly what we learned regarding Digital Twins and the conceptualization of a Smart City as a biological organism. We made a proposal that we named Advanced Features Pack, with 15 value-added services and new functionalities grouped into five categories: 1) Personalization, 2) Advanced diagnostic dynamic system, 3) Smart Cities, 4) Sustainability and 5) Entertainment.
We understood that the challenge was looking for new services and value-added features for We Connect, but also as an opportunity to create new services with seamless integration with other We platform services such as: Single Sign, We Connect Plus, We Connect Fleet, We Connect Park, We Charge, We Deliver and We Experience.
To develop our proposal we integrated: a) vehicle data provided by the ODB-II interface (vehicle on-board computer), b) data from smartphone sensors, c) drivers data provided by previous systems and direct interaction with the user through simple context messages (prompts), gestual and voice commands, d) Crowdsourcing potential of the We Connect user base, e) Blockchain technology and f) Artificial Intelligence.
Without going into details to avoid violating intellectual property, the principle of operation of the proposal was as follows: the data fields obtained through the ODB-II interface, plus the additional data obtained from the smartphone sensors, plus user interactions and preferences are uploaded to the cloud. Advanced algorithms and Artificial Intelligence are applied to diagnose and anticipate problems in critical components and systems of the car based on the data collected from each vehicle, but also by comparing this information with other vehicles of the same model used in similar environments and conditions. The user base of the We Connect application becomes a key resource (crowdsourcing) for the modeling of Digital Twins, which allows the use of enhanced Generative Design systems for product improvement (vehicles and components) and enables the development of new value-added services useful for all stakeholders.
Let’s look at the specific case of a value-added service: Artificial Intelligence-Enhanced Dynamic Diagnostic System (AISD). Although each car model has a factory-recommended maintenance schedule that considers the average life of each system component (eg, shock absorbers, brake pads, battery, etc.), AISD provides the opportunity to estimate the actual conditions of the vehicles critical components based on the specific data generated by the use of each vehicle / user. For example: Battery life is affected by historical power consumption, ambient temperature, prolonged downtime, and other measurable factors. The operation and performance of the shock absorbers are recorded in real time using data from the gyro and accelerometer of the smartphone; in other words: every time we hit a pothole or bump on the road, our mobile phone registers the jolt!. The same applies for brakes and other critical car components. In this way, each user could receive a notification in their App to take their car to the workshop for an early replacement of a critical component.
Enel X and Volkswagen open innovation challenges were a great opportunity to explore and understand current technologies for Smart Cities. Biomimicry allowed us to better understand the interdependence of subsystems and the conditions necessary to maintain their functioning and dynamic balance (homeostasis). Nature inspired us to find innovative solutions based on the desert beetle (Water Pole), the trees (Air Pole) and the mitochondria (Power Pole). The theory of evolution provided us a frame of reference to propose enhanced generative design solutions for products (vehicles and components) and the unifying patterns of nature helped us to take advantage of information and create new value-added services with benefits to every stakeholder.
The potential of biomimicry in Smart City projects is enormous, it can provide us with the necessary tools to improve the resiliency of cities to the consequences of climate change and it will be increasingly relevant to improve our crisis management models in the years to come. I invite you to embrace nature and keep getting the inspiration to find better sustainable solutions.
