Resident analysis, home assistant and smart dumps: how digital cities work

Smart technologies in the big city

The modern life of a metropolis is unthinkable without technology - ranging from

automation that controls citycommunications, ending with a contactless metro fare system that recognizes a face. Experts are no longer talking about smart technologies, but about smart cities, the configuration of which will be built on the basis of 3D: data, digital and human-centered design (data, digital technologies and human-centered design).

In the last 2-3 years, the trend towards the introduction of smarttechnology captures more and more cities, including in Russia. The pandemic and the accelerated transition to digital solutions played a significant role in this. At the end of 2021, the Ministry of Construction, Housing and Communal Services of the Russian Federation published the rating of smart cities in Russia, calculated on the basis of the digitalization index, the so-called IQ of cities. Millionaire cities are leading in it: Moscow, Voronezh and Kazan, but there are also enough medium and small cities, including Smolensk, Cherepovets and Kurgan.

DESIGN - smart walls

Companies are increasingly turning to energy-savingtechnologies, they contribute to sustainable development. For example, in the construction industry, materials that allow you to lead a greener lifestyle and save resources are gaining popularity. On the Russian market, the Monorakurs group of companies offers intelligent walls PSL (light construction panel). These are innovative designs that can be used in the arrangement of ventilation systems and automated fire extinguishing. In 2015, Monorakurs, while still a startup, passed the accelerator and received new opportunities for development.

The use of such intelligent walls solves three problems at once:

• saving energy resources (on average, 40% of all energy resources are spent on heating buildings);
• achieving energy efficiency;
• improving the comfort of housing (high-quality ventilation of the premises).

Installation time can be reduced by 3-4 times, and ifthe material is used in high-rise buildings, the savings can reach 10%. Innovative materials are not just a tribute to fashion, but a simple and obvious economic calculation.

DIGITAL - smart assistant

A few years ago it seemed thatrobotic solutions are used mainly in production. But today they are everywhere: in medicine, education and even culture. Soon they will become an important part of everyday life. For example, Unicorn offers the indispensable home assistant SAPFIR, a device that can remind owners of the urgent needs of all family members and suggest solutions.

For the company, it all started in 2015, whenthe MySmartFlat project took part in the accelerator, entered the top ten projects of the Robotics track, and a year later received support from the Foundation for the Promotion of Small Forms of Enterprises in the Scientific and Technical Sphere under the START program.

MySmartFlat was originally conceived as a digitalinfrastructure for apartment buildings in the form of an application with a set of useful services. Over time, the idea has expanded. In December 2018, Unicorn developers created the SAPFIR application, which studies the habits of residents and manages devices and scenarios in smart apartments. The application is tied to the SAPFIR line of devices (a multisensor that controls and automatically maintains various parameters in the apartment, a thermostat, a leakage sensor, and a dimmer). Other equipment can also be connected to SAPFIR.

Artificialintelligence. He collects information about the owners, their habits and plans, adapts the devices in the apartment for them and thus becomes an effective assistant. For example, by determining the approximate time when people return from work, the smart apartment itself can run certain scenarios - turn on the light, set the optimal temperature, and much more.

In 2021, the company offered an already integrated solution - the Ujin smart home and building design platform, which combined the capabilities of the two products MySmartFlat and SAPFIR.

DATA - smart ecology

Waste recycling is impossible without databases, inincluding those collected at the federal level. With their help, solutions for waste disposal are developed. In this area, we can highlight the innovative startup Cybertop Ecosystems.

The main development of the company is mobileincinerators (installations for the utilization of various types of waste by high-temperature neutralization with subsequent purification of exhaust gases) of a new generation.

The principle of operation of the device is not burning ordirect combustion of waste in the torch of burners, and almost instantaneous splitting into constituent chemical elements under the influence of high temperatures in the reactor without oxidation. The non-combustible residue is completely disinfected, the process proceeds without loss of thermal energy, it is accumulated in the reactor. Due to this, the incinerator does not have a harmful effect on the environment in the form of massive emissions.

The development is used for:

• stationary disposal near waste generation or disposal facilities;
• moving mobile complexes between objects as needed;
• work in the complex of the waste processing plant;
• waste disposal in remote areas.

According to Yuri Selivanov, General Director of the company, such a mobile unit helps to solve the problem of waste accumulation in remote settlements, in places of spontaneous dumps.

How to find an investor

Examples of advanced technologies that are changingthe life of urban agglomerations for the better, one can cite a lot. A feature of all projects is that they were developed by startups. Sometimes your own strength may not be enough for a powerful breakthrough.

Participation in accelerators helps startupsbring the idea to a prototype, form an offer that may be of interest to the investor. This is facilitated by both mentoring support and the involvement of industry experts. The accelerator becomes a platform where developers, investors and clients meet. And then a mature, modified, tested prototype/product finds financial support much faster.

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