Siemens Energy

At the HANNOVER MESSE 2023 Siemens Energy was our challenge partner for the topic of offline asset localization during the HM.prototype.club 2023.

Eva Harasewycz, Team Lead Venture Clienting at Siemens Energy Ventures and Jaydeep Naha, General Manager Digital Solutions and Project Execution at Siemens Energy were with us at the fair and experienced the impressive solutions.

What was the Siemens Energy challenge about?

For the HM.prototype.club 2023 Siemens Energy posed a challenge in the field of offline asset localization. Specifically, a concept for an offline AR navigation app had to be developed that could be reused as a brain for robots.

With large powerplants in remote locations often being offline due to a lack of network or for security reasons, robots have difficulties determining their exact location and navigating within the premises. Therefore, a program comparable to the offline function of Google Maps for an industrial site was to be developed and adapted to Siemens Energy’s use case of first guiding humans, later robots to specific assets within the powerplants.

How was the process of the HM.prototype.club 2023?

As usual, the participants received all information for the challenge 14 days before the presentation. With some geodata and a 3D model of the power plant equipped, the teams started working.

At the HANNOVER MESSE itself, the results were presented in individual demo sessions. The teams sat down with the jury at the Siemens Energy booth. In-depth discussions and code review were conducted. In the evening, the best three teams had the chance to pitch their idea publicly again. Additionally, the winner was also announced on stage at the official Change Forum of the fair.

What was the winning solution?

The Portuguese-Brazilian startup Infinite Foundry won with their 3D digital platform. Their solution includes a precise 3D digital twin of the power plant. It is used to plan a precise path for a robot to follow through the facility. Images with different lighting conditions are generated to teach the robot’s camera how to detect specific objects along its path.

How is the cooperation going?

Shorty after the HANNOVER MESSE, Infinite Foundry sat together with Eva and Jaydeep in a Scoping Workshop. They discussed the development of a minimal viable product based on the prototype they presented. At the IAA MOBILITY 2023 a few months later, we were happy to announce a big success: The official commissioning of Inifinite Foundry with a significant follow-up order from Siemens Energy.

How did the HM.prototype.club 2023 go for you?

We just finished the hackathon and it went really great. We met really, really great startups today. They understood what our main paint point is. We really appreciated them taking a deep dive into our challenges. So I am quite happy that we came as they all presented their solutions to our challenge and we were really impressed.

Would this concept also be interesting from an HR persepctive?

Definitely! We were actually just joking around, saying how we would love to hire some of those great founders at Siemens Energy. They are super talented, they have the right skills that we would need to solve our problems. 

Are there many use cases at Siemens Energy where this format would be useful?

Definitely, we had some volunteers right here today who would love to submit a challenge soon. I think especially in the digital grid area and in our wind business at Siemens Energy there are definitely some challenges that might need some tackling in this format.