SIRIO

Innovative Projects

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Italian Projects

SIRIO

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Sistemi Intelligenti per misure di Radioattività Integrati nell’ambiente Operativo

The need for environmental radiological measurements to safeguard the health of the population is becoming increasingly important, also as demonstrated by recent legislative interventions on the matter (DLGS 101/2020). CAEN has always been at the forefront in the development of solutions for nuclear safeguards and safety, as demonstrated by the CORSAIR project which took place within the framework of funding for Research and Development issued by the Tuscany Region.

This project aims to start from what has already been done, evolving it and making it more versatile. The idea is to create a detection system capable of measuring the radioactivity of rocks (quarries, blocks and slabs), of the walls of a room up to the measurement in water of a tank for the detection of the presence of Radon and, more generally, of KUT. All these measurements can be carried out with the same detector as long as it is sensitive enough and adequately shielded to reduce the impact of the surrounding environmental background. The new system must also have a geometric configuration and be integrated into a sensor network that allows it to adapt to the various measurement scenarios and adequate algorithms for identifying environmental radioactivity and decay chains.

Following the success of the Gamon family, which has become the standard for environmental monitoring of the ISIN (National Inspectorate for Nuclear Safety and Radioprotection), CAEN wants to continue the development of a detector capable of performing these measurements in a timely manner, forming a consortium with ACTA for the creation of a mechanics that is easily adaptable to the various scenarios and at the same time robust, and Dansk which will have the role of end-user for the stone solution of the detector. The University of Pisa will provide, through the Department of Nuclear Engineering, the necessary support for the development of the identification algorithms and the simulations necessary for the correct calibration of the detector and CAEN will work on the electronics, the detection system and communication, integrating all the contributions with the conclusion of the project which will include field measurements to verify the operability of the developed system.

Regione Toscana under the POR CReO FESR 2014-2020 programme

The project is co-funded by EU Commission under FP7-Cooperation programme (theme: Security) – Grant Agreement n. 284842

Starting Date
Ending Date
January 2024
March 2026

The SIRIO Consortium is composed of 4 partners from Italy. The project is expected to last 15 months with a budget of EUR 1.5 million.

DANSK logo
Dansk, Italy
CAEN Logo 2011
Caen SpA, Italy
9dot logo
9dot, Smart Power Energy Systems, Italy
ACTA logo
Acta Srl, Italy

CLOUDGEM

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The CLOUDGEM investment project aims to enhance the company’s capabilities by acquiring solutions related to the most advanced enabling technologies for digital transformation and support services for corporate sustainability and well-being.

CAEN PIM

The acquired services include:

  • A Web3-based solution aimed at reducing the effort of the engineering team in pre-sales, design, and technical/functional support phases through the use of semantic web solutions and artificial intelligence applications.
  • An Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) based solution to monitor the usage status of sold products, thereby planning or proposing preventive maintenance services, replacements, upgrades, or specific technical assistance, including remotely.

Both of the above solutions require a structured, cloud-based, and protected data foundation: a PIM on Cloud system with the highest market security standards such as multi-factor authentication, granular access levels with roles and permissions, and a PaaS architecture with backup and disaster recovery. The activity also includes acquiring consulting services aimed at creating a Cybersecurity solution, integrating it with the company’s process flows and/or production lines, validating, and commissioning the solution to ensure data protection and business continuity.

Finally, to achieve corporate awareness regarding gender equality, a management system compliant with the UNI PDR 125:2022 standard for gender equality will be implemented, particularly involving the management of business processes to overcome biases, provide equal growth and pay opportunities, and manage parenthood and work-life balance.

ERDF ROP 2021-2027 Action 1.1.3 “Innovation Services”

Project co-financed by the ERDF ROP 2021-2027 Action 1.1.3 “Innovation Services”

Starting Date
Ending Date
January 2024
January 2025

CORSAIR

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Cloud Oriented Radiation Sensor for Advanced Investigation of Rocks

The purpose of CORSAIR project is the realization of a cyber-physical system for the detection, identification and estimate of radioactivity concentration on stone materials, as well as identification and traceability of single stone plate within the industry supply chain dedicated to their manufacturing and employment.

CORSAIR photos

The advantages of proposed system lies in the ability of automating the processes of measurement and validation of the industrial product in a flexible way within the industrial supply chain, enabling the integration of radiometric information and lithographic, chemical, physical, mechanical and visual properties of stone materials by means of a web-based platform and a cloud data sharing model. The adoption of RFID-tagging techniques will ensure the traceability and validation of single stone plates with respect for the legislation of exporting countries.
The CORSAIR system components are:

  • a Gamma spectrometer with compact electronics elaboration units embedded;
  • a subsystem for the positioning and movements of the stone plates;
  • a set of sensors dedicated to acquire position, distances, temperatures, images etc…;
  • a subsystem for the RFID tag placement, reading and writing;
  • a subsystem for the control and management of sensor and actuators integration process;
  • a multi-user, multi-profile, Cloud-based software platform (SaaS), with a centralized database dedicated to the storage of data regarding the plates traceability.

The project foresees a final phase of in-site validation of the developed system.
CORSAIR system represents an enhancement for the stone manufacturing industry, not only because it represents a compliance with the EU guidelines, but even because reduces logistic and administrative management costs for the manufacturing supply chain as well as ensuring complete traceability of the final product.
The working group for the CORSAIR project is composed by: CAEN Sys srl (leader), Department of Information Engineering (DII) of University of Pisa, ELSE NUCLEAR srl, HYDEA spa.
During the project DII will take part in the design of CORSAIR system, in the activities of development and integration of sensors and of process automation control software, implemented by means of embedded systems. Moreover, DII will take care of the cloud traceability data management platform implementation, as well as the result dissemination on reference scientific community. The undertaking of these activities will enable DII to consolidate the know-how and strengthen its position in electronics and ICT technologies in the Industry 4.0 area.
DII will be rewarded with 138.000 Euro founding from Tuscany Region, in relation to a 276.000 Euro total activity budget.

CORSAIR website
Starting Date
Ending Date
January 2018
September 2020

PRIMIS

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PRedIctive MaIntenance in hoStile environment

PRIMIS aims to create a new cyber-physics environment for advanced electronic products developed by CAEN. This is an ambitious but extremely important objective since the technological innovations that have taken place in recent years have profoundly changed the way of conceiving complex electronics products. While, until recently hardware was at the center of the customer’s attention, now the software and more generally the ecosystem are perceived as indispensable to evaluate the quality of a product. With this in mind, PRIMIS will be a huge step forward in terms of product quality, with advanced management software packages, and customer support with a new interactive cloud platform.

PRIMIS will present two pilot projects developed in collaboration between CAEN and the project’s research centers, the National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN) and the University of Pisa. These are power supplies and digitizers for nuclear and subnuclear physics experiments at CERN in Geneva and Fermilab in the United States. In addition to ensuring the highest level of performance, these electronic devices must guarantee absolute operating reliability in a hostile environment due to high magnetic fields and level of radiation in the areas where they are operated. These environments are also difficult to reach by maintenance personnel, so these devices are an ideal test bench for new predictive maintenance technologies developed in PRIMIS.

Regione Toscana under the POR CReO FESR 2014-2020 programme

The project is co-funded by Regione Toscana under the POR CReO FESR 2014-2020 programme

Starting Date
Ending Date
January 2018
September 2019

The PRIMIS Consortium is composed of 6 partners and consists of three SMEs, one Universities and two branches of the INFN (Florence and Pisa). CAEN SpA is the project leader.

KODE logo
Kode Srl, Italy
UniPi Logo
University of Pisa, Italy
CAEN Logo 2011
Caen SpA, Italy
National Institute of Nuclear Physics logo
National Institute of Nuclear Physics (Pisa – Florence), Italy
Netseven logo
Netseven srl, Italy

NEOLITE

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Nuove tEcnologie elettrOniche di aLimentazione In ambientTe ostilE

The goal of the project is to conceive, design and develop a new generation of COTS-based Power Supply Systems able to work in very hostile conditions, such as intense magnetic fields and ionizing radiations. The aim is to go beyond the technological limits of the infrastructure used in:
existing physics experiments for the detection of high energy elementary particles for the study of matter (notably the CERN LHC experiment)
medical imaging: Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Posytron Emission Tomography (PET)

It is known that in the incoming years, the evolution of the LHC experiment (HL LHC) will demand higher efficiency and performances of all the instrumentation used in the hostile environment of the experiment itself. One of main targets is to position the power conversion system on the particles detectors directily, or in the very nearby, thus reducing the number of conversion stadiums actually existing. The power supply systems of the paticles detectors will be exposed to enhanced magnetic fields and ionizing radiations. Compared to the existing systems, the levels of tolerance to magnetic field and radiation of the new ones will have to be increased of a 10-20 factor.

As for medical imaging, the most stringent needs affect compactness, power dissipation and the noise induced inside the MRI system. Existing PET detectors and front-end electronics are indeed positioned inside the magnet, while the power supply system in the nearby. Given the narrow space available inside the magnet and the priority not to hinder a comfortable accommodation of the patient, the aim of moving the power supply system inside the magnet itself will force to put particular effort in developing a compact solution.

Low power consumption and the possibility to be remotely controlled will be features to be addressed as well. The use of COTS components in the place of the more expensive Rad-Hard/Space-grade is strongly fostered in the perspective of limiting project’s costs.

Regione Toscana under the POR CReO FESR 2014-2020 programme

The project is co-funded by EU Commission under FP7-Cooperation programme (theme: Security) – Grant Agreement n. 284842

Starting Date
Ending Date
April 2016
September 2017

The MODES_SNM consortium officially took up work in January 2012. Its kick-off meeting was hosted by the University of Padova, the program’s coordinator. The consortium consists of two SMEs, four universities, a national nuclear research centre and end users in the form of a customs agency. A list of consortium members is given below. The project is foreseen to be completed in 30 months, within a budget of EUR 3.2 million, including public and private sector contributions.

More info on NEOLITE Website. Contact: Alessandro Iovene

Age Scientific Srl logo
Age Scientific Srl, Italy
CAEN Logo 2011
Caen SpA, Italy
Desys logo
Desys Srl, Italy
National Institute of Nuclear Physics logo
National Institute of Nuclear Physics, Italy
University of Florence logo
University of Florence, Italy
UniPi Logo
University of Pisa, Italy

SAMORAD

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Sistema Airborne di MOnitoraggio della RADioattività

Monitoring the environmental radioactivity can provide useful information in many fields of social life: homeland security, construction industry, environmental protection, geology studies, mineral/gas and oil processing, etc…
Measuring the environmental radioactivity through the gamma ray spectroscopy becomes very crucial for the man-made radioactivity control. Few examples are the radioactive waste from nuclear reactors, or the disasters of Chernobyl and Fukushima. This technique may help both in looking for illegal disposal of radioactive sources, and in a better management of the working conditions of nuclear factories and mine workers. Unfortunately this technique is not yet well exploited, since there are only few instruments in the world able to make these kind of measurements.

We conceived the SAMORAD project to accomplish this study, in collaboration with the University of Siena, whose Geo Technology researchers have a strong know-how on this topic, Desys S.r.l and Hydea S.p.A.. The project aim is to develop a high precision instrument for the measurement of the environmental radioactivity.

These measurements are intended to be made from a helicopter flying over the area under inspection (through the technique called AGRS – Airborne Gamma Ray Spectroscopy). The result of those measurements would be made available through radiometric maps of the areas of interest.

Tuscany Region under the POR CReO Fesr 2007-2013 programme

The project is co-funded by the Tuscany Region under the POR CReO Fesr 2007-2013 programme

Starting Date
Ending Date
January 2013
December 2015

The SAMORAD consortium officially took up work in January 2013. Its kickoff meeting was held in CAEN SpA headquarters, the project’s coordinator. The consortium consists of two SMEs, one university and a civil engineering company (end-user). A list of consortium members is given below. The project is foreseen to be completed in 24 months, within a budget of EUR 1.6 million, including public and private sector contributions.

More info on SAMORAD Website. Contact: Alessandro Iovene

CTG logo
Geo-Technology Center – University of Siena, Italy
CAEN Logo 2011
Caen SpA, Italy
Desys logo
Desys Srl, Italy
Hydrea logo
Hydea SpA, Italy