About the project
Objective
The ALARS project aims to drastically improve how Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs) are deployed and recovered in maritime operations. Currently, UUV launch and retrieval rely on manual, time-consuming, and high-risk methodsinvolving surface vessels and human intervention. ALARS introduces an autonomous aerial solution that integrates drone (UAV) technology with UUV operations, significantly enhancing efficiency, safety, and scalability in underwater missions.
Key features of ALARS:
- UAV-Based UUV Deployment – Autonomous drones will carry and release UUVs precisely at mission locations.
- Automated Recovery System – UAVs equipped with an advanced winch mechanism will retrieve UUVs from the water without requiring human intervention.
- AI-Powered Navigation & Stability Control – The system leverages machine learning algorithms for object detection and dynamic stability during deployment and retrieval.
- Multi-UUV Operations – ALARS supports the simultaneous launch and recovery of multiple UUVs, significantly boosting operational capacity.
By automating these processes, ALARS aims to reduce human risk, increase mission success rates, and unlock new capabilities in maritime security, environmental monitoring, and offshore industries.
Background
Modern UUV operations are essential for naval intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR), environmental monitoring, and subsea exploration. However, traditional deployment and recovery methods rely on mothership-based handling, which presents multiple challenges:
- Operational inefficiency – Manual operations take time and limit real-time responses.
- Safety concerns – Harsh weather and ocean conditions pose risks to human operators.
- Limited scalability – Only one UUV can be deployed or retrieved at a time.
ALARS directly addresses these limitations by integrating aerial robotics with autonomous underwater systems, allowing for:
- Faster and more flexible UUV deployment and recovery.
- Reduced risk to human operators by eliminating manual handling.
- Multi-domain autonomy with real-time AI-powered decision-making.
By leveraging Sweden’s expertise in robotics, AI, and autonomous systems, ALARS sets a new global benchmark for efficient and safe maritime operations.
Crossdisciplinary collaboration
The ALARS project brings together experts in:
- Autonomous Underwater Systems – UUV development and deployment strategies (KTH, SMaRC)
- Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning – AI-driven target detection and real-time decision-making (KTH)
- Maritime Defense & ISR Operations – Application-specific design for naval and offshore use cases (Saab Kockums)
The project is a collaboration between KTH, Saab Kockums, and SMaRC, with direct industry involvement to ensure real-world validation and future deployment.
Principal Investigators (PIs)
- Ivan Stenius (KTH, Project Lead)
- John Folkesson (KTH, AI & Machine Learning Integration)
- Petter Ögren (KTH, Multi-Agent Coordination and Control Systems)
About the project
The SHARCEX project focuses on improving underwater operations by integrating advanced autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) with human divers. The goal is to enhance safety and efficiency in extreme underwater environments such as defense, rescue operations, and law enforcement.
Key technologies being developed and integrated include:
- Embedded AI for real-time decision-making
- Machine learning for environmental adaptation
- Computer vision for precise navigation and object recognition
- Safe reinforcement learning to ensure strict safety protocols
The project progresses through multiple phases:
- Development of AI models
- System integration
- User interface design
- Operational testing
KTH leads the project in collaboration with FMV and Saab, aiming to demonstrate robust AUV-Diver collaborations validated through extensive simulations and experiments.
Background
Underwater environments are among the most challenging operational domains due to their unpredictability, extreme pressure conditions, limited visibility, and communication constraints. Human divers working in these environments face significant safety risks, particularly in defense, search-and-rescue, law enforcement, and infrastructure inspection scenarios. While Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) have been deployed in these fields, their potential remains largely untapped due to limitations in real-time adaptability and human interaction.
Current AUV systems often operate independently, following pre-programmed missions with limited real-time decision-making capabilities. This restricts their usefulness in dynamic and high-risk situations, where divers must quickly adapt to changing conditions, assess threats, and make complex decisions. There is a clear need for AUVs that can function as intelligent, real-time assistants, enhancing human capabilities rather than merely executing pre-set tasks.
The SHARCEX project addresses this gap by developing a next-generation human-robot collaboration frameworkfor underwater operations. By integrating AI-driven AUVs with human divers, the project aims to create a synergistic system where both human and machine leverage each other’s strengths.
Crossdisciplinary collaboration
The project integrates expertise from multiple fields:
- Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning (real-time decision-making and reinforcement learning)
- Underwater Robotics & Control Systems (AUV operation and sensor integration)
- Human-Robot Interaction (enhancing collaboration between divers and robots)
- Computer Vision (object recognition and navigation)
- Safety & Risk Management (ensuring compliance with safety protocols in extreme environments)
Collaboration partners:
- KTH (lead institution, technical development, and validation)
- FMV (defense applications and operational requirements)
- Saab (industrial expertise in autonomous systems and marine technology)
Principal Investigators (PIs)
- Ivan Stenius (KTH, Project Lead)
- Jana Tumova (KTH co-PI)
- Dimos Dimarogonas (KTH co-PI)
About the project
Objective
RECOPS aims to provide evidence-based insights into the benefits of open-source software in the power sector. The project focuses on identifying impactful areas for open-source applications, such as HVDC control, distributed renewable energy (DER) simulation, and hardware operations. Through case studies and a novel assessment methodology, RECOPS will evaluate system robustness and cost benefits from open-source approaches. The project is structured into three work packages, incorporates stakeholder engagement, simulations, and interdisciplinary collaboration.
Background
Open-source software has gained widespread use in industries like robotics and general software engineering but remains underutilized in the power sector. While academic initiatives exist, their limited maintenance and lack of industry relevance hinder broader adoption. The power sector’s need for robustness and focus on proprietary, closed software solutions further constrain open-source integration. However, there could be benefits with open-source software to enhance cost-effectiveness and robustness in energy systems.
Crossdisciplinary collaboration
The researchers in the team represent the KTH School of Industrial Engineering and Management, Unit of Energy Systems and the KTH School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Division of Electric Power and Energy Systems.
About the project
Objective
A Lego-inspired design framework called SiLago (Silicon Lego) enables automation from the system level to ready-to-manufacture solutions for high-performance Edge AI applications. This framework bridges the gap between ease of use and performance by providing ASIC-comparable efficiency while achieving significantly improved energy efficiency—10X to 100X better than commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) solutions such as GPUs and FPGAs. The research project aims to enhance the SiLago framework to support comprehensive system-level implementation by addressing computation, storage, and interconnect requirements. These enhancements will enable SiLago to streamline the synthesis of complex applications, such as those required in industrial use cases. Finally, the improved system-level capabilities will be seamlessly integrated with the existing application-level synthesis flow, creating a unified, automated design process from applications to manufacturable silicon.
Background
The field of electronics and VLSI has driven transformative advancements in computing, enabling the development of increasingly powerful and efficient hardware systems. System architecture plays a crucial role in defining the structure and interaction of hardware components, ensuring efficient computation, storage, and communication. Despite these advancements, designing high-performance and energy-efficient hardware, such as ASICs, remains a complex, resource-intensive process requiring specialized expertise. The SiLago framework builds on these foundations, combining principles of VLSI, hardware modeling, system architecture, and design automation to provide a modular, automated solution for ASIC design.
About the Digital Futures Postdoc Fellow
Nooshin Nosrati completed her doctoral research in Digital Electronic Systems at the University of Tehran (UT). Her doctoral thesis was on hybrid reliability provisions in embedded systems with a focus on Computational Elements. Her research interests encompass hardware design and modeling, computer architectures, reliability and testability of embedded systems.
Main supervisor
Ahmed Hemani, Full Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering, KTH.
Co-supervisor
Artur Podobas, Associate Professor, Division of SCS, School of EECS, KTH.
About the project
Objective
Towards the digital transformation, this research program aims to establish theory and methods for privacy-preserving localization in wireless networks. A privacy-preserving localization method is supposed to preserve user privacy while enabling communication and localization functionalities.
Background
Telecommunications providers possess vast amounts of wireless connection data that can be used for localization. Users will benefit from this location awareness, gaining access to a plethora of convenient and personalized services that will drive the digital transformation towards more intelligent, economically viable, and socially sustainable societies and industries. The scope of these services spans the gamut from industry 4.0 and home automation to comprehensive healthcare monitoring. However, it is crucial to acknowledge the potential dangers associated with such location-centric data. In the wrong hands, this information could raise privacy concerns, including data misuse, security breaches, and threats to property. In light of these risks, this research program aims to establish theory and methods for privacy-preserving localization in wireless networks.
About the Digital Futures Postdoc Fellow
Hanying Zhao is a postdoc at the Division of Information Science and Engineering at KTH. Her research interests include statistical inference, privacy-preserving technology, and localization.
Main supervisor
Tobias Oechtering, Professor, Division of Information Science and Engineering at KTH
Co-supervisor
Mats Bengtsson, Professor, Division of Information Science and Engineering at KTH
About the project
Objective
The overall goal of this seed project is to lay the groundwork for a comprehensive EU and national research proposal aimed at advancing Industry 5.0, focusing on promoting a green transition through digitalization, fostering collaboration between specialists and stakeholders in industrial systems, and facilitating innovative business transformations. The project aspires to make a significant impact on sustainability and resource efficiency across various industries by exploring how digitalization can support CO2 and waste reduction through a circular transformation.
Based on this goal, we propose the following objectives:
- Objective 1: Pave the way for both an EU and a national research proposal in the direction of Industry 5.0, with specific emphasis towards a green transition and how digitalization can support CO2 and waste reduction through a circular transformation.
- Objective 2: Strengthen the research community in the Digitalized Industry at Digital Futures with special emphasis on bridging the gaps between specialists and stakeholders involved in industrial systems, digitalization, and circular economy; this objective also relates to strengthening and creating new connections between KTH/SU/RISE researchers with industry and other relevant external organizations.
- Objective 3: Facilitate innovative business transformations by developing new business models and value chains.
Background
Industry 4.0 has shifted the manufacturing industries significantly towards digitalization. It uses cyber-physical systems to integrate information and communication technologies into production and automation. This has transformed industrial practices greatly, but it has lacked focus on social aspects. In addition, industries will have to meet the climate and sustainability targets. Industry 5.0 – or Society 5.0 – aims to address social and sustainability challenges with the help of the integration of physical and virtual spaces that would be achieved by Industry 4.0. Together with technological evolution, the societal characteristics of the social generations have evolved, too. Now, we put the attention to the industrial transformation from the technology-centric view of Industry 4.0 towards a socio-technical and sustainable view of Industry 5.0.
Crossdisciplinary collaboration
The project will engage a mix of experts and stakeholders through workshops and funding proposal development. It is designed to unite various disciplines in driving forward the vision of Industry 5.0 and the green transition.
About the project
Objective
In this seed project, we aim to develop a roadmap starting from Industry 4.0 (launched in 2011) to reach Industry 5.0 with a forward-looking agenda with 2030 as a target. The aim is to develop the Roadmap for Industry 5.0 and beyond, which drives sustainability. The main objectives of the project include,
- To emphasise how synergies can be obtained among the many related efforts at KTH, with partners, and in collaboration between KTH and its strategic partners.
- To find out how current research at KTH responds to the new requirements and what future research themes are proposed with a five-year perspective.
- Engage industry and stakeholder interaction through workshops and establish collaboration for national and international projects (industrial and research projects) in the direction of the roadmap.
The scope of the project is wide and varied. This calls for a diverse network of people working on this project. Therefore, we have put together a strong team of professors, assistant professors, researchers, and post-docs representing two different schools and several departments at KTH. The Industrial digitalization workgroup and reference group support this diverse project team. The project’s results, i.e., the roadmap, will enable industries and academia to guide toward Industry 5.0. This pioneering research work will also help KTH enhance its education and research profiles.
Background
Industry 4.0 has shifted the manufacturing industries greatly towards digitalization. It uses cyber-physical systems to integrate information and communication technologies into production and automation. This has greatly transformed industrial practices but lacked focus on social aspects. In addition, industries will have to meet climate and sustainability targets. Industry 5.0 – or Society 5.0 – aims to address social and sustainability challenges with the help of the integration of physical and virtual spaces that would be achieved by Industry 4.0. Together with technological evolution, the societal characteristics of the social generations have evolved, too. Now, we focus on the industrial transformation from the technology-centric view of Industry 4.0 towards a socio-technical and sustainable view of Industry 5.0.
Crossdisciplinary collaboration
The team’s researchers represent several KTH Royal Institute of Technology departments.
Watch the recorded presentation at the Digitalize in Stockholm 2023 event: