Integrated Service & Safety Platform

Traditional fire alarm systems have three main functions: detection, response, and notification. While the core functionality remains the same, factors such as size, complexity, and regulatory requirements can vary significantly depending on the installation environment, ranging from office buildings, hotels, and primary schools to cruise ships and oil facilities. One of the biggest challenges the fire alarm industry faces today is keeping up with rapid technological advancements in digitalization while meeting the stringent safety standards required for such products. Through the ISESAP project, Autronica Fire & Security and SINTEF Digital have started developing a new fire alarm platform that combines digital services with the strict safety requirements of these systems. This groundbreaking approach will pave the way for numerous new services, such as utilizing the vast amounts of data collected from thousands of fire sensors in an office building combined with machine learning for predictive maintenance or third-party services like energy use optimization and building automation. To offer digitalized services while maintaining system safety and security, advanced methods and cutting-edge research are essential. Extensive testing and simulation will be used to ensure that the solution meets reliability and performance standards. The implementation will utilize modern communication technologies based on open standards and common off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware. Layered communication channels allow for integrating solutions from various domains to achieve desired properties. Furthermore, safety-critical components will be run separately from non-interfering software on different processing units, allowing certified system parts to operate alongside uncertified services. To maintain security throughout the project, the team will follow the SafeScrum methodology developed by SINTEF Digital. A key goal is to enable distributed processing with state information spread across the system, guaranteeing correct behavior when fully operational while allowing parts of the system to continue running even if other parts are unavailable. Effective communication protocols and distributed responsibility are crucial for these "best effort" operations. The project has conducted thorough groundwork by evaluating the state of the art from other domains, which are continuously assessed for applicability in this project. The main focus in the next phase will be on conducting proof-of-concept demonstrations.

The traditional fire alarm system has three main functions: detect, respond and notify. While these basic functionalities are the same, aspects of the system such as size, complexity and regulations will vary in great extent depending on where the fire alarm system is installed; e.g. office buildings, hotels, airports, cruise ships, containers ship and oil rigs. The biggest challenge in the safety industry today is to catch up with technology in a secure and safe manner. Technology developed “yesterday” will not meet the requirements for “tomorrow”, and in the global market there is a constant drive for new features, industry demands and cyber security threats. The future fire alarm system cannot be affected by rapid change in technology or critical components being discontinued. With this project, Autronica Fire and Security is addressing the need to retain and improve adherence to the rigid safety standards of fire detection and the ever more important needs for security. Autronica Fire and Security will be in the forefront of applied research in the safety-critical fire detection domain by investigating the use of new technologies adapted to safety applications. Globally, customers tend to demand low investment costs but may afford a slightly higher operation cost. The ability to provide state-of-the-art fire detection globally and to a great variety of end-users, demands a system which are reliable and intuitive, but also easy to support. This project can enable more dynamic future business models adjusted to each customer.