SAP is broadening its partnership with UnternehmerTUM (UTUM), Europe’s foremost centre for entrepreneurship and innovation at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), which has resulted in the latest product prototype, SafetyGuard. The SafetyGuard prototype for automatic safety inspections combines artificial intelligence and robotics to scan for workplace hazards and aid companies in adhering to safety regulations.
Developed in 12 weeks as part of a programme in UTUM’s Digital Product School (where select student teams tackle real-world problems), SafetyGuard was created by a student team, MIDAS, and SAP Research & Innovation. This is an example of how cross-location collaboration with the ecosystem can be effective in quickly producing prototypes for product development at SAP.
The specific prototyping project focused on identifying use cases where the integration of robotics and AI into business processes could be seamless, and based on its research and on user studies, the team MIDAS identified the reliable detection and documentation of safety risks as one use case.
Many industries rely on safety inspections, but these are often time-consuming and error-prone. SafetyGuard could transform that: using embodied AI, it speeds up, optimises, and enhances inspections without burdening employees with more work.
SAP plans to invest in and develop embodied AI, which integrates artificial intelligence into physical robot systems. SafetyGuard incorporates two technologies: modular robotics and AI-driven autonomy.
The prototype would use robots, including drones and humanoid systems that could check work environments without human presence, and an AI model trained to identify instances where protective equipment is missing and to record safety incidents automatically, for example, while performing other tasks such as transporting materials or monitoring machinery.
Tobias Riasanow, head of Ecosystem Development at SAP Labs Germany, said, “SafetyGuard demonstrates just how effective our ecosystem approach is. In this project, an SAP team in Potsdam and a group of students in Munich joined forces and very quickly built a prototype that will have a real impact on product development. It’s the perfect example of what SAP understands by ecosystem development.”