Gruppo Romani presents Smart Tiles, intelligent ceramic slabs that open the door to the future of home automation design. The installation of these active ceramic tiles for monitoring building structures transforms the ceramic slabs concept, enabling them to become intelligent elements, capable of monitoring both the surrounding environment and building structures.
This is the outcome of more than four years of research and investments amounting to about EUR 10 million. Given its coherence with the rationale of investing in research and sustainable development, the project was funded by Mise. Project participants included technical partners such as Sacmi, Iprel, CNR, Trebax and Studio-IOT.
Smart Tiles hold, in a special compartment created on the back of the tile, a micro electronic card fitted with MEMS sensors, permitting the transfer of collected data to Cloud. In addition to complying with the UNI EN 14411 standard and maintaining Gruppo Romani’s high aesthetic standards, these tiles also enable integrated monitoring of programmed parameters.
Giorgio Romani, President of Gruppo Romani, points out that this innovation projects the Company towards new fields of application for ceramic slabs, with a special focus on covering ventilated walls in residential and commercial buildings. The ability to transmit information on key structural and environmental parameters can potentially revolutionise the approach to safety and prevention in buildings, offering a one-of-a-kind high value-added solution.
Smart Tiles will be produced in the 120×120 cm size, on-demand and customised to meet clients’ specific requirements. These tiles promise to reset safety and innovation standards in the ceramic surfaces industry.
Paolo Romani, the Group’s CEO thanks the co-inventors, namely the Industrial Director, Mr. Alessandro Berselli and Mr. Marco Bonvino of Studio IOT, as well as the collaborators who have contributed to the success of the project during the experimental, prototyping and testing phases.
Gruppo Romani, that started producing 100% Made in Italy ceramic surfaces more than 55 years ago, is a trendsetter in the industry. Its strong focus on innovation, safety and sustainability demonstrates the company’s firm commitment to the efficiency and sustainability of its products and production processes.