Preventive conservation (PC) has emerged as an important approach for the long-term preservation of sensitive cultural heritage (CH), notably for mobile artefacts, those displayed or stored in harsh environments and for small and medium-sized museums.
SensMat aims to develop and implement effective, low cost (<20 – 30€ for basic platform), ecoinnovative and user-friendly sensors, models and decision-making tools, as well as recommendations and guidelines to enable prediction and prevention of degradation of artefacts as a function of environmental conditions. SensMat is user-driven (inclusion of 19 museums in the project plus survey of 100 more), and the consortium has solid existing results and a strong capacity to mature the sensors, models and decision-making solutions to TRL 7 during the project. Based on multiscale modelling, data management systems, collaborative platforms and sensor communication networks (IoT), museums stakeholders will be informed in real-time of possible dangers to their artefacts, thus reducing degradation risks and costly conservation treatment. Demonstration of the platform in 10 representative case studies in museums, historical buildings, storage sites and workshops will prepare rapid uptake after the project. Knowledge transfer, training, and recommendations of best practices will facilitate standardization, strategy implementation, new policy definition, and wide-scale adoption of the new solution by cultural heritage sites immediately after the project.
Work Package 1: Project Management. The objective of this WP is to ensure an adequate project coordination and administrative and financial management of the project
Work Package 2: Review of PC and survey. WP2 will produce a table of technical, economic, ergonomic and aesthetical requirements for designing all the Preventive Conservation tools needed to implement an efficient Preventive Conservation policy in museums, easily accessible to non-scientific users.
Work Package 3: Sensor and Sensing System. This WP will deliver new enhanced sensors and sensor network systems for continuous or discontinuous local and spatial monitoring, to close existing technological gaps, as well as novel sensing architectures and manufacturing to provide ultra-low-cost and easy integration.
Work Package 4: Multiscale modelling. WP4 will set-up multi-scale and multi-physical numerical models, set-up and validate multi-physical environmental models.
Work Package 5: Smart Monitoring Architecture – SensMat Integrated Software Framework. The objective is to provide an extensible and scalable platform to gather, store, elaborate and publish data and indicators specifically formatted and designed to support Cultural Heritage professionals and operators in their jobs in PC.
Work Package 6: Data exploitation (Decision Making Tools, BIM). With this WP, the consortium wants to pass from data exploitation to Decision Making Tools.
Work Package 7: Case Studies and Demonstration in S&M museums. Main objectives are to demonstrate the concepts of the SensMat project in real small and medium museums building contexts and to select 10 Case Studies in terms of climate, typology of the artefacts, their size, the encountered materials, their sensitivity.
Work Package 8: Results Dissemination and Exploitation. One of the final goals are to facilitate the acceptance of new products developed within the project by end-users and prepare for future industrialization of the technology.
Grant Agreement (GA) No: 814596
Acronym: SensMat
Title: Preventive solutions for Sensitive Materials of Cultural Heritage
Call/Topic: Innovative and affordable solutions for the preventive conservation of cultural heritage (IA)
Type of action: Innovation action
Granted by: European Union
Duration (in months): 44
Starting Date: 1 January 2019
Total costs: EUR 6,642,052.50
Maximum grant amount: EUR 5,976,382.50
Project coordinator: CEA
https://cordis.europa.eu/project/rcn/220836/factsheet/en