Artificial intelligence for Space: Politecnico di Torino's “IntelliSwarm” project has received €3 million in funding from the European Union to increase the quality, availability and timeliness of images processed on board satellites

TURIN, Italy, June 17, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Politecnico di Torino’s research project “IntelliSwarm” has been awarded the prestigious ERC Advanced Grant, an initiative of the European Research Council aimed at supporting the practical application and exploitation of the results of frontier research projects. This represents a significant opportunity for researchers from across Europe who, in order to participate in the selection process, must be recognised as leaders in their field of research, with a proven track record of excellence that ensures the delivery of original results and a positive impact on the future of society. A total of 281 projects received funding across Europe, including 25 in Italy.

The scientific coordinator of the project is Enrico Magli, Professor at the Department of Electronics and Telecommunications-DET, who will receive €3 million to invest in research over the next five years. By assembling a team of experts and investing in state-of-the-art computing infrastructure, the project aims to increase the quality, availability and timeliness of images processed on board satellites, thereby optimising the use of inter-satellite and satellite-to-ground communication links.

In a world that increasingly needs accurate data to interpret and predict phenomena and events of collective interest – with particular attention to environmental disasters that affect our regions with growing frequency, such as floods and wildfires – the studies conducted by Professor Magli have the ambition of collecting images of the Earth's surface with significantly higher spatial and spectral resolution and 3D reconstruction capabilities. This is achieved through the use of advanced artificial intelligence techniques and processing carried out by a swarm of satellites. The swarm enables cooperation between different satellites, providing a distributed acquisition and calculation paradigm. This has the advantage of overcoming the limitations of a single large satellite and ensuring robustness, as the failure of one satellite does not compromise the functionality of the system as a whole.

Beyond space applications: The methods developed within the project will also be relevant for other types of “embedded” systems, thereby extending the impact of the research to different fields of investigation, such as sensor networks and the Internet of Things.

“Earth observation from space is a rapidly expanding field with a variety of applications in sustainability, environmental disaster management, and spatial analysis – explains Professor Magli – the “IntelliSwarm” aims to develop highly sophisticated instruments and modes of observation, distributing their complexity across a large number of small satellites, overcoming the limitations of optics with AI, and running advanced AI models directly on board the satellites. I find the project extremely stimulating because of the scientific problems it will lead us to address, which will also have implications for the use of AI in systems based on low-power computing nodes. Looking ahead, a possible continuation of the project involves training models directly on board the satellites, enabling them to learn continuously from all observed images.”

“This recognition reflects the growing importance of excellence in research within Politecnico,” says Rector Stefano Corgnati. “Being internationally competitive requires full synergy between experiential learning and increasingly essential research and innovation activities. The opportunities offered by the ERC Advanced Grant will also strengthen our appeal within the international research landscape, laying the groundwork to attract top young talent and enabling them to engage with cutting-edge projects.”

For further information, please visit the official ERC website: https://erc.europa.eu/news-events/news/erc-2024-advanced-grants-results

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