AI-powered Autonomous Cardano Stake Pool Operator

[GENERAL] Name and surname of main applicant

Ricardas Darksas

[GENERAL] Are you delivering this project as an individual or as an entity (whether formally incorporated or not)

Entity (Not Incorporated)

[GENERAL] Please specify how many months you expect your project to last (from 2-12 months)

7

[GENERAL] Please indicate if your proposal has been auto-translated into English from another language

No

[GENERAL] Summarize your solution to the problem (200-character limit including spaces)

SPO system with LLMs to call functions that control delegation strategies, monitor network health, and enhance uptime, resulting in efficient pool operation with minimal human intervention.

[GENERAL] Does your project have any dependencies on other organizations, technical or otherwise?

No

[GENERAL] If YES, please describe what the dependency is and why you believe it is essential for your project’s delivery. If NO, please write “No dependencies.”

No dependencies

[GENERAL] Will your project’s output/s be fully open source?

Yes

[GENERAL] Please provide here more information on the open source status of your project outputs

Using the MIT License, we'll release the project in an open GitHub repository.

[METADATA] Horizons

Infrastructure

[SOLUTION] Please describe your proposed solution

Summary:

An open-source AI-powered autonomous Cardano Stake Pool Operator (SPO) that utilizes large language models (LLMs) to call functions that control delegation strategies, monitor network health, and enhance uptime, resulting in efficient pool operation with minimal human intervention. This project aims to improve the SPO experience by making these tools openly accessible, enabling community-driven development and collaboration.

Solution Description:

The Cardano SPO ecosystem requires constant human attention to ensure nodes are operational, handle delegation efficiently, and maintain optimal performance. This is time-intensive and can discourage new SPOs from joining.

AutoSPO (Automated Stake Pool Operator) aims to provide an AI-based automation layer for Stake Pool Operators, fully open-sourced to promote transparency and collaboration. This project will use large language models (LLMs) to:

• Automated Monitoring and Alerts: Constantly analyzing node metrics, anticipating problems, and responding proactively.
• Optimized Stake Management: Using historical and real-time data to optimize staking decisions for improved yield.
• AI-based Failover Mechanism: Deploying self-healing failover systems to ensure the pool remains live, avoiding downtime penalties.
• Network Analytics and Performance Tuning: AI-based recommendations for enhancing performance based on observed network trends.

Key Features:

1. Autonomous Stake Pool Monitoring: AI models analyze health metrics and network status in real-time, automatically restarting services or reconfiguring nodes if necessary.
2. Predictive Maintenance: Historical logs and current metrics predict when hardware or software maintenance is required, reducing downtime.
3. Delegation Strategy Optimization: AI evaluates factors like pledge amount, pool saturation, and rewards to help the pool maintain competitive delegations.
4. Redundant Backup Nodes with Failover: The system ensures backup nodes are ready to take over instantly in case of primary node failure.
5. Easy Setup and Management Interface: User-friendly dashboard for SPOs, making the tool accessible even for those with minimal technical knowledge.

[IMPACT] Please define the positive impact your project will have on the wider Cardano community

This project encourages more operators to join by simplifying the SPO management process, supporting a decentralized and resilient Cardano network. By being fully open source, AutoSPO also ensures that anyone in the community can contribute, inspect, and improve the codebase.

This openness lowers the barrier for aspiring SPOs and fosters community collaboration. It contributes to the health and stability of the Cardano network and allows for more consistent delegation and community engagement.

[CAPABILITY & FEASIBILITY] What is your capability to deliver your project with high levels of trust and accountability? How do you intend to validate if your approach is feasible?

Ričardas Darkšas is a dedicated programmer whose journey began immediately after graduation, diving into software development. His early work involved creating specialized certification software for a recruitment firm and developing order-generation software for manufacturers thereby enhancing supplier interactions.

His experience expanded to include working on an HR management system and a 3D gaming cafeteria management system. Additionally, he has contributed to industrial projects, focusing on manufacturing process control, packaging, and labeling.

For an intense 2.5 years, he remotely engaged with a marketing company in the USA, enhancing my web development skills by working on various marketing campaigns. This role included traveling to Las Vegas twice to assist with the technical operations at live events. Following this experience, he made significant contributions to a document management system and various projects utilizing Java.

His most recent venture includes completing courses in blockchain technology at EMURGO Academy, and finishing the first batch of the Cardano Solution Architect, leading to his membership in a decentralized organization.

He has developed the backend and management system of the platform Cardano CoffeDAO. A tokenization service for specialty coffee grown in Honduras and sold in the United States. He also generated the images for the project using generative artificial intelligence these models were run both in a local environment and on servers.

Sebastian Pereira is an economist who has experience working for several industries. After university, he worked as head of the planning department of a State corporation. In 2019 he decided to switch full-time to the crypto industry starting as a writer for projects and publications.

In 2018, he founded a coffee trading company in Brazil called Pangea Agro. It exported coffee to several European countries such as Portugal, Spain, and Italy.

In 2020 he began blockchain courses at EMURGO Academy finishing the entire program with the Cardano Solutions Architect. He has worked on many Cardano projects and currently works for EMURGO. He is also a founder of CoffeeDAO.

[PROJECT MILESTONES] What are the key milestones you need to achieve in order to complete your project successfully?

Initial Development and Proof of Concept (Month 1): Design AI architecture for monitoring and automation.

Beta Release with Monitoring and Alerts (Month 2-3): Launch a working version capable of monitoring node status and triggering alerts.

Complete Automation Features (Month 4-5): Deploy fully autonomous delegation optimization, failover mechanisms, and predictive maintenance.

Community Testing and Feedback (Month 6): Allow selected community members to use and test the tool and provide feedback for improvements.

Final Deployment (Month 7): Launch the project publicly, provide high-quality open-source documentation, and encourage community contributions.

[RESOURCES] Who is in the project team and what are their roles?

Full Stack & AI Developer: Backend development, AI model integration, API development.

Project Manager: Coordination of tasks, ensuring milestones are met, and maintaining communication with stakeholders.

[BUDGET & COSTS] Please provide a cost breakdown of the proposed work and resources

Budget & Costs (for 7 months):

• AI & Backend Development: ~120,000 ADA.
• Cloud Hosting and Failover Nodes: ~10,000 ADA.
• Testing, Community Outreach, and Documentation: ~12,000 ADA.
• Miscellaneous: ~3,500 ADA.
• Project Management: ~44,500 ADA.

Total: 190,000 ADA

[VALUE FOR MONEY] How does the cost of the project represent value for money for the Cardano ecosystem?

This proposal provides substantial value by making Cardano more accessible to prospective SPOs, contributing to the network's overall health and decentralization. The project's open-source nature ensures that the entire community benefits, enabling others to build upon and adapt the technology for their own use. Automating key processes reduces operational costs and risks, ultimately benefitting the Cardano network and its stakeholders.