Radiolabs is the coordinator of the CYROAD project – “Innovative services for the safety of Smart Roads and connected mobility” – which involves AISICO, Idea IT, Intecs, Wind Tre, and the University of L’Aquila as partners. The project, selected under the Abruzzo Regional FESR 2021-2027 Program, aligns with the Regional Smart Specialization Strategy (RIS3), which includes aerospace and automotive among its priorities. The goal are new technologies for the Smart Roads – intelligent roads able to communicate with self-driving cars and provide safety information to drivers.
The new project represents a bold step forward of the technology ecosystem development plan for autonomous driving that Radiolabs is building at the Abruzzo Technopole at L’Aquila, in collaboration with ASI, ESA, the University of L’Aquila, and the Region, aiming for supporting the evolution of mobility that’s increasingly connected, safer, and, above all must be, eco-friendly and accessible to everyone. These challenges make the Abruzzo tech ecosystem a point of reference in Europe with P-CAR, which aims to become the first independent center for validating technology systems for autonomous driving and smart roads.
The priority of the CYROAD project is to improve road safety with the new ‘Smart Road Intersection’ and an innovative ‘Intelligent Road Barrier‘ thus contributing to the ‘Zero Road Deaths’ goal set by the European Union. The new technologies aim to protect the safety of cyclists, motorcyclists, and pedestrians – who account for about half of all urban traffic deaths – mainly occur at intersections – as well as for car-drivers, especially those traveling on mountain roads often affected by low visibility and extreme weather conditions.
Thanks to the integration of sensors and 5G communication systems in the new smart road barriers, it will be possible to collect data for more detailed, eco-friendly, and real time traffic monitoring, for enabling the provision of new services to road users.
CYROAD is based on high-capacity, low-latency multi-standard communication technologies, environmental sensing algorithms with artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques, as well as innovative IoT sensor solutions powered by solar panels.
The complete system to be built as part of the CYROAD project includes a dedicated 5G network, Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) processing resources, a prototype smart barrier, and an operations center with an advanced Vehicle-in-the-Loop (ViL) simulation environment. This innovative tech ecosystem – unique in Italy – will be tested to validate the new services for the mobility.
The results of CYROAD will expand the capabilities of the P-CAR center (PNT Center for Automated Road-Transport, https://www.radiolabs.it/guida-connessa-autonoma-e-piu-sicura) – a national strategic infrastructure that will be used for testing and validating new technologies for Smart Roads. Meanwhile, the test facility at the AISICO Testing Center in Pereto (AQ) will allow the verification of the developed solution in a setting representative of real operating conditions, including the validation and demonstration of the intelligent road barrier prototype.
With CYROAD, the skills and technological infrastructure already present in Abruzzo in the fields of smart mobility, multi-platform telecommunications (including satellite), IoT, and cybersecurity are being strengthened, promoting further collaborations at the national and international levels. Significant benefits are expected for the production and education sectors, which require new skills to seize opportunities on the digitalisation of road infrastructures and autonomous driving systems with great growth potential.
Raffaele Trivilino – director of the Automotive Innovation Hub Abruzzo – expressed great satisfaction for the launch of the CYROAD project, which propels the Abruzzo Region into the future of connected mobility, bringing new opportunities for the commercial vehicle and 2-wheeler sectors, which are among the main industries in the region.
