Masa, the open-air urban laboratory created in the northern area of Modena to support research and experimentation on innovative autonomous and connected vehicles, with particular attention to safety and in the perspective of a sustainable mobility system, is enriched with two more projects financed in recent days under the European Commission’s Horizon Europe programme. The total sum of the new European contributions is almost 250 thousand euros and concerns activities related to artificial intelligence.
With the Froddo project (Federated cybeR-physical infrastructure for ODD cOntinuity), worth 187 thousand and 500 euros, the intention is to develop and test a set of methods and tools based on the principles of designing secure systems in a so-called “federated” environment which exploits advanced detection, “machine learning”, hybrid artificial intelligence and simulation, taking into account the growing adaptability and sustainability of the Operational Design Domain (ODD or the context identified by a series of conditions – environmental, geographical, temporal etc. – in which connected and autonomous vehicles operate) to complex and constantly changing road contexts. This is with the aim of allowing better management of the so-called “Physical and Digital Infrastructure”, i.e. the complex of elements such as roads, intersections, street lights, traffic lights, and the related applications that regulate them, and which make up the infrastructure within which they move connected and autonomous vehicles.
The other project, on the same themes, has a value of 58 thousand 750 euros and has the objective of promoting fair and accessible mobility in European regions by integrating cultural, geographical and political aspects in the design, development and implementation of solutions for cooperative, connected and automated mobility. The project “Integrating the European cultural and regional variations in the design and implementation of citizen-friendly systems to foster mobility equity (Diversify Ccam)” is coordinated by the Swedish National Transport Research Institute (Vti) and involves university and research institutes , public bodies and companies from various countries.
In recent weeks the Masa (Modena Automotive Smart Area), developed in the city by the Municipality and Unimore by creating a road route for the testing of vehicles equipped for autonomous and connected driving, was recognized as a reference model for the Smart Area in the Plan three-year course for IT in public administration defined by the Agency for Digital Italy (Agid).
