The experimentation of autonomous driving vehicles on the Autostrade per l’Italia network by the Politecnico di Milano as part of the 1000 MAD (1000 Mile Autonomous Drive) project continues, this time on a stretch of road open to traffic.

Participating in the experimentation are the Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering, in charge of technical development; the Department of Management Engineering, responsible for organization and management; and the Department of Design, which designed the experimental vehicle livery, avatar and teamwear.

Autostrade per l’Italia is the first concessionaire in Italy to allow the circulation of this type of vehicle, according to the DM 70/2018 "smart roads," and is working alongside the Politecnico di Milano, which was authorized to perform this type of testing with the support of the Technical Support Observatory for Smart Roads and Connected and Self-Driving Vehicle of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport.

The first road tests started in July on the A26, where the self-driving car traveled 20 km in a stretch without tunnels. In late October, the trials continued for another 30 km, again on the A26, this time also passing through the Valsesia tunnel. These tests took place in maximum safety, according to the regulations’ requirements.

These tests are useful in understanding how accurately the vehicle locates itself on its route, for example by detecting vertical and horizontal signs and GNSS satellite coverage. The experimentation will help identify actions and technologies that can be introduced along the highway network to increase the ability of cars to ‘read’ the road, traveling in total safety.

Further open traffic tests in the Valsesia tunnel are planned for early 2024, to test the reliability of precision car positioning enabled by antennas distributed in the tunnel. In recent months, in fact, experimentation has begun on a system that enables the vehicle to communicate with the infrastructure in order to maintain the same level of autonomous driving, even in the absence of a satellite signal (as in the case of a tunnel).

The ultimate goal of the project is to ensure safer infrastructures, participating as protagonists in the mobility revolution toward decarbonization and digitalization, to ensure services that are increasingly innovative and close to the needs of users.