Ceit and the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa enter fully into the era of intelligent roads through the 'Living Lab'.

The pilot projects developed by Ceit and tested in 'Gipuzkoa Living Lab' will begin to be implemented on the territory's roads, as is the case of the pollutant measurement devices or the intelligent road safety system for cyclists.

The deputy general, Markel Olano, together with the deputy for Road Infrastructures, Aintzane Oiarbide, and the director of Transport and Sustainable Mobility of Ceit, Alfonso Brazález, presented the latest advances of Gipuzkoa Living Lab, the collaborative R&D initiative to develop advanced road services and technologies for intelligent transport, road safety and energy efficiency on the roads of Gipuzkoa. The occasion has served to give details of some of the pilot experiences of artificial intelligence developed in recent months and that we will soon see on our roads.

"Gipuzkoa Living Lab is our tool for experimenting on the ground with the technologies and systems that the smart, connected and sustainable roads of the future will need," explained Olano. It is "a conceptual leap towards a new phase in roads". Thus, Gipuzkoa will progressively complete "the time of major infrastructure developments, with the Gipuzkoa Roundabout already completed, to fully enter the era of artificial intelligence, with safer, more efficient and comfortable roads, thanks to the latest technology".

In this way, there are three initiatives that the regional authorities presented at the press conference, as a sample of the progress made by Gipuzkoa Living Lab, and which will come into operation at different points of the Gipuzkoa road network: the technological deployment in the cross-border corridor of the AP-8/AP-1, the pilot experience in Orio for the detection of polluting substances and the demo of a new intelligent road safety system for cyclists that will be carried out in Gaintxurizketa in a few weeks' time.

Measurement of pollutants

The most recent pilot experience has been developed at the exit of the AP-8 semi-link at Orio, during the week of February 6, where a system for measuring and controlling emissions of polluting substances has been installed. The tested system is equipped with an artificial vision camera and two optical sensors, one on each side of the road, which detect the vehicle and can measure in real time the wavelength of compounds such as CO2 or other pollutants emitted by the vehicle. The deputy Aintzane Oiarbide has highlighted that this is "one of the most interesting innovation projects of the department, and a pioneer at state and European level, using this type of technology on the roads to make live measurements". The data is recorded on a platform that "provides really useful accurate information, both for drivers and for the department", and has advanced that "very soon we will see this technology installed on our roads". In Oiarbide's words, "this type of technology offers us the opportunity to adjust toll rates based on the real pollution emitted by vehicles and to have a fairer rate, in line with the increasingly demanding European guidelines". Gipuzkoa will have first-hand information to know and control pollution on the roads, which will serve to really raise awareness of the pollution level of vehicles with timely and accurate data. Moreover, once the intelligent system is installed, the applications are very diverse and could even detect certain vehicle breakdowns on the spot or be used to regulate access to future low-emission zones in cities.

Road safety for cyclists

The second demo to be carried out in the following weeks will take place in Gaintxurizketa, and will be a pilot experience related to road safety on roads where cyclists circulate in complicated or low visibility sections. The pilot experience will be carried out in a few weeks on the GI-636, between the area of the road braiding and the ascent to the top, a sloping section with a curve, very frequented by cyclists throughout the year. The intelligent system will have an artificial vision camera and a communication beacon at the entrance to the road and sensors will be installed along the stretch. These devices will detect the presence of cyclists on the road and collect information about their situation. Vehicles with enabled devices will be alerted to the presence and location of cyclists by the information transmitted through the beacons, which will also transmit the information to two display warning signs that will be activated only when there are cyclists on the road. After the test, the Road Infrastructures department will begin to design the plan to install this system at priority points in the territory.

Cross-border cooperative corridor

Gipuzkoa Living Lab started in 2021, with a first stage of adaptation and equipment as a test bench for new road technologies on the AP-8 and AP-1 highways. The cross-border corridor is equipped with a beaconing and communication system as the basic technological infrastructure. Throughout 2022, sensors and beacons have been deployed and are already operational in the Zarautz and Donostia areas and in the Irun toll and Txingudi area. The installation of the system is expected to be completed by the end of this year, with 25 detection and communication devices throughout the corridor. At the same time, the computer service in the cloud to process the information is already developed and the adaptation for cell phones with Android operating systems is being finalized, with its own application. Subsequently, the version for Android Auto will be developed, as well as versions for Apple (iOS and Apple Car) and the different integrated vehicle communication and safety systems. The cloud system, developed by IZFE, analyzes real-time information provided by road sensors and combines it with different data sources in the cloud (such as weather models, traffic applications or satellite information). Artificial intelligence provides predictive road safety and efficient driving information to drivers in real time.

Finally, it should be noted that the cross-border corridor in Gipuzkoa has aroused great interest at the European level due to its strategic location within one of the main transport axes in the south of the continent. The Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa and the Community of Agglomeration of the Basque Country in the French State are working together to develop the corridor beyond the border. In addition, this collaboration extends to the new trans-European consortium of which Gipuzkoa is a member, with the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, Ceit, Tecnalia and Basque CCAM, on the one hand, and Atlandes, the French concessionaire of the A-63 in the Landes area, on the other.

Collaborative and open initiatives

Gipuzkoa Living Lab's technological partner is the Ceit technology center, with which the department has been developing this project for four years now. In this way, the center has made available to the Department of Road Infrastructures its assets developed in this field, providing both the knowledge and the technology for the developments. In this sense, the head of Ceit, Alfonso Brazález, emphasized the need for a mobility strategy aimed at zero accidents and climate neutrality in the future. Brazález also stressed that "today Gipuzkoa is at the forefront of the new mobility thanks to the great potential of the territory in many aspects". Gipuzkoa Living Lab also seeks to extend its collaborative vocation to companies, universities and technology centers interested in testing or developing their services and technologies in this test bed. According to the deputy general, "several start-ups and technology centers are already testing developments in the cross-border corridor and the Provincial Council wants to call on many more to join this cutting-edge initiative".