Autonomous mobility is set to transform cities over the coming decades. However, for autonomous vehicles to be able to move safely, they will need to be able not only to perceive what is happening around them, but also to collaborate with one another and with urban infrastructure.

MIMISTIC was created with this goal in mind: an initiative driven by the Provincial Council of Bizkaia that seeks to develop the technologies that will make safer, smoother and more inclusive smart mobility possible in Bilbao. The project aims to provide the entire mobility value chain with advanced solutions that enable robust, efficient collaborative manoeuvres, improving both people's safety and urban traffic management.

In this context, IKERLAN is researching cooperative perception technologies, a capability that will allow vehicles, smart infrastructure and urban management systems to share real-time information about what is happening in the city. Thanks to this, autonomous vehicles will be able to gain a much broader view of their surroundings and make safer, more efficient decisions.

The research carried out by IKERLAN aims to help Bilbao move towards a new mobility model in which vehicles, traffic lights, urban sensors and traffic management centres are part of a connected ecosystem capable of cooperating in real time. The goal is to achieve safer journeys, reduce incidents and foster more accessible mobility for all citizens, especially the most vulnerable road users.

Technologies that help vehicles collaborate and make better decisions

The research IKERLAN is carrying out within MIMISTIC combines artificial intelligence, perception systems and advanced communications so that vehicles (whether autonomous, automated or conventional), infrastructure and control centres can cooperate in real time.

The technology centre's activities focus on four main areas:

• Smarter, more connected vehicles, capable of exchanging information and accessing digital services safely and efficiently, optimising energy consumption and contributing to more sustainable mobility.
• Advanced robust perception systems, which improve the ability to detect obstacles, pedestrians and potentially dangerous situations, even in complex scenarios such as junctions with reduced visibility, areas of high traffic density or adverse weather conditions.
• New autonomous driving capabilities, based on artificial intelligence able to adapt to dynamic environments and adverse conditions such as heavy rain, fog or slippery road surfaces.
• Resilient vehicle communications, designed to ensure that information flows quickly, reliably and securely between vehicles and infrastructure.

This research is framed within the PreAIdictive Safety concept developed by IKERLAN, which proposes a new generation of safety systems capable of anticipating risks before they occur, through the combination of artificial vision, intelligent communications and artificial intelligence.

An ecosystem to drive smart mobility in Bilbao

MIMISTIC aims to lay the technological foundations that will make safer, more efficient and more sustainable mobility possible, to turn Bilbao into a European benchmark in connected and autonomous mobility, thanks to technologies that allow vehicles and infrastructure to cooperate in real time.

To ensure that these developments meet the market's real needs, the project has an Advisory Board made up of leading organisations such as CAF, Kapsch, ASIMOB, Gertek, AIC and BFA, which contribute sector expertise and market insight to accelerate the transfer of results.

Through its participation in MIMISTIC, IKERLAN strengthens its position in smart mobility technologies, artificial intelligence, advanced communications and safe autonomous systems, contributing to the development of solutions that will help build a safer, more inclusive Bilbao that is ready for the mobility challenges of the future.

IKERLAN is taking part in the MIMISTIC project, driven by the Provincial Council of Bizkaia (Diputación Foral de Bizkaia), to develop advanced technologies that allow vehicles and infrastructure to share information in real time and carry out safer, more efficient collaborative manoeuvres.