TECNALIA develops an autonomous vehicle for AI-enabled road maintenance
- This week, in the town of Abadiño, the centre for applied research and technological development is carrying out a demonstration of this technology designed for the construction sector, specifically for the monitoring of roadworks and maintenance management.
- It is a technological solution that combines a drone, developed by CATEC, which carries out an initial inspection of the site, a digital twin, which receives this information, and an autonomous vehicle, which reinforces the inspection work.
- This initiative aims to reduce CO2 emissions in the construction sector by 11%, improve production efficiency by around 14%, and increase the safety and ergonomics of work in the sector.
Abadiño. 23 January 2025. New technologies are gradually being introduced in all sectors to promote more sustainable and efficient industries, and it is also increasingly common to see these new tools on the streets. Such is the case of the latest development by TECNALIA research and technological development centre for the construction sector, specifically for the monitoring of roadworks and maintenance management, which is being tested this week in the town of Abadiño.
This technological solution developed by the Beeyonders consortium, in which TECNALIA takes part, combines a drone – developed by CATEC, the Advanced Centre for Aerospace Technologies – which carries out an initial autonomous inspection of the site, with a digital twin, which receives this information to be analysed, and an autonomous ground vehicle, both developed by TECNALIA, which reinforces the inspection work if necessary and could even act and carry out maintenance work by means of an optional integrated robotic arm.
This technological development has travelled along a section of the Mendiola secondary road, located in the town of Abadiño, with the aim of promoting the contribution of aerial and terrestrial drones, digital twins and terrestrial robots in road maintenance decisions using advanced sensors and perception techniques.
TECNALIA colleague José Carlos Jiménez explained that “this demonstrator shows the possibilities of ground mobile robotics for applications beyond industrial and structured environments. Road maintenance is a good example of how autonomous vehicles can be used successfully to improve processes and reduce risk for operators”. The outdoor location and autonomous navigation technologies used are also applicable in other outdoor areas with semi- or unstructured environments, such as the agricultural sector, construction, etc.
Marco Montes, Technical Manager of CATEC’s developments, explained the benefits of using drones for maintenance applications. “Thanks to these new autonomous technologies, it is possible to improve work efficiency as well as worker safety, as longer distances of roads can be inspected in a short time. And by using AI tools, potential problems on the road can be detected more quickly and safely, which will help to increase safety for people.”
Cutting-edge technology for construction
This technology is currently being developed and assessed, and the final prototype will be tested in Italy later this quarter. This initiative is part of the European Beeyonders initiative, which involves 22 companies and technology centres from different sectors in 9 countries. In the case of Spain, as well as TECNALIA and CATEC, the project includes Acciona Construction as coordinators, the Technological Institute of Aragon developing an autonomous loader for civil construction, and PNO Innovation as an actor for the use and dissemination of results.
The project aims to develop cutting-edge technology for the construction industry in order to boost its efficiency through sophisticated tools, improve process quality, increase the company productivity and promote sustainable and environmentally friendly activity, while promoting an innovative and digitalised industry, adapted to the new talent in the sector. Specifically, this is all expected to reduce CO2 emissions in the construction sector by 11% and improve production efficiency by around 14%. The inclusion of these tools will also increase the safety and ergonomics of work in the sector.
