The Vitoria-Gasteiz Araba Mobility Lab Foundation and the University of the Basque Country (UPV-EHU) have signed an agreement for the creation of the Mobility lab-campus, a strategic alliance for training, research, innovation and knowledge transfer in the field of mobility and logistics. This agreement means the definitive entry into operation of the laboratory, with the launch of 18 research projects.

 The Provincial Council of Alava and the City Council of Vitoria-Gasteiz launched the Mobility Lab with the aim of providing Vitoria-Gasteiz and Alava with a pole of innovation that would serve as a test bench in a real environment for the mobility systems of the future, both in the field of passenger transport and logistics. For this reason, the Mobility Lab is conceived as an exploratory physical space to develop and test innovation in logistics and mobility in real conditions.

 This project is key for Alava and Vitoria-Gasteiz in the commitment to a well-connected Territory and that of an industrial and logistics Territory. It is the logical continuation of projects already underway, such as high-capacity intelligent transport or the conversion of Foronda airport into a logistics hub. The desire to establish synergies between all these initiatives with a view to the future has resulted in this strategic project.

 “This is an agreement that definitively launches the Mobility Lab, the start of this project with which we aspire to achieve a leading position at world level among medium-sized cities and territories through the use of innovative and sustainable solutions from first-rate global partners”, explained the Deputy General, Ramiro González.

 The Mayor of Vitoria-Gasteiz, Gorka Urtaran, stressed that it is “a very important investment for the implementation of projects that will benefit the mobility of the city, as well as projects that contribute to the promotion of electric and sustainable mobility in the capital and the Territory and related companies: battery control, electric vehicles, hydrogen… In short, a commitment to the automotive and mobility sector”.

The UPV/EHU joined the Vitoria-Gasteiz Araba Mobility Lab project in 2021, considering it interesting for the university, but above all for the Vitoria-Gasteiz School of Engineering (EIVG), which has the capacity and extensive experience in research projects, contracts with companies and scientific articles in areas related to smart and sustainable mobility and Industry 4.0, in sectors of great importance such as the automotive and aeronautics sectors.

In this regard, the rector of the University of the Basque Country, Eva Ferreira, said: “The university is an essential ally for the development of innovative models. We are an agent capable of accelerating and optimising change through research and knowledge transfer. In this sense, we would like to thank the institutions, the Provincial Council and the City Council, for the trust they have placed in the University of the Basque Country by taking on this project and backing this line of research with significant economic resources. We congratulate ourselves on the agreement and hope that, within the framework of the ‘Green and Sustainable Territory’ project, the results will progress in a short period of time”.

For this reason, the Vitoria-Gasteiz School of Engineering made a proposal to the Mobility Lab Foundation opening the door to collaboration in these lines and areas of common interest, through the creation of the Mobility Lab Campus strategic alliance. And the development of the “Green and Sustainable Territory” macro-project. The aim of this proposal is to respond to the growing need for innovation and the development of new products and services for the portfolio of companies in the Automotive and Mobility sectors and, in turn, to be a benchmark for the definition of policies for public agents, as well as for public administrations and citizens.

The macro-project “Green and sustainable territory” consists of 6 lines of research that are proposed to be developed over the next three years::

1. Study of mobility in public transport, where the project “Study of improvements in mobility based on public transport. TUVISA”.
2. Traffic and congestion consultation PA, where the project “Prediction of accident and congestion points using Computational Intelligence techniques”, among others, will be developed.
3. Studies of the mobility profiles of vehicles plus people (telemetry), where, among others, the project “Design and implementation of a vehicle and goods traceability system by means of wireless communication” will be developed.
4. Generation of maps using drones and Artificial Intelligence (AI), where, among others, the project “Generation of maps using drones and Computational Intelligence.
5. Automated inventory of signage and traffic lights using drones and Artificial Intelligence, where, among others, the project “Dynamic optimisation of traffic lights using Computational Intelligence techniques” will be developed.
6. Sustainable electric mobility plus intelligent recharging, where the projects “Control and management of battery-based electric energy storage” and “Development of electronics for sustainable mobility applications based on hydrogen and green hydrogen generation”, among others, will be developed.

Altogether 18 research projects will be developed, with the participation of 8 reference research groups of the EIVG. This agreement will also allow the development of Final Degree projects, Final Master projects and industrial doctoral theses, as well as the hiring of pre-doctoral research staff and the acquisition of new scientific equipment. Therefore, for the Alava Campus, and in particular for the Vitoria-Gasteiz School of Engineering (EIVG), this project is a strategic commitment that will generate clear added value.