Press release -
Autonomous driving, the Politecnico di Milano starts testing autonomous cars on public roads in the 1000 Miglia
A milestone in the research and testing of autonomous vehicles on public roads. The project '1000 Miglia Autonomous Drive', (1000-MAD) stars the self-driving car fitted out by the Politecnico di Milano, presented on 11 June 2023 in the 1000 Miglia Village in Brescia, which will be tested along the route of the historic car race.
The brand new and iconic Maserati MC20 Cielo, duly equipped by the research team at the Politecnico di Milano with all the technological components required to make it autonomous, will race the full 1000 Miglia 2023, tackling some stretches in autonomous driving mode, in compliance with the Highway Code. The role of on-board 'supervisor' (required to experiment) will be entrusted to Matteo Marzotto, who will commemorate the 70th anniversary of his uncle Giannino's victory in the 1953 1000 Miglia.
The 2023 1000 Miglia is only the start of this ambitious project and will be followed by a year of intense testing and refinement of the technology, to race the full 1,500 km of the 1000 Miglia in fully autonomous mode in 2024.
This trial is possible thanks to the authorisation granted on 6/6/2023 by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport to conduct autonomous driving tests on public roads, based on the ‘Smart Road’ Ministerial Decree 70/2018. In the history of this decree, this is only the second authorisation to be granted, and the first ever for such a varied and long-distance route.
The leader of the 1000-MAD project, Sergio Savaresi, professor of Automation at the Politecnico di Milano, said: "Obtaining this authorisation is already a very important milestone achieved by the project after almost a year of work, as it will enable the development of autonomous driving technology (i.e. all the automation and artificial intelligence algorithms capable of replacing the human driver) in a huge number of real-life situations on different types of roads, all along the route of the classic 1000 Miglia.
The project is in partnership with 1000 Miglia srl, with the patronage of MOST (National Centre for Sustainable Mobility) and sponsored by Movyon and Cisco, alongside contributions from numerous technical suppliers.
"With this project, the Politecnico di Milano establishes its position as a pioneer in the field of self-driving car technology, for the benefit of the entire national and international scientific and industrial community, with the ultimate aim of making an important contribution towards new models of sustainable mobility," says Donatella Sciuto, Rector of the Politecnico di Milano.
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Politecnico di Milano is a scientific-technological university which trains engineers, architects and industrial designers.
The University has always focused on the quality and innovation of its teaching and research, developing a fruitful relationship with business and productive world by means of experimental research and technological transfer.
Research has always been linked to didactics and it is a priority commitment which has allowed Politecnico Milano to achieve high quality results at an international level as to join the university to the business world. Research constitutes a parallel path to that formed by cooperation and alliances with the industrial system.
Knowing the world in which you are going to work is a vital requirement for training students. By referring back to the needs of the industrial world and public administration, research is facilitated in following new paths and dealing with the need for constant and rapid innovation. The alliance with the industrial world, in many cases favored by Fondazione Politecnico and by consortiums to which Politecnico belong, allows the university to follow the vocation of the territories in which it operates and to be a stimulus for their development.
The challenge which is being met today projects this tradition which is strongly rooted in the territory beyond the borders of the country, in a relationship which is developing first of all at the European level with the objective of contributing to the creation of a single professional training market. Politecnico takes part in several research, sites and training projects collaborating with the most qualified European universities. Politecnico's contribution is increasingly being extended to other countries: from North America to Southeast Asia to Eastern Europe. Today the drive to internationalization sees Politecnico Milano taking part into the European and world network of leading technical universities and it offers several courses beside many which are entirely taught in English.
