In the context of the ANAS-ESA Grand Challenge ‘Enhanced Positioning 4 Smart Road’, five European SMEs have been selected to compete to win a prize of up to € 100,000, pushing the limits of smart road infrastructure. The competitors are expected to implement solutions that will shape the future of connected vehicles and road systems.
About ANAS
ANAS, an innovative joint-stock Italian company that operates on a national and international level, manages most of national roads and motorways in Italy. With the ANAS Smart Road programme, ANAS aims at accelerating the experimentation and implementation of the provision of C-ITS Smart Road services through the exploitation of high technology for precision GNSS positioning and AI applied on RTK and/or post-processing kinematic techniques and the presence of C-ITS stations (Anas Smart Road Side Units) as reference stations, achieving accurate and reliable GNSS positioning results moving from meter-level to submeter-level accuracy. With the ANAS Smart Road App, smartphones are intended to be transformed into valuable tools for assisted driving and improving overall road safety.
The Selection
The selected competing SMEs shall develop pioneering solutions that leverage space-based technologies to revolutionise road safety and connected driving. They should be able to enhance GNSS positioning accuracy in smartphones using advanced techniques like real-time kinematic correction and AI-driven data integration, expanding the use of C-ITS to improve driver assistance, reduce accidents, and ensure safer travel.
Among numerous applicants, five highly innovative SMEs have been selected to co-develop pilot projects that address some of the most pressing technological challenges in the industry. The five selected applicants are SMEs registered in one of the Member States, Associate Member States or Cooperating States of ESA. They are listed below:
The competitive phase will begin in the next six months, during which companies will be engaged in the development and testing phase, aimed at identifying cutting-edge solutions in the fields of smart roads and connected driving. The companies’ teams are expected to bring forward disruptive ideas introducing raw GNSS measurement processing as a novel element, combined with RTK algorithms, artificial intelligence, advanced sensors integration and a multi-constellation approach to improve positional accuracy.
The ANAS-ESA Collaboration
This initiative highlights the strategic importance of open collaboration between ANAS and emerging innovators coming from the space sector, closer than expected to roads and traffic management and addressing add-value benefits as:
- accelerated problem solving, offering agility and novel approaches that can help tackle complex challenges more quickly and creatively;
- scalability and market access thanks the potential industrial scale and enabling faster deployment of innovators solutions;
- mutual learning based on dynamic exchange of knowledge, combining entrepreneurial spirit with corporate experience.
Such open innovation model applied by ANAS through the ESA Grand Challenge not only accelerates the development of next-generation of cooperative intelligent transport solutions, but also strengthens the innovation ecosystem by building bridges between established industry leaders and the next wave of tech pioneers.
After the Competition deadline, a new evaluation phase will run to select one Team as Winner of the Grand Prize by the end of December.
The Challenge Winner will be awarded the Grand Prize corresponding to an amount of maximum € 100,000.
Discover the ESA Grand Challenge