Pamplona (EFE).- The streets of Pamplona have witnessed the start-up of the first Electric, Autonomous and Connected Vehicle (VEAC), which has been fully developed in the Foral Community.
Both demonstrations have been carried out, for the first time, in an urban circuit created in Pamplona, which is approximately 2.3 kilometers long and runs near the headquarters that NAITEC (Navarre Automotive Technological Innovation Center) has in the capital.
Specifically, the vehicles have traveled the streets of Cataluña, Tajonar and Sadar thanks to an agreement signed between NAITEC, the technology center that has carried out the testing, and the Pamplona City Council, which has enabled the installation of different key sensors to obtain data.
The objective of this action is twofold: on the one hand, to evaluate the capacities of the VEAC in an urban and safe environment (VAIVEC project) and, on the other, to design, evaluate and deploy technologies related to electric and connected mobility (NaVEAC Drive- LAB).
Work of twenty people for three years
This vehicle has had an approximate cost of one million euros and some 20 people have worked on it over the last three years.
During his speech, the Minister for University, Innovation and Digital Transformation, Juan Cruz Cigudosa, highlighted the potential of Navarra in the automotive and mechatronics industry and assured that “research and new technologies will allow Navarra to be recognized as a an innovative region in the experimentation of electric and connected mobility”.
In this sense, Cigudosa has thanked the work of NAITEC and has stressed the importance of covering, through these two projects, a comprehensive approach to the ecosystem related to mobility. “These initiatives are important milestones that enrich Navarrese society as a whole and help us to consolidate the position of the Foral Community in this strategic sector”, he pointed out.
Both projects have been financed by the Government of Navarra. Specifically, NaVEAC Drive-LAB is promoted by the Department of University, Innovation and Digital Transformation with 4.5 million euros, financed by the European Union – NextGenerationEU, through REACT-EU funds within the framework of the FEDER operating program 2014-2020.
For its part, VAIVEC, in which various companies have participated in addition to NAITEC, has received more than 600,000 euros from the call for aid for strategic R&D projects from the Department of Economic and Business Development.
The event was attended by the general director of NAITEC, Estibalitz Erauzquin; the General Director of Innovation of the Government of Navarra, Agurtzane Martínez; the director of the S4 Strategic Projects Service, Delia Sola; the vice-rector for Research of the Public University of Navarra, Francisco Javier Arregui; the coordinator of the Automotive Cluster Association of Navarra, Javier Belarra; and a group of companies related to mobility in Navarra.
The VAIVEC project seeks to develop technologies to create a versatile and multifaceted electric industrial vehicle. It has already materialized in a prototype that has a cabin for two people or for cargo, and can be applied to a wide range of industrial vehicles, from AGV (Automated Guided Vehicle, according to its acronym in English) that transports 200 kilos to forklifts 25 ton tractors.
Autonomous or manual operation
This vehicle can work autonomously or manually, thanks to its obstacle detection system with LIDAR and radar, as well as its GPS positioning system, which allows it to make an autonomous route using an autopilot.
In addition, this prototype is capable of transmitting information about its position, speed, direction, status, etc. to a control unit, making it possible to improve energy efficiency, reduce the C02 footprint and foster interconnection in an industry 4.0 environment.
On the other hand, and in a complementary way, the NaVEAC Drive-LAB project aims at the integral development of mobility in Navarra. To this end, it seeks to promote the formation of a “living lab” that facilitates the entry into the market of robust and proven solutions in real situations and in the laboratory. This project includes several lines of action, such as the VEAC platform, the design of an urban circuit, the creation of testing and approval infrastructures, and the creation of logistics laboratories.
