THE WORLD’S FIRST TEST OF AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES ON PUBLIC ROADS
The project has been named 1000 Miglia Autonomous Drive, conceived and developed by the Politecnico di Milano in collaboration with 1000 Miglia srl, with the support and patronage of the National Centre for Sustainable Mobility; and it represents the world’s first experimentation of autonomous vehicles on public roads, characterised by a very high variety of routes. Therefore, from 13 to 17 June, a new Maserati MC20 Cielo on which all the technological elements of a “robo-driver” were installed, travelled the entire 1000 Miglia 2023 route, driving in autonomous mode along some stretches of the route. On these portions of the road, the vehicle drove in total autonomy, respecting the rules of the Highway Code. Inside the car, in order to comply with the authorisation requirements for experimentation, the vehicle had to be supervised by a human co-driver, who in this case was Matteo Marzotto, an experienced driver who had taken part in several editions of the historic 1000 Miglia, who thus also celebrated the 70th anniversary of his uncle Giannino’s historic victory. Accompanying him was an object of modern art being developed at the Design Department of the Politecnico, which was unveiled at the starting line of the Red Arrow.
The initiative aims to increase the technical skills of Italian industry in the development of sustainable modes of transport, making the general public aware of the existence of this technology, which has already achieved results that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago, but which still has enormous room for growth, not only in terms of technology, but also in the cultural and regulatory spheres: the project will also contribute in this sense to defining the procedures for promoting the use and development of autonomous cars, creating a connection between administrations and the main Italian research centres.
1000 Miglia 2023 was only the first step
The 2023 edition of the 1000 Miglia was only the first step in the presentation of the project: it will be followed by a year of experimental refinement of the A.I.-driver technology in which the car will be tested on a route similar to that of the race on municipal, provincial and state roads and small stretches of motorway; with the ambitious goal of driving the entire route of the 1000 Miglia 2024 in autonomous mode.
