Projects

Digital Twin of public transport vehicles

Developing 3D models to improve performance

Funding: IFAB call for projects

Enabling technology: Advanced Modeling and Simulation, Artificial Intelligence, Digital Twin, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Image recognition

Sustainable Development Goals

Prometeia, together with DAT, has developed cutting-edge models for 3D vehicle reconstruction, dedicated to insurance companies and applied to claims management to reduce fraud. The main objective of the project is to develop new software and properly adapt instant-ngp, NVIDIA’s tool derived from NERF (Neural Radiance Field), to the 3D reconstruction of public transport vehicles, addressing multiple challenges such as atmospheric conditions, lighting, exterior/interior environments, and model inference time.

Objectives

Creating a Digital Twin of a vehicle, reconstructing its 3D appearance from images, with the goal of applying the technology to the public transport sector to track the vehicle’s history, improve the ability to better plan roads and parking, and manage traffic.

Initial challenge

Reconstructions of road accidents are often unreliable and can easily lead to fraud. By creating more reliable vehicle models, these frauds can be avoided and accidents can be investigated more thoroughly.

Solution

After evaluating state-of-the-art models for Digital Twins of currently accessible vehicles, a better model was researched and tested. After creating this new model, it was implemented in software that, given data related to vehicles used in public mobility, is capable of designing its 3D digital twin.

Benefits

Having a set of libraries applicable to a real-world scenario makes it possible to account for all end-user needs, from weather conditions to the ability to access models from a smartphone.

Additionally, this application can be easily scaled to other areas of interest, such as urban planning and vehicle monitoring, to support the digital transformation of public services.

The prototype created can be extended to other vehicles, such as taxis or buses, and easily updated to contain the history of damage sustained.

IFAB’s role

IFAB took part in the project as a funding body, selecting it as part of its investment lines in research, innovation, and technology transfer. IFAB’s contribution consisted of recognizing the project’s scientific and practical value and providing financial support, making it possible to carry out the research activities conducted by the technical partners. This involvement confirms IFAB’s mission as an accelerator of high-impact initiatives for the local area and productive system.