CARNET at Smart City Expo
With the 6th edition of the Smart City Expo World Congress having now drawn to a close, it is time to look back at this year´s event. The Expo has managed to attract further growth in exhibitor and visitor numbers and has managed to manifest itself as an important date in many schedules around the world. With over 16.000 visitors, 420 speakers, 591 exhibitors and 600 cities present at this year´s Barcelona venue, the expo can certainly be considered a success.
With SEAT being a global partner of the Expo, the company was of course keen to showcase what exactly it is working on when it comes to topics of smart mobility in urban environments. To this end, the SEAT stand, prominently located close to the entrance area, attracted many visitors over the duration of the fair. Visitors immediately found themselves drawn to the Seat Ateca displayed in the center of the stand.
Said Ateca was part of a display showcasing three mobility concepts that SEAT was displaying on the stand. The vehicle, which was given the moniker “Smart City Car”, presented the SEAT peer-to-peer car sharing application. This application will allow owners of cars to send a digital key to other users, thus efficiently sharing the car whilst it is not in use. Visitors to the stand where able to test the app at first hand and could subsequently unlock and customize the car with it.
Additionally, SEAT presented the Park Finder application, which allows for users of cars to know in advance whether a parking space around the desired destination is available or not. This solution, which is already on trial in Barcelona, will significantly reduce the amount of time that is essentially lost while searching for parking spots in urban driving scenarios.
Finally, SEAT showcased a live on-screen demonstration of the algorithm developed in conjunction with Volkswagen Research for the concept of the Barcelona Smart Shuttle. This algorithm aims to create a most efficient routing strategy for on-demand door to door transportation. Visitors were able to see how the algorithm would route cars in real time on a map of Barcelona.
CARNET was also present on the SEAT stand to showcase visitors how concepts for projects such as the Smart Shuttle are developed through innovation partnerships within the Barcelona area. It was a great opportunity for CARNET to present itself to a wide audience and network with a great variety of guests on the stand. For many of them, it was the first contact point with CARNET and feedback has been thoroughly positive.
Next to CARNET itself, a variety of partners involved in the network also presented themselves. This meant that visitors to the expo had the ability to experience the wide range of expertise within the network at first hand. Among the additional projects presented by the partners was the Altran safeMO, a look at how a motorcycle can incorporate safety aids and connectivity, the social KPI responsive urban navigation concept in conjunction with SparCity and the UPC CitEffect mobility model, which is a real time traffic simulation tool to determine the best mix of mobility solutions for Barcelona city.
The 2016 Smart City Expo was a fantastic event and both, SEAT and CARNET, are already looking forward to the next edition.
