At the Mobile World Congress, Ineco presented the results of InecoSAR, the innovative tool designed in collaboration with the General Directorate of Highways of the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility to monitor infrastructure thanks to satellite technology and artificial intelligence. The Fuencaliente breakwater (Ciudad Real) and the Trapadillo cliff (León) were chosen to test the pilot program for this application to monitor structures and their surroundings from space, without the need to install sensors, using data from satellites. European Copernicus Programme.
Under the title “Roads Connected to Space,” the General Director of Highways, Juan Pedro Fernandez Palomino; Ineco President, Sergio Vásquez Torrón; Ineco's expert in CNS-ATM systems, Eva Ramírez, presented the results of this pilot project that arises from the company's innovation model of co-creation with its customers.
Building on the potential of technology and connectivity in the mobility sector, Ineco's president wanted to highlight in his speech the company's co-creation-based innovation model. The association with customers from the early stages of creating innovation projects allows us to adapt as much as possible to their needs, thus achieving useful solutions to real problems. “Something is changing in the mobility sector and the public environment,” said Sergio Vazquez. “It is a paradigm shift that we are embracing. At Ineco, we focus on finding solutions, not on searching for needs. We have to face the great global challenges.” Torun.
Fuencaliente connects to the space from Barcelona
A commitment is evident in the InecoSAR solution, created by the General Directorate of Highways, which aims to monitor infrastructure using radar data from the European Copernicus Earth Observation Programme. This tool allows you to detect and analyze deformations or movements of both structures and surrounding terrain. Given the impact of the climate emergency on infrastructure, with extreme weather events on the rise, the utility of this analysis is vital to mitigate potential consequences. “By processing data using artificial intelligence techniques, InecoSAR allows us to make an initial prediction with an estimate of the expected deformation. This solution is very useful for facilitating infrastructure maintenance and making improvements in the design and construction phases. Thus optimizing operations and costs,” explained Eva Ramírez.
During the development of InecoSAR, to evaluate its operation and potential, experiments focused on two large structures located on Spanish roads: a breakwater or firewall about 200 meters long, on the N-420 motorway in Fuencaliente, Real City; The Trapadillo cliff, on the A-6 motorway between León and Lugo, has an approximate height of about 170 metres. Cases in which it has proven to be a solution with high potential for studying the stability of specific areas during the planning, construction and maintenance phases of infrastructure, because it allows us to know the peculiarities of the terrain that were hitherto known only theoretically. This is a clear example of how space plays an essential role in complementing traditional processes and procedures, and how we can benefit from using the spatial data that Europe makes available free of charge to all citizens.
“With a mature road network, we face the challenges of improving the existing infrastructure both in its use and in its preservation. It is the technology that will allow us to achieve a public policy of sustainable road management,” General Director of Highways, Juan Pedro Fernández, emphasized. Moreover, he noted that “Ineco, at this time, plays an important role as instigator, pushing us towards models like InecoSAR that, thanks to their innovative nature, will allow us to manage asset management in a more flexible way.”
Ineco is part of the Spanish pavilion organized by public business body Red.es at the Mobile World Congress. 45 companies – seven more than in 2023 – are showcasing their innovations in this pavilion to highlight Spanish technology enterprises in this main event dedicated to the digital and communication sector.
