Industry

At Treviso airport a robot assists passengers with reduced mobility

Self-driving electric vehicle prototype presented - RAPIDO Project funded under the Interreg VI-A Italia-Austria 2021/2027 Programme

by Barbara Ganz

18 February 2026

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Key points

Multidisciplinary
Developments
The protagonists

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

The prototype of a self-driving electric vehicle designed to facilitate the mobility of people with assistive needs within the terminal debuted yesterday at Treviso Airport.

The RAPIDO Project - Robots for assisting passengers with reduced mobility - is now in its final phase. Funded within the framework of the Interreg VI-A Italia-Austria 2021/2027 Programme, the project, which started in June 2023 with an expected end date of April 2026, is promoted by a partnership. Participating Klaxon Mobility Gmbh (Lead Partner, Arnoldstein, Austria) - a company, founded by two disabled entrepreneurs, has an in-depth knowledge of the reference market, its needs and the trends for the future: for about 5 years Klaxon has also been developing technologies for autonomous and assisted driving - and Intercom Solutions Srl of Udine, which realises technological solutions with a particular focus on IT security and data protection. In the field also Aer Tre, the management company of the Treviso airport controlled by the Save Group.

Multidisciplinare

The multidisciplinary and cutting-edge approach led to the creation of an electric vehicle that allows safe and autonomous travel between the main areas of the airport. A result achieved through advanced and ergonomic handling solutions whereby the vehicle is always connected to the airport's IT structure, with which it exchanges data such as its status and location, automatically synchronising information such as gate number and flight time.

Using cameras and sensors to navigate previously mapped environments, the RAPIDO System is able to self-localise within known environments and navigate safely, automatically avoiding obstacles. All this leads to an improvement in the quality of service compared to traditional assistance involving the intervention of an airport operator, entrusting autonomy to the passenger, who on his way to the boarding gate can also choose to stop at the shops and refreshment points in the terminal.

Developments

With a budget of €834,000, RAPIDO received significant financial support from the ERDF (European Regional Development Fund) of €581,188.28 and €86,114.04 in national contributions. The project not only meets, but anticipates the EU 2030 Agenda Goals, in particular with regard to the development of resilient and sustainable infrastructures (Goals 9 and 11).

The final step is the technical and functional validation of the electric vehicle prototype, which is expected by March. Once this is achieved, the automated vehicle will be able to be placed on the market and adopted in a wide variety of contexts such as airports, hospitals, railway stations, hotels and other public spaces, significantly improving the quality of service.

The protagonists

For Enrico Boaretto, ceo & co-founder of Klaxon Mobility, 'The widespread use of new technologies including autonomous driving, artificial intelligence, virtual reality and web applications are changing our daily lives in a major way. Klaxon stands out in the market for its focus on the development of high-tech solutions that improve the quality of life of those who use them, working in particular in the field of micro-mobility for disabled users, but not only". And Alberto Di Noia, CEO of Intercom Solutions, adds: "Our contribution focused on the integration between the airport's IT systems and the vehicle's navigation system, an everyday field for us, but one that in this case took on a level of complexity peculiar to the context in which we operated. The airport environment in fact imposes very high standards in terms of IT security and privacy with an obvious focus on the physical security of passengers. Our team worked to ensure smooth, reliable and secure communication between the airport's digital infrastructure and the autonomous driving platform'.

Federico Scanferlini, director of the Treviso Airport Save Group, emphasises that 'the airport was identified as a suitable context in terms of the relationship between space and traffic flow. With a volume of 3 million passengers, Canova annually provides assistance to over 15,000 passengers with walking difficulties or disabilities. The RAPIDO vehicle is part of our mission to continuously improve the quality of our services".

Barbara GanzCorrispondente a NordEst
Luogo: Venezia
Argomenti: NordEst, Veneto, Trentino Alto Adige, Friuli Venezia Giulia, internazionalizzazione, imprese, lavoro, giovani, startup
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