The AI4DRIVING project (reference PID2021-124335OB-C22) is a national research initiative coordinated by the Department of Computer Science at Carlos III University of Madrid (UC3M) and publicly funded by the State Research Agency (AEI) of Spain’s Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities. The project’s timeline runs from September 1, 2022, to August 31, 2025, and it is methodologically integrated as a key subproject within broader collaborative networks focused on autonomous mobility and advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS).

From a strictly technical standpoint, the core of the research focuses on merging symbolic and subsymbolic artificial intelligence to address control transfer and shared decision-making between the driver and the autonomous electric vehicle (AEV). The system processes massive data streams in real time using deep learning neural networks for environmental perception, which are combined with automatic planning and evolutionary optimization algorithms designed to maximize battery efficiency in urban environments. In addition, the software architecture implements rule-based expert systems to ensure that AI predictive models operate under strict safety-critical constraints, validating user trust through continuous analysis of human behavior behind the wheel.

The socioeconomic and technological impact of the AI4DRIVING project lies in its ability to redefine the paradigm of vehicle automation, promoting a gradual and safe transition toward autonomous mobility without excluding the human factor. . In both the scientific and industrial spheres, the ecosystem of tools developed by UC3M provides the automotive industry with open technology standards and reliable artificial intelligence methodologies, thereby strengthening the competitiveness of Spanish research within the European Research Area in the field of intelligent transportation systems.