AI & Robotics in Mobility

May 04, 2025, by Reik Leiterer, data innovation alliance

On March 4th, 2025, the co-creation workshop of the three innovation boosters New Mobility, Robotics and Artificial Intelligence on the overarching topic of AI & Robotics in Mobility took place at EPFL in Lausanne. Four focus topics elaborated and presented by the Swiss Federal Railways SBB were used as base for exploration of challenges related to these topics and to discuss and outline possible ideas in the specific fields. The initial focus topics were:

1) IMPROVING CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE ALONG THE TRAVEL CHAIN
How to enhance the overall travel experience by e.g. personalized, real-time travel information during disruptions – ensuring passengers are well-informed and minimizing inconvenience.

2) MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR
How to use robotics in operational activities for maintenance to save time and costs, or to increase safety, for e.g. train or infrastructure inspection, lifting heavy equipment, hazardous environments, or automating heavily redundant tasks.

3) OPTIMIZATION OF PASSENGER FLOW
How to leverage predictive analytics to optimize passenger/crowds, by e.g. analysing environmental conditions, historical data, or scheduled events.

4) AUTONOMOUS DRIVING
How to develop a comprehensive travel chain that integrates autonomous driving technologies, including the use of autonomous vehicles for in-house logistics and seamless transitions between different modes of transport.

The workshop started with the inspiring keynote by Alexandre Alahi (Associate Professor for Visual Intelligence for Transportation), not only recognized as one of the top 100 most influential scholar in Computer Vision over the past 10 years but also co-founder of multiple start-ups.

To make AI-driven systems a safe reality, he presented his lab works at the intersection of Computer Vision, Machine Learning, and Robotics: a new type of so-called socially aware AI, i.e., an AI augmented with social intelligence.

This was followed by the first breakout sessions, in which participants divided up according to their interest in the various focus topics. These breakout sessions were moderated and supported by experts Kenan Zhang, Christopher Ganz, Laszlo Etesi, and Eric Silva to ensure targeted problem exploration and ideation. Among other things, the discussion focused on key questions such as: What are the biggest challenges? Where do we see bottlenecks or unresolved pain points (e.g., perception technology, ethical AI, human-machine interaction, regulatory hurdles)? And what problems have we personally experienced or observed?

The following key challenges were identified and discussed, which were then embedded in the larger SBB context through a quick review and reflected upon regarding their potential for further exploration:

1) IMPROVING CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE ALONG THE TRAVEL CHAIN

• How to realize mobility as a Service (MaaS), enabling a seamless and personalized travel experience from A to B, including different modes of transport (public transit, private vehicles, shared mobility) and context-aware travel recommendations?
• How to improve pre- and post-trip experience, including the handling of passenger belongings, i.e. optimizing luggage storage and management.

• How to optimize international travelling, considering booking and payment challenges (e.g., tickets reserving across borders) or navigating different platforms and connections (e.g., transitioning in Germany) while maintaining the high data security standards of SBB?
• How to prevent incidents on the platforms caused by overcrowding or pushing, considering also passengers’ perception of safety.

2) MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR

• What maintenance needs to be done on the equipment even if it’s not degrading (e.g. lubrication, cleaning) considering existing/upcoming regulations requiring maintenance activities and the general operation time of a component?
• How to optimize the time to bring the equipment back to operation if degrading (i.e. shorter maintenance time/downtime), including management of critical spare parts?
• How to improve fault detection by not only identifying problems but also by improving the predictive fault detection while keeping the safety & security standards?

3) OPTIMIZATION OF PASSENGER FLOW

• How to balance comfort, service quality, and safety, mainly related to the rush hours (i.e. improving crowd load management)?
• How to improve passenger by dealing with e.g. visibility challenges (e.g. colour blindness) or communication barriers, considering cultural differences in signalling and safety measures?

4) AUTONOMOUS DRIVING

• How to optimize “in-between” travel (e.g., train-to-gate transitions), with solutions for people with reduced mobility and/or elderly people?
• How to enable multimodal solutions by re-using rail infrastructure for e.g., autonomous vehicles?
• How to realize am infrastructure for autonomous driving, related to electrification and charging infrastructure (e.g., remote charging solutions & autonomous parking)

After lunch, a second round of breakout sessions was held to discuss possible solutions to the challenges that had been identified, which were then presented. These cross-ecosystem exchanges were invaluable for rethinking the challenges holistically and unlocking potential new synergies.

Based on this, the innovation teams were then able to submit their ideas within three weeks as part of the idea stage of the Innovation Booster New Mobility. The following submissions were evaluated by an external panel of experts and out of them three ideas were selected for funding:

• Autonome Mobilität neugedacht durch persönliche digitale Chauffeure
• Autonomous Mobile Robot with Energy Storage for Distributing Renewable Energy to Every Parking Space with Minimal Infrastructure Costs
• Distribution Management Customer Service App
• Forecasting crowds to reduce train platforms occupancy during rush hour
• Inclusive PRM Services: Bridging Accessibility Gaps with Autonomous Wheelchairs
• Leveraging Autonomous Mobility to Shift Car-Dependent Travelers Towards Public Transport: A Blueprint for a User-Centered Business Model based on Personas and Psychological Needs
• PREACT – Predictive Analytics for Crowd Transit Optimization
• Privacy-preserving Monitoring of Customer Flows and Intentions
• RailWise: Empowering SBB with Staff-Driven AI Insights
• Real-time Detection and Correlation of Infrastructure Damage Events
• Reinventing Rail Maintenance: Real-Time IoT Meets Low-Code Automation
• Robotic Platform for maintenance works in rail depots
• Sensorized robotic arm for enhanced train maintenance and safety

Finally selected project ideas:

1. PREACT – Predictive Analytics for Crowd Transit Optimization
   Project Idea – jointcreate.com

2. Inclusive PRM Services: Bridging Accessibility Gaps with Autonomous Wheelchairs
   Project Idea – jointcreate.com

3. Leveraging Autonomous Mobility to Shift Car-Dependent Travelers Towards Public Transport
   Project Idea – jointcreate.com

The format convinced with very good speakers, experts, and open-minded participants interested in exchange and cooperation. We would like to thank all participants for joining this workshop and for their numerous high-quality submissions! We are already looking forward to the next event and a lively and active participation.