IT 
ES 
Auriga, an Italian software company active for over 30 years in the development of digital solutions for banking and shared mobility, announces the development of a proof of concept (POC) for an urban mobility model that integrates Auriga’s strategic approach with the vision and autonomous driving technology “robo-sharing” developed by the Politecnico di Milano.
The initiative stems from the convergence of academic research and industrial innovation, with the aim of transforming autonomous driving technologies from an experimental domain into a component that can be integrated into shared mobility services. The project builds on the results achieved by the AIDA – Artificial Intelligence Driving Autonomous team at the Politecnico di Milano, which has designed and developed a system capable of enabling autonomous driving functions in standard electric vehicles.
From autonomous driving to shared mobility services
Building on this technological evolution, Auriga has explored the potential impact of autonomous driving on the operational model of car sharing, integrating the Politecnico di Milano’s technology into the B2-Ride digital vehicle sharing platform, developed by Auriga and already used by its subsidiary Pikyrent. Pikyrent has served as the operational reference context to simulate real usage scenarios and validate the technological integration.
Robo-sharing is effectively positioned as a hybrid model between car sharing and robo-taxi, in which autonomous driving does not replace the user but intervenes in operational phases to improve efficiency and service quality.
How the robo-sharing model works
The designed prototype envisions that users book a Pick-Me Car via an app and view the estimated arrival time. The vehicle, in driverless mode, departs from its operational hub and autonomously reaches the pick-up point. Once onboard, the user drives the vehicle to the destination, following a traditional car-sharing experience. At the end of the journey, the vehicle autonomously returns to a hub or repositions itself for a new ride.
In this model, autonomous driving is concentrated in lower-value phases for the user—such as searching for the vehicle or parking—while preserving the traditional driving experience during the rental and journey. This approach eliminates idle time, reduces walking distances, and improves the overall quality of the service, making mobility truly on demand.
Operational efficiency and urban mobility benefits
Compared to traditional free-floating car sharing models, robo-sharing overcomes structural limitations such as vehicle dispersion in urban areas, redistribution costs, and low utilization rates. Vehicles capable of autonomously reaching users, redistributing themselves without operators, and returning to dedicated hubs can significantly increase utilization rates. Over time, this translates into a reduction in fleet size, lower operating costs, and more efficient use of urban space, with both economic and environmental benefits.
Within the project, the B2-Ride platform has played a central role: autonomous driving has been integrated as a native component of the system, managed through the same monitoring, control, and orchestration logic already used for onboard IoT devices. The POC demonstrates that it can evolve as a feature of vehicle sharing platforms, rather than as a standalone system.
Economic sustainability and market challenges
Economic sustainability represents a key lever: higher utilization per vehicle and reduced manual operations improve profitability and reduce fleet size. However, further investments, regulatory validation, and infrastructure development are still required. In this context, the ability to attract capital remains one of the main challenges for the European market, which is already lagging behind other international ecosystems.
Executive perspective
“We are not talking about replacing the driver, but about rethinking the service,”
says Antonella Comes, CMO of Auriga and CEO of Pikyrent.
“Robo-sharing is a hybrid model that radically improves vehicle usage and the economic sustainability of car sharing. With B2-Ride, we integrate autonomous driving into the platform, paving the way for more efficient and scalable mobility models. We are laying the foundations for a new generation of mobility operators, where technology and operational models converge to generate scalable value and attract long-term capital.”
“The possibility of enabling autonomous driving functions in existing vehicles,”
adds Prof. Sergio Savaresi, Director of the Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering at the Politecnico di Milano,
“represents a key step in accelerating the adoption of these technologies. The work of the AIDA team demonstrates how the integration of artificial intelligence and physical systems can be transferred to real operational contexts, opening up new opportunities for concrete applications in urban mobility.”
Future perspectives for robo-sharing
The project represents one of the first attempts to apply autonomous driving not as a replacement for the driver, but as a lever to improve the efficiency of shared mobility services. If the model proves to be operationally sustainable, robo-sharing could open new perspectives for the evolution of urban car sharing, contributing to reducing the number of vehicles required and optimizing the use of space in cities.
