Digital test field Berlin
In the project “Shuttles & Co - Digital Test Field Urban Traffic“, safety and comfort in digital urban traffic is being tested and further developed using automated vehicles and new communication technologies. Citizens are involved and given the opportunity to test innovative technologies in the district of Berlin-Reinickendorf.
Researchers from the Smart Mobility business unit at Fraunhofer FOKUS are working closely with the Daimler Center for Automotive IT Innovation (DCAITI) at the TU Berlin to further develop basic technologies for the future digitalization of traffic. The focus here is on improving digital maps and traffic information – an important key issue for highly automated driving. One of the project's goals is to enable the automatic updating of precise map material in the test field. Only pre-processed information without personal data is transferred from the vehicle to the backend.
Since many sensors detect more than just a single automated car or bus, another focus is to further develop the exchange of individual messages between vehicles, as well as the traffic infrastructure via WLAN or mobile network, towards the implementation of a cooperative perception of the environment. This ensures a redundant and thus reliable perception of the road situation.
There are going to be situations in the future where highly automated vehicles need to be controlled by a human being: For example, during very heavy rain or an unforeseen construction site. Fraunhofer FOKUS offers a system for tele-operated driving for this purpose and advises the project partners on how to implement this function.
Pedestrians and cyclists must also be included in the digitalization of traffic. In the project, Fraunhofer FOKUS is therefore adapting communication services from the vehicle for this target group, such as an indication when the cyclist's traffic light turns green on the planned route. The project partners will be able to jointly derive findings for the traffic of the future from the results of the project.
“Shuttles & Co” is managed by the Senate Department for Environment, Transport and Climate Protection and is funded by the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure with a total of 9.8 million euros in 2020 and 2021.
The project partners besides Fraunhofer FOKUS are:
Fraunhofer Institute for Open Communication Systems