Autonomous Driving

A test field in the heart of Berlin

Made in Berlin

In Berlin, people are used to coming through the city relatively easily. But in the future it will be even more comfortable. Fewer accidents, less traffic jams, faster parking, better air - all this can be achieved with intelligent mobility.

Berlin is one of the pioneers of automated driving. As early as 2011, even before Google was ready, an autonomous vehicle of the Freie Universität Berlin made its way through Berlin without a driver. Today, many scientists are preparing autonomous driving on a large scale. One of the most important projects is DIGINET-PS, a digital test field for automated and networked driving, which is currently being developed. And not in some remote corner, but right in the heart of the city, along Straße des 17. Juni, the boulevard running east from Ernst-Reuter-Platz to the Brandenburg Gate. Sensors will provide huge amounts of anonymized data from which intelligent processes will extract important information.

At the core of theDIGINET-PS research projectare future technologies that will improve transport flows, protect the environment, and created new added value. In order to develop, test, and evaluate these innovative solutions in a realistic manner, an open framework is necessary. Automated and networked vehicles are being used to implement scenarios such as automated shuttle and convoy trips in urban areas.

DIGINET-PS is intended as a reference solution for complex traffic situations in urban areas. The test track includes not only the course of the Straße des 17. Juni, but also the secondary streets to the north, thus providing some challenges for networked vehicles and digital infrastructure. In addition to traffic management characteristic of urban areas and typical parking situations, the project needs to consider the protection of listed buildings, environmental protection, and overall urban design.

Open System

As an open system, DIGINET-PS offers technology companies and research facilities the opportunity to participate in the research and use the route as a test environment.

"DIGINET-PS is taking us on completely new paths in systems research for automated and networked driving in our cities. The goal is to develop a flexible, yet holistic solution for all of the associated technologies in order to be able to model and test automated driving in its entire complexity," says Professor Sahin Albayrak, Managing Director of the DAI Laboratory at TU Berlin and head of the project.

Network of partners and supporters

The project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure as part of the "Research Programme on Automation and Connectivity in Road Transport" with a total amount of 4.6 million euros and supported by the Berlin Senate Department for Environment, Transport, and Climate Protection.

Header image: Mixed Reality - The simulation was created with the simulation environment VSimRTI from Fraunhofer FOKUS, © Kai Royer/ Fraunhofer FOKUS