Archive

May 16, 2017

The Research and Development project HarmonizeDD was officially launched with a kick-off meeting on May 11-12 in Dresden. To support connected vehicles, the project will develop an innovative cloud-based transport system. Thereby the focus will be on the interaction of conventional and future highly automated vehicles in mixed urban traffic as well as transport infrastructure in urban scenarios. The project is closely linked to the initiative »Synchronized Mobility 2023« and the results will be evaluated on the urban digital test field for autonomous driving in Dresden.

The two year project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi) with resources from the »Funding guideline automated and connected driving on digital test fields in Germany« (Förderrichtlinie automatisiertes und vernetztes Fahren auf digitalen Testfeldern in Deutschland). Project partners include BMW AG (project management), Fraunhofer IVI (project coordination), Chemnitz University of Technology, Technische Universität Dresden, IAV GmbH, IVM gGmbH, MUGLER AG, Noritel GmbH, Preh Car Connect GmbH and Vodafone GmbH.

With the project having reached its mid-term, the second issue of the INFRALERT newsletter has been published. It briefly sumarizes the work done so far and also includes an interview with Axel Simroth, Group Manager at the Fraunhofer IVI and overall coordinator of the project. In addition to short summaries of the latest project meetings, the newsletter provides a report from the 1st INFRALERT Open Workshop which was successfully held in Brussels.

The newsletter is available on the project website:

• INFRALERT Newsletter No. 2

In the run-up to the innovation conference »Cleantech as an opportunity for the economic development in Lusatia – challenges and perspectives« (»Cleantech als Chance für die wirtschaftliche Entwicklung in der Lausitz - Herausforderungen und Perspektiven«), a student’s ideas competition was initiated by the Cleantech Initiative Eastern Germany. The contest aimed at presenting innovative concepts for the economic development in Lusatia within the four categories of »energy technology«, »circular economy«, »efficiency of energy, raw materials and material« as well as »sustainable mobility«.

Students of the Fraunhofer IVI and the GEDES e.V. won the first prize in the category of »energy technology« with their contributed paper »Latent-heat storage system – the key to the autartec® house« (»Latentwärmespeicher – der Schlüssel zum autartec®-Haus«). Their investigations concentrated on the concept and optimization of a latent-heat storage system in the context of autarkic buildings. The underlying achievements were made within the Regional Growth Core project autartec®, funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

The official award ceremony was held on April 3rd, 2017 in Spremberg.

March 31, 2017

A consortium of industrial companies and scientific institutions initiated the Saxon research initiative »Synchronized Mobility 2023« to face the challenges of digitalization and interconnection in the field of transportation. The Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure supports this state initiative by officially appointing Dresden as one in six cities to become urban digital test fields for autonomous driving. This development will  be supported by federal funding.

Besides autonomous driving functions in private and public transport, the initiative aims to make traffic flows more fluid in order to reduce pollutant emissions and increase the traffic density for an optimal utilization of infrastructure capacities.

Synchronous movements, which we observe in the swarm behavior of animals such as fish, birds and insects, set examples for showcasing how a large number of living entities could move forward efficiently even in a very small space.

The Fraunhofer IVI takes the lead in numerous research projects of the Saxon pilot project »Synchronized Mobility 2023«. Federal Minister Alexander Dobrindt granted further funding within the »Funding guideline automated and connected driving on digital test fields in Germany« (Förderrichtlinie automatisiertes und vernetztes Fahren auf digitalen Testfeldern in Deutschland). Parliamentary State Secretary Dorothee Bär handed over the notifications of approval  to the project partners on March 30.

• Press release by the BMVI (in German)

State Secretary Dorothee Bär hands over notifications of approval for automated driving projects
© Photo Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure BMVI

As a member institute of the Fraunhofer Energy Alliance, the Fraunhofer IVI presents its competencies in the field of cloud-based battery monitoring at this year’s Energy Storage Europe held in Düsseldorf, Germany, from March 14-16.

In addition to battery and cell manufacturers, the comprehensive battery monitoring technology also addresses maintenance service providers, finance providers and insurance companies. The showcase of the Fraunhofer Energy Alliance presents a wide selection of topics regarding energy storage technologies, including electrical, mechanical and thermal storages, power electronics as well as monitoring and energy management functionalities.

The booth is located in hall 8b, booth A07.

Further information:

• Fraunhofer Energy Alliance website
• Energy Storage Europe event website

The biennial EBUS Award is the first international environmental prize for public transport. It honors companies and individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the development of electromobility in public transport by creating and implementing technical and economical solutions in the preceding two years.

The Fraunhofer IVI received the 2017 EBUS Award in the category of »consulting and monitoring companies« for their excellent achievements in the introduction of electric buses. On behalf of the institute, Dr. Frank Steinert accepted the award at the festive event held on March 6.

Further information (in German):

• Website EBUS Award

The first feasibility studies in the European project ELIPTIC have now been completed with interesting results. ELIPTIC unites 33 partners, analyzing 21 concepts for electric public transport in 11 cities with the aim of supporting the further take-up of electric vehicles cost-efficiently by using existing electric transport infrastructure.

In addition to promising use cases in the cities of Brussels and Bremen, studies were carried out in Leipzig and Eberswalde – both in collaboration with the Fraunhofer IVI. Investigations include the use of existing tram infrastructure as a charging concept for battery buses, as well as the introduction of trolley-hybrids to replace a diesel bus line.

A dedicated description of the results can be found in the Final Use Case Reports of each city, which will soon be published in the Results section on the ELIPTIC website.

More information:

• Full article

The kick-off meeting for the research project IVS-KOM was held on February 24 at the Fraunhofer IVI. This project receives funding by the state of Saxony within the high-tech initiative »Synchronized Mobility 2023 – Intelligent Transport Systems in Saxony«, and collaborates closely with other projects from the initiative, for instance REMAS and SYNCAR.

Project partners include NXP Semiconductors Germany GmbH (project management), the Fraunhofer IVI (project coordination), Dresden Elektronik Ingenieurtechnik GmbH, IAV GmbH, Institut für Vernetzte Mobilität (Institute for Connected Mobility, IVM) gGmbH, MUGLER AG, Preh Car Connect GmbH and the TU Dresden - Vodafone Chair Mobile Communications Systems.

The objectives of IVS-KOM are:

• Development, test and validation of a reference system for ITS communication with heterogeneous technologies,
• Platform integration as well as
• Recommendations for the use of communication technologies and networks in the overall ITS context.

The project will develop various platforms for on-board units in vehicles, roadside units and traffic signal systems. These platforms will be tested in real-life public transport environments and also validated for applications in vehicle automation.  

January 19, 2017

Since the Governor of Nevada first visited the Fraunhofer IVI in July 2015, both sides have been actively pursuing efforts to collaborate in building digital test beds for autonomous driving in Saxony and Nevada. As a result, the establishment of a »Living Lab« in northern Nevada is now under way, aiming to explore solutions for safe, clean and efficient transportation. Building on the expertise of the University of Nevada, public transportation is the primary research focus.

Using the county’s state-of-the-art electric buses manufactured by Proterra, the initial research conducted will explore how vehicles sense their environment and communicate with other vehicles, infrastructure such as traffic signals and systems, and individual people through their mobile devices. The goal is to develop safe, synchronized, zero-emission mobility systems, and thereby involving students in this work, who are contributing to the preparedness of the future workforce.

In addition to the regional transport provider, the Governor's Office for Economic Development, the cities of Reno, Sparks and Carson City and other regional companies and institutions, and the Fraunhofer IVI joined as project partner. The institute connects Intelligent Mobility to Living Lab developments being explored in Germany. »As a result of collaboration with Fraunhofer, this takes on global importance and elevates the work we are doing to an international stage,« Steve Hill, director of the Governor's Office of Economic Development, said.

Further information:

http://www.unr.edu/nevada-today/news/2017/intelligent-mobility-launches

http://www.rgj.com/story/news/education/2017/01/18/unr-test-autonomous-technology-reno-buses/96731526/