SENSITIVE SMALL TALK ON THE ROAD

In 2016, the "Test Field Autonomous Driving Baden-Württemberg (TAF-BW)" project in the pioneering region from Karlsruhe via Bruchsal to Heilbronn was approved by the state and its construction started. The construction work was completed at the end of 2021. The result is a 200-kilometer route network with various sensors such as cameras, radars or road weather stations in inner-city and suburban areas, in tunnels and on expressways and highways. Researchers at the Institute of Vehicle Systems Technology (FAST) have also converted a vehicle into a mobile control station. This serves as a sensor carrier, mobile access point and local server node for on-site data processing and can react flexibly to the requirements of the test field. The operational phase of the test field is scheduled for five years and will run until April 2023. During this time, the test field will be available for use by industry and publicly funded research projects on automated and connected driving. Necessary tests for road approval took place at KIT's Campus East and research projects such as the EVA Shuttle were successfully realized.