One year after the official opening of the Lower Saxony test field for autonomous driving, the project partners draw a positive interim balance. Many Lower Saxony and international companies are already using this “open-air research laboratory”, announced the Ministry of Science in Hanover. According to the lead German Aerospace Center (DLR), the first test drives for various projects have already been completed on the motorway 39.

Before the start in January 2020 were at the A 39 71 Masts were erected in order to record and analyze driving behavior and traffic flow, among other things. According to the DLR, the first data have been recorded and compared. After the complete set-up, the test field should cover approximately 280 kilometers on the A2, A 39, A 391 as well as on several federal and country roads. It is available to industrial partners, but also to universities and research institutions, said a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Science.

Digital map, sensor models and simulation environment According to the Ministry of Transport, planning for a second phase is underway. This includes, among other things, the expansion of the digital map, the sensor models and the simulation environment. According to the ministry, the research goal is a simulation-based approval of automated or autonomously driving vehicles that relieve traffic and reduce the number of accidents When the test track opened, it was successfully advertised that DLR should not only be responsible for the results in Lower Saxony, but also for data from all test tracks nationwide. After a decision by the Transport Ministers’ Conference in the spring 2020, the state was given the task of implementing a coordination office for test field activities in Germany.

(bme)