News related to recent market trend,Investor,research,travelling,engineering and books.

ads

The European chip industry benefits from system know-how and cooperation with customers. ...

SEMICONDUCTOR : Chipers in Europe rely on cooperation


The European chip industry benefits from system know-how and cooperation with customers.

Chip manufacturing at Infineon: Innovations are emerging increasingly together with the users of the chips.

Photo: obs / Infineon Technologies AG

To date, the annual Industry Strategy Symposium (ISS) of the semiconductors association Semi Europe was a forum where the European semiconductor manufacturers discussed their mostly precarious position as a provider of global chip business.  They also used it to advertise publicly supported catch-up strategies against their powerful competitors in other world regions. Not so 2017: More than 20 chip developers and system users presented a sober and a bit proudly a concentrated list of their own competences - with the occasional indication that without their cooperation the regular progress of the chip production according to the Moore law would come to a halt in the Silicon Valley . This time there was no talk of high-flying initiatives to defend the European production base.

It was simply about European technology innovations and the smart networking of the process flows from the chip provider to the user. And to meet the resulting requirements for cooperation and cooperation between the chip suppliers and their industrial users into the joint technology development.
This is in line with the current consolidation wave and the newly introduced vertical integration of the semiconductor manufacturers with their customers across traditional system boundaries. At the ISS Europe there were therefore no industrial policy announcements or demands regarding the well-established global trade regulation as they were vigorously ventilated at the corresponding US event in the California Half Moon Beach in early January.Semi has been representing the interests of its more than 2000 member companies in all high-tech regions of the world market for almost 50 years as a decidedly internationally oriented industrial association with headquarters in Silicon Valley: semiconductor manufacturers and their suppliers for manufacturing equipment and process materials. "Semi represents the architects of the electronic revolution", it sounds self-confident on the homepage.
The influence of Semi on the efficient and problem-free flow of the global supply and value chains of micro- and nanoelectronics is correspondingly important. To the outside, this is reflected in the numerous semi- organized trade fairs, conferences, forums and symposia. They also discuss the sometimes incompatible economic policies of the various trading regions and take care of their current upheavals.
For Europe, SemiEurope is responsible, headquartered in Berlin and two other offices in Grenoble, France and the EU site in Brussels. The main event is the annual exhibition and conference Semicon Europa, which, after a long journey through the polycentric continent, finally landed on the expansive grounds of Messe München.Starting in 2017, it runs parallel to the trade fair giants Electronica and Productronica, with its own hall.
"Munich is the center of electronics," says Laith Altimime, President-in-Office of SemiEurope, since 2015, this strategically motivated step. "We want to make it clear that we are an important part of the global electronics platform." Finally, Europe has a lot to offer in terms of micromechanics, sensors, actuators, power electronics, research and standards for smart manufacturing with artificial intelligence.
This idea of ​​the international intertwining and systemic networking of the production process also ran through the agenda of the second-day Industry Strategy Symposium of SemiEurope 2017. In addition to the well-known industry analyst Bill McClean of IC Insights with his already in January in Half Moon Bay's assessment of the global chip markets and the impetus from China - now also proven European chip managers such as Helmut Gassel from Infineon and David Reed from NXP.
According to Gassel, the chip industry continues to drive industrial innovation. But the focus of chip development has changed: from the building level to the system level.The immediate added value for the users is decisive for the success: "We are innovating today with our customers." The end-to-end, all-embracing "system of systems", such as the Internet of Things (IoT).
For David Reed of NXP, this entails new demands for the safety and quality of the products. IoT requires not only total availability, but also continuous data protection. The same applies to the automotive electronics industry. "IoT and Auto are the next growth engines for semiconductors." For NXP, this is a "journey into the culture of total quality", across the entire supply chain, with immediate response to customer problems - things that have only recently been implemented approximately.
Start-up for the research factory Micro electronics Germany
To strengthen the position of the European semiconductor and electronics industry in global competition, eleven institutes of the Fraunhofer Group for Microelectronics, together with two institutes of the Leibniz Association, have developed a concept for a cross-site research factory for micro- and nanoelectronicsThe existing locations of the institutes are maintained, the expansion and operation are coordinated and organized in a joint office. The aim is to be able to offer the entire value chain for micro- and nanoelectronics from one source to customers from the large-scale industry, small and medium-sized enterprises as well as the universities. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) supports the necessary investments.
Article: Link

0 comment:

Jaguar Land Rover's Engine Manufacturing Center (EMC), built with an investment of one billion pounds (approx...

Jaguar Land Rover builds first Ingenium petrol engine


Jaguar Land Rover's Engine Manufacturing Center (EMC), built with an investment of one billion pounds (approximately 1.18 billion euros), is celebrating launch of the first petrol engine from the Ingenium series.

New Ottomotors debut this summer in Jaguar and Land Rover models. Image: JLR

According to Jaguar Land Rover, the start of the new Ottomotors marks the first phase of the expansion of the EMC, which has so far been used for the construction of diesel engines, at Wolverhampton.  With highly flexible production methods, three domestic Jaguar Land Rover production plants were supplied there. The 2.0-liter four-cylinder engines deliver 147 kW (200 hp) and 184 kW (250 hp) of power this summer moving into models of both brands. Starting in autumn, a 220 kW (300 hp) high-performance variant will complement the range of engines.

Since the introduction of Ingenium diesel engine production two years ago, the EMC has produced around 400,000 engines. The start of the petrol engine line follows the strategic investment program of Jaguar Land Rover to build skills and manufacturing capacities at the United Kingdom site. Of the 1,400 employees, Jaguar Land Rover is about 80 percent more than 10 miles (16 km) around the plant. The EMC has also hired more than 50 trainees and graduates - all of whom are involved in a development program for an expanded Jaguar Land Rover engine portfolio, which will be released from current engines.

Article:Link

0 comment:

Bosch, Vodafone and Huawei are testing the new technology LTE-V2X on the test track of the A9 motorway, which will optimize th...

LTE-V2X: Real-time mobile technology is to prevent accidents

Bosch, Vodafone and Huawei are testing the new technology LTE-V2X on the test track of the A9 motorway, which will optimize the traffic flow and reduce the number of accidents through the real-time communication of vehicles.

Bosch sees the current test of the first 5G test modules for delay-free data exchange from car to car as a milestone on the way to the fully networked road traffic.
 
Picture: Bosch

The new mobile radio technology enables the direct and non-delayed exchange of information between vehicles. 
Networked cars, for example, send information about speed, position and lane change directly to all vehicles within a radius of 320 meters - without any detours and therefore free of delays. The fast and direct communication between the cars should optimize the flow of traffic and reduce the number of accidents. In the future, together with the comprehensive mobile communications network, it is to provide additional security for fully networked road traffic, according to Bosch.

Vodafone installs on the test track of the A9 a correspondingly powerful mobile radio network for the data transmission. As a system technology partner, Huawei creates the mobile radio modules for the cars and installs the required communication technology in the base stations. Bosch integrates the mobile radio modules and corresponding software in the vehicles and carries out the measurements on site. In test operation the partners want to show under live conditions that the direct communication between the cars by mobile radio with very low latency works and how it differs from WLAN-based alternatives.

The support provided by the mobile radio network also ensures maximum reliability and facilitates the coordination of communication between the cars. LTE-V2X is currently being specified in international bodies. Bosch, Vodafone and Huawei are the first to update their tests in Europe at all.
First, the technology is tested as a real-time warning system when changing lanes on the motorway. In doing so, the car exchanges all vehicle information - for example, speed and position - with the vehicles in the environment. If a car is approaching at high speed from the rear when changing the lane so that the accident can occur, the driver receives a warning. A delay-free information exchange is crucial here. Later on, the technology will be tested in further scenarios in order to investigate which functions, in addition to early warning when changing lanes, can primarily benefit from fast data transmission. This includes, for example, the warning in the unpredictable braking process of the preceding vehicle.


Article:Link

0 comment:

Without artificial intelligence, autonomous driving will not work.  Until the man-made brain is so far as to drive the Automob...

Autonomous Driving and Artificial Intelligence: Continuing

Without artificial intelligence, autonomous driving will not work. Until the man-made brain is so far as to drive the Automobile through the Blechlawine, many hurdles still have to be overcome.

The future scenario of the autonomous driving level five is still many years away. Picture: Bosch
When you look through the press releases of the automobile builders, one comes to the conclusion that it is only a matter of time before the Robo cars roll over the streets without a driver.  In 2021, BMW intends to launch an autonomous vehicle on the road with i Next. On request, the münchen clarify: "Level three". This means that the car automatically sets the turn signal, changes the track and overtakes. Especially on motorways. From level five, that is, without steering wheel everywhere, this is still far away. "Let's see if this happens," smiles a managing director of a supplier company, which supplies technology for the guideless cars, to this year number. "The technology is so young that it would be daring today to say when level five of autonomous driving is reached.

The technology with which the self-propelled cars are supposed to do the right thing in every situation is highly complex and still a few years away from the start of production. The step from autonomously driving the level three to the highest level is a huge one. Meanwhile, Audi, Ford & Co. eagerly driving cars that spill thousands of kilometers. Many in California, some in Nevada and BMW soon also in Munich. However, the whole optimistic water level reports of the tests and milestones still leave out a decisive feature: The question of the environment in which these tests take place. In sunny California with good roads and no winter the conditions are ideal. In Cairo or Mumbai, things look quite different - even for level three.

Even driving a highway is a real challenge for the software. GPS is too inaccurate, so different indicators have to be drawn, blue or green signs, structurally separated lanes, the distances of the guide posts, traffic flowing several ways in one direction and Also stored pictures of a highway traffic. The data transfer and the required computing power are immense. "A vehicle will not be able to think completely on its own in the next few years, it needs help from the outside, otherwise the car will be overwhelmed," explains the director of the ZF think tank, Malgorzata Wiklinska. This support could come from an infrastructure that communicates with the vehicle. But that costs money and many years to build up.


Until all cars will communicate with each other (Car2Car) and with the infrastructure (Car2X), years will pass. For the inventors of the artificial intelligence, the car nowadays comes into an "unclean" area, because almost all other vehicles are controlled by people, are so difficult to predict, and above all do not speak with the Robo car. The artificial brain and its senses sensors and cameras must cope with various problems within seconds fractions alone: ​​cross traffic, motorcycles and bicycles running zigzag, pedestrians jumping between cars, and traffic in the dark shadow. Added to this are loading zones for trucks.
Experts go from 25 to 30 years before the cars reach the highest level of self-drive. "It is not possible to get this all the way down to 2021," confirms Elmar Frickenstein. In addition to high-resolution cameras, radar sensors and as many ultrasonic sensors as possible, a computer brain is required to enable cars to drive fully autonomously even in the nastiest tangle of tufts. This is why autonomously operating cars are first used in cities with the best possible traffic flow. Because of the many one-way streets and the relatively evenly flowing traffic are also US-American cities like New York or smaller, such as Pittsburgh.

Other logic

The challenge is: the fault tolerance in the decisions made by the autonomous vehicle must go against zero. After all, it is always about the safety of all traffic users. This makes the task all the more challenging. The way to inspire artificial intelligence to the machine brain is stony. And that is still understated. "We educate the software as a child and say when it has to respond to what situation," says Nvidias Automotive CEO Danny Shapiro. The "Heranwachsende" is fed with millions of pictures and the correct behavior is programmed. These decisions are then stored in huge databases. Time and again, traffic situations are being played through and people are monitoring whether the software responds correctly. The aim is, Which simulates the car perfectly with similar patterns. "These patterns are nothing but human intuition," explains Michael Fausten, who is responsible for autonomous driving at Bosch.
The programming logic of this software differs fundamentally from the familiar "if", "then" as we know it today. This means that the human being pre-sets a solution for the car and stores it in the system. This can not be achieved with autonomous driving and the incredible variety of situations that occur every day in road traffic. "Artificial intelligence has the advantage, due to learned knowledge, to recognize similar traffic situations," explains Dr. Gerhard Gumpoltsberger, Head of Innovation Management at ZF, who works together with Nvidia on autonomous driving. Finally, the skills of the Robo pilot depend on human life. "There is a big difference between using artificial intelligence in a consumer or security-related area.

0 comment:

On behalf of the Bertelsmann Foundation, the opinion research institute Emnid conducted and evaluated 1,015 interviews for the...

Autonomous driving: two thirds currently say no

On behalf of the Bertelsmann Foundation, the opinion research institute Emnid conducted and evaluated 1,015 interviews for the representative study "Automated Driving". Conclusion: Two out of three Germans distrust the technology of autonomous driving.

The technology of autonomous driving is still suspicious: Is it a higher risk of accident rather than more safety?
 
Image: Continental

Self-propelled cars, buses or trains will be a reality in ten to twenty years. In this prediction the Germans, according to a representative Emnid survey, agree with the mobility researchers of the Fraunhofer Institute IESE Kaiserslautern. Also the benefit that digital technology has for population groups, which are rather poorly mobile, is equally positive for citizens and experts alike. And yet there is a divided relationship between the Germans and digitalization in the area of ​​road traffic. Despite the prospect of benefits, the vast majority of the population will encounter automated driving with great skepticism.

67 per cent of the respondents say in the Emnid survey that they are fundamentally distrustful of the technology of autonomous driving. Enthusiasm signals, however, only about every fourth. Accordingly, 61 per cent can not imagine using a self-propelled car. The most common are people with disabilities (88%), the elderly (79), people with no driving license (58), tourists (56) and city-dwellers (55) .
Even using a computer controlled by a computer means that the majority of the respondents can imagine the most likely on longer trips (59%) and night trips (51). On the daily journey to the work would be still still for 44 percent conceivable. "The more stressful the situation to get from A to B, the more open are the people for digital progress in road traffic," says Bertelsmann founding board member Brigitte Mohn.
The hope for less stress in road traffic is reflected in the attitudes of frequenters and large families. If you spend a lot of time in the car, or often have to agree with others, who can use the car when, is much more enthusiastic about the new technology. It seems logical that the respondents would like to spend the time gained while the car controls itself: the first is "look out the window" (73 percent), followed by "relax" (59) "(47) and" surf the Internet "(39).
In their "mobility and digitization" scenarios, which were also developed for the Bertelsmann Stiftung, the experts of Fraunhofer IESE believe that automated driving between 2027 and 2037 would work at least on predetermined routes. Autonomous shuttles then served as a bus, school bus or shuttle to the nearest station. "If the passenger transport would be cheaper by automation and the money saved would be invested in better timing and more offers, this would make the rural area much more attractive," says Brigitte Mohn.
On this point, however, the hopes of experts and citizens differ. The mobility researchers see an opportunity in digitization to improve the provision of services in rural areas. At least 45 percent of the Germans share this opinion with regard to automated driving. And while the experts in their future scenarios, especially for children and young people see opportunities to come with autonomous shuttles to the lessons, to sports or the cinema without problems, the 34 percent support the respondents.
This restraint may have to do with the reasons why the Germans are suspicious of self-running cars: the most common is fear of accidents (84 per cent). This is followed by the fear of losing control of the car (83) and of hacker attacks (74).
The IESE researchers come to precisely opposite assumptions: "Automated driving has potential for the future, because accidents caused by human factors, for example slow reaction time, fatigue, distraction, and so on can be prevented," says the Fraunhofer paper "Mobility and Digitization: Four Future Scenarios". 

The Fraunhofer teams involved are taking great chances to help car sharing within the application scenarios of self-employed cars. The cars would work similarly to taxis: they pick up the passenger and return to their location on their own. The researchers believe this possibility is so attractive that they warn against the fact that the demand for cars could increase significantly and strain the road networks. This would probably be the case if car sharing models were used as a second or third car replacement. This is not unlikely, because for 66 per cent of the Germans, in spite of this comfortable model, no one would be questioned: the renouncement of one's own car.
Both of these studies are part of the research on the digital future at the Bertelsmann Stiftung, which is dedicated to this year's Reinhard Mohn Prize "Smart Country - Networked Intelligent Digital." The ceremony for awarding prizes to former Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves will take place on June 29th from 11 am at the Theater Gütersloh.

Article: Link

0 comment:

Light and electronics experts Hella reports 750 million so-called sensors with CIPOS (Contactless Inductive Position Sensor) t...

Hella: 750 million sensors with CIPOS technology

Light and electronics experts Hella reports 750 million so-called sensors with CIPOS (Contactless Inductive Position Sensor) technology in the market. Position sensor technology goes back to late 90s.

Position sensor technology in the automotive environment: sensors with CIPOS technology.
 
Image: Hella

As Hella notes, position sensors with CIPOS technology are robust against extreme temperatures, vibrations and magnetic radiation. In the late 1990s, the electronics experts developed the CIPOS technology, which is used in numerous application fields as well as in safety-relevant applications up to ASIL D worldwide. For example in accelerator generators, steering and vehicle level sensors as well as in motor position sensors.  This technology is also used by actuators on the turbocharger, on the throttle valve, on the radiator grille or on thermal management. The special feature of the CIPOS technology is that it makes it possible to measure positions as highly exact, absolute values. This takes place without contact according to an inductive method. A further advantage of the sensors is their resistance to vibration, moisture.

As emphasized by Hella, the CIPOS technology is a crucial building block for electromobility and autonomous driving. In electric vehicles brushless motors with high power and therefore with high currents are used. The CIPOS technology working inductively in the MHz range comes without a permanent magnet and is not affected by the resulting magnetic fields of the motor currents due to the principle, says the manufacturer. An important prerequisite for autonomous driving is the further development of the X-by-Wire systems. Usually, steering movements or the actuation of the brake pedal are transmitted mechanically or hydraulically. In the case of X-by-wire systems, however, these are transmitted electronically.

0 comment:

Porsche wants to show more presence in video games and is working on a partnership with Microsoft. Such product placements are...

Cooperation with Microsoft: Porsche is increasingly focusing on racing games

Porsche wants to show more presence in video games and is working on a partnership with Microsoft. Such product placements are not new, but effective.

Porsche wants to become more present in the racing series "Forza Horizon".
 
(Photo: Forza Horzion)

Porsche reinforces virtual marketing with the help of Microsoft, the sports car manufacturer will be more present in the racing games "Forza Motorsport" and "Forza Horizon". A central element of the partnership will be the eSports area - virtual competitions, which are played by video players.

"Racing games and eSports link the virtual and real world and provide us with further access to the young target group," explained Detlev of Platen, Porsche's Sales and Marketing Director. This is a piece of Porsche passion even before the purchase of the first own sports car possible.
Porsche is not the only manufacturer that has discovered the marketing potential of product placements in video games. Mercedes also supplies virtually the Mercedes AMG GT R in "Forza Horizon" for fans of racing games. For some years, the players can also select the Audi RS7 as a vehicle. VW designed specifically for the game Gran Turismo of Microsoft competitor Sony the VW Supersport Vision Gran Turismo, which can only be controlled virtual.

Video games effective marketing tool

The commitment has its reason: According to experts, the product placement in video games is particularly effective compared to the one in the film. For the game is the full attention on the vehicles. Looking customer films or series, they often make a bit of a side and the product goes under.
Porsche has already been represented in Forza Horizon with 20 vehicles since last year. The Forza Racing Championship is the prelude to the collaboration with Microsoft. The qualifying races start from 1 May. The game developed by Microsoft for Forza Horzion was last year according to own data the best-selling racing game.
Article: Link

0 comment:

Carbon ions from the particle accelerator could be a gentle alternative to conventional catheter treatment. ...

RESEARCH :Ions against cardiac fibrillation

Carbon ions from the particle accelerator could be a gentle alternative to conventional catheter treatment.

In the ring accelerator, carbon ions are brought to the desired speed to irradiate the heart tissue.

Photo: A. Zschau, GSI Helmholtz Center for Heavy Ion Research

Carbon ions are now used for cancer treatment. They can also help with cardiac arrhythmia - as a gentle alternative to heart catheters or medications. Biophysicists from the GSI Helmholtz Center for Gravitational Research in Darmstadt and physicians from the University of Heidelberg and the Mayo Clinic in the USA have developed a procedure for this, as reported in the specialist magazine Scientific Reports.
Approximately 350,000 patients suffer cardiac arrhythmia alone in Germany. They are therefore threatened by permanent damage, such as a stroke, or even sudden cardiac death. In the case of foreskin or tachycardia, the cardiac heart comes out of its regular rhythm. Instead of up to 60 beats per minute, the sinus node in the right atrium as a pulse generator drives the pulse to over 100 beats per minute. To treat the disorder, the so-called catheter ablation is often used in addition to drug administration. In this case, the physician guides a catheter to the heart through the inguinal vein, for example, and there raises the affected tissue with high-frequency current.
With high-energy carbon ions generated in the Darmstadt ring accelerator, the researchers have now been able to produce changes in the heart tissue that prevent the transmission of the electrical signal from the sinus node.
Carbon ions are fed into the ring accelerator from a linear accelerator and brought to higher energies. The electrical voltage prevailing on the so-called acceleration paths makes it always faster. Magnets hold them on their orbit.Once the particles have the desired velocity, they are directed to the workplace where they are available for medical intervention.
"The new method allows us to perform the treatment without a catheter for the first time," says H. Immo Lehmann, doctor and researcher at the Mayo Clinic."Heart tissue can be altered in such a way that the spread of interfering impulses is interrupted permanently," adds Christian Graeff, head of the working group Medical Physics at GSI.
Radiation of the tissue with carbon ions promises to be more gentle and potentially more effective than treatment with catheters. Once the method has matured technically, the procedure will only take a few minutes. A substantial advantage lies in the non-limited penetration depth of the ions. Because the left ventricular wall of the heart is extremely thick, it is often not possible to perform an effective sclerotherapy with catheters. But right now, patients with so-called ventricular tachycardia need to be treated.
"The carbon beam can be used with surgical precision to treat sensitive organs," says Paolo Giubellino, Scientific Director of the international particle accelerator "Fair" and the GSI in Darmstadt.
With the now established method many thousands of patients were treated in cancer therapy worldwide. Now, experiments are planned to be implemented at the Heidelberg Ion Beam Therapy Cent
Article:Link

0 comment:

The five levels of automated driving and how the manufacturers define them for themselves. ...

Autonomous driving

The five levels of automated driving and how the manufacturers define them for themselves.



The driver permanently carries out the longitudinal or transverse guidance, assistants assist him. Audi: In the A8, which came on the market in 2003, Audi used the distance-regulators for the first time. Today, it is installed in combination with sensors (Level 2) and ensures the correct distance to the front vehicle. BMW: In April 2000 came with the face lift of the sieve of the distance regulating machine. Daimler: For the first time in 1962, Mercedes used the technology to regulate the speed. From 1975 on wards the cruise control has been standardized, since 2003 the name "cruise control" has been protected by Daimler.


The system adopts a specific application but is permanently monitored. Audi: The "Audi active lane assist" recognizes the lane limitation, controls easily and warns by steering wheel vibration. Since 2010 in the A7. BMW: With the traffic jam you can "swim" in dense traffic at up to 60 km / h. The BMW Fünfer got it in 2013. Daimler: The Steering Assistant as well as the Stop & Go pilot have been supporting the driver in the S-Class since 2013. In the E-Class, he has been further developed into a drive pilot since 2016 and from summer 2017 onwards The revised S-Class.



The driver must take over the tax if the system reaches its limits. Audi: The Staupilot in the new A8 (from autumn 2017) travels up to 60 km / h on the motorway. The driver must be able to accept the driver within six to eight seconds. BMW: The car runs independently in the same restricted traffic, i.e on motorways. Level 3 comes with the BMW i Next 2021. Daimler: The driver is ready to take over the motorway within a certain time. Daimler has not yet announced when Level 3 will come.



In specific scenarios and within predefined limits, the car already runs independently. Audi: The extended motorway pilot drives from the driveway to the exit independently and recognizes construction sites. Another scenario is the Parkhauspilot. BMW: The Munich Under-4s understand a car which runs alone to extreme weather conditions or complex situations such as alpine passes. Daimler: As areas of application for Level 4, you can see vehicles that pick up the user at home - within certain limits of the system. Outside you have to drive yourself.


The car runs completely by itself, no driver is required from start to finish. Audi / Volkswagen: It is difficult to estimate when autonomous vehicles are coming onto the market. Robotaxis or minibuses like the VW Sedric, which only drive in defined areas like the city, will probably be more likely than vehicles, which dominate every scenario. BMW: Between 2020 and 2030 there will be first pilot projects on autonomous vehicles - first on the motorway, then in inner cities. Daimler: The car controls all speed ranges, scenarios and road types.


Article:Link

0 comment:

With data, many problems of the car industry are to be solved.  They may also help reduce emissions. ...

Exhaust gas: IT should provide clean air

With data, many problems of the car industry are to be solved. They may also help reduce emissions.

Exhaust: Many diesel vehicles exceed the permitted limits in everyday operation.(Photo: Audi)

At the peak hours is a lot going on in German cities. The cars push each other step by step across the streets. In many places the permissible limit values ​​for emissions are exceeded, for example at the Neckartor in Stuttgart. There, the city has already tried a lot, from walls with special moss to street cleaning machines. The traffic itself, however, is no less. Environmental associations are always complaining about the right to clean air. Courts often give them justice. In the meantime, a driving ban for older diesel models is threatening in Stuttgart.

The city is already experimenting with real-time data from traffic. The information is interesting not only for municipalities: car manufacturers as well as IT companies are discovering new business in traffic forecasts. The future vision of the carers is that autonomously controlling vehicles will in future warn each other of traffic jams, but also of possible hazards such as ice or wet roads. Mamatha Chamarthi, "Chief Digital Officer" at the automotive supplier ZF, has recently named the way to zero accidents and zero emissions.

More data - better navigation

So-called floating car data - current GPS data from traffic users - are collected so far in order to present the current traffic situation. In Germany the data is anonymised, information about the driver or the type of drive are not included. Nevertheless: "The Floating Car Data is getting better and more and more consistent with the observations on our own cameras and measuring points," says Ralf Thomas, Head of the Traffic Control Center in Stuttgart. "The improved data base gives the navigation systems more accurate information for route guidance," he explains.
In Stuttgart, the data in a pilot project has already been enriched with information from traffic planners. Navigation systems were provided with information on the technical measures used to control traffic due to congestion, events or construction sites. If, for example, the access road was regulated by traffic lights to prevent traffic jamming in a tunnel, the navigation system did not normally notice this. The system was able to react earlier with information from the traffic planners. "The more data is put together, the better the algorithms," explains Thomas. "Better solutions are offered than simply diverting traffic." Together with the University of Stuttgart, he wants to test in the future.

Traffic will be no less

The Fraunhofer Institute for Labor and Organization in Stuttgart, together with the mobile phone company Telefonica, has investigated whether mobile data is suitable for traffic planning. "Via mobile data, theoretically all transport modes can be represented - including public transport and footpaths," explains Tobias Männel from the Fraunhofer IAO. This is valuable in the planning of offers with different means of transport - and to answer the question of which forms of transport can be replaced.
But does this also help to improve the air quality in problems such as the Stuttgart Neckartor? "With the aid of real-time data it is possible to react to disturbances," says Peter Vortisch of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). "This is the biggest lever." The data base is now better, infrastructure such as the traffic light controls can be adapted. "The traffic volume will not be less," warnisch warns. And it would not necessarily reduce pollutants. A green wave only reduces pollutants if it does not lead to more people driving. "Liquid traffic is always better than jammed."

Delivery service as an alternative?

The reason is simple: a steady traffic generates less turbulence of fine dust, explains traffic planner Thomas. "Nitrogen oxide emissions are also reduced if there is not enough gas." In Stuttgart nearly 70 green waves have now been introduced. However, green waves only functioned with a capacity utilization of 80 to 90 percent. There is also the risk of "induced traffic". "We see this effect, for example, in the case of bypass roads," explains Thomas. "As soon as there is an advantage in the travel time, it will be more attractive to travel by car."
Tobias Männel of the Fraunhofer IAO nevertheless sees a possibility of taking advantage of the data. Almost a third of all routes are made up of purchases. "It would, for example, be conceivable that deliveries could also be booked as an additional service in a public transport app," says Männel. "Instead of 100 buyers with their own car would be a delivery van on the road and the 100 people could take the public transport, since they need nothing more transport themselves." However, the implementation of such ideas is likely to take some time until they are implemented. The air at the Neckar Gate will remain dirty for a while.
Article:Link

0 comment: