Australian connected and autonomous vehicle (CAV) technology developer Cohda Wireless will deploy its vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications technology on a new digitally connected urban corridor testfield site in Berlin, Germany.
The DIGINET-PS (Digitally Connected Protocol Track) has been set up along Berlin’s Strasse des 17. Juni and has been developed to test automated and connected driving under real-life conditions in the city center, making it one of the first sites of its kind in Germany.
Funded by the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) DIGINET-PS is an open test environment for CAV technologies for which Cohda Wireless will be supplying its MK5 OnBoard Units (OBUs) and RoadSide Units (RSUs) to empower the initiative to help solve the challenges of urban mobility.
Led by the Distributed Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (DAI-Labor) at the Technical University Berlin (TU Berlin) the multi-partner DIGINET-PS project’s goals are
- Development of a real digital infrastructure and a virtual test and validation environment for autonomous vehicles;
- Establishment of an open and scalable platform for testing automated and connected driving;
- Establishment of an ecosystem of key players that are working on the future of automated mobility; and
- Collaborative development of new applications.
Within that framework, the project will study and create:
- Intelligent Infrastructures;
- V2X Communication Technologies;
- Traffic Safety Applications;
- Data Optimization and Provision;
- New Services and Applications;
- An Open Test Environment.
“The test-field has been fitted with the world’s most advanced vehicle positioning technology,” explained Dr Manzoor Ahmed Khan, technical lead of the DIGINET-PS project. “To attain the objectives of L-5 (SAE Level 5) autonomous driving, we need to improve the perception of the vehicles beyond what is created by on-vehicle sensors. In DIGINET-PS, we achieve this by creating perception of road segments through onroad deployed sensors and share it with vehicles.”
Prof. Paul Alexander, chief technical officer at Cohda Wireless, said, “There is no substitute for an actual urban environment for testing purposes and the DIGINET-PS project also presents us with an opportunity to demonstrate our unique technology solutions.
“There is scope for us to demonstrate our V2X-Locate technology, which enables accurate positioning of vehicles in environments where GNSS performs poorly, such as urban canyons, tunnels and underground car-parks.
The DIGINET-PS site includes an underground parking lot where we can also demonstrate this world-leading positioning solution. We are also keen to share our Australian experiences regarding Freight Signal Priority initiatives designed to enhance traffic flow by keeping large vehicles mobile.”
