Trans­port re­search at DLR

Pro­gramme and strat­e­gy

Intermodality
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Construction work for the AIM project
Road construction work for the AIM project ( Anwendungsplattform Intelligente Mobilität ) that took place at the Rebenring/Hagenring intersection in Braunschweig. The work took place until 3 August 2013.
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In ‘conversation’ with the traffic lights
Innovative communications and positioning technologies make it possible – cars and transport infrastructure exchange information.
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Research that moves

How will society move from point A to point B in the future? How can we possibly have a world without accidents, traffic jams, delays and detours? How can we bring our mobility into harmony with mother nature? And how might an environmentally friendly traffic system of the future that supports a growing economy look? We need substantive answers that will bring concrete solutions for our increasingly mobile society and globalized economy.

The path to a future-oriented traffic system

German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) is with its Transport Programme Europe’s second largest institutionally funded transport research center. Tomorrow’s mobility challenges are identified here and provided with jointly developed solutions. These solutions contribute to a future-oriented traffic system from which both the general public and industry in Germany and Europe profit in equal measure.

Seven research topics are currently in focus:

  • Road vehicles
  • Rail vehicles
  • Traffic management
  • Transport and the environment
  • Urban mobility
  • Electromobility
  • Traffic management at public mass events and disasters

Fewer accidents, traffic jams, delays, detours und reduced environmental pollution are the overriding goals of our research.

Concerted traffic research at DLR

The research projects are fundamentally interdisciplinary and follow a systemic approach. Traffic research greatly benefits from this fact, especially since 25 DLR research institutes spanning areas such as energy, transport, aerospace and space research all participate in the research effort. Not only are interdisciplinary synergies created as a result, exciting scientific exchanges take place since each and every project is approached from various perspectives. The use of large DLR research facilities including wind tunnels, crashing units and simulators all contribute towards finding innovative solutions.

The traffic research programme is based on an excellent network existing amongst the research landscape. In the same manner, DLR also has excellent relationships with its European counterparts such as IFSTTAR in France, AIT in Austria and TNO in the Netherlands. Active information exchanges are also carried out with other German organisations such as KIT, BASt and the Fraunhofer Institute.

Excellent relations are cultivated with Institutes of higher learning as well as with universities and different industrial sectors, all with the aim to promote research within any given project.

DLR’s communication with all relevant ministries at the federal and state levels guarantees an optimal coordination of different research programs with politics.

Programme topics

Trans­port Sys­tem

Mobility is a central feature of developed societies. The transportation of people and goods not only generates social participation and added value but also causes negative effects that need to be minimised. For this reason, DLR is researching the interrelationships between the development of transport and its impact in their different dimensions. This includes the analysis of user preferences and behaviour, the development of transport supply and demand, and the environmental impact of noise emissions, greenhouse gases and air pollutants.

Road Traf­fic

Road traffic will remain the dominant mode of transport for the foreseeable future. As a result, it is imperative to exploit all the available potential in order to improve its efficiency, safety and environmental sustainability. Against this backdrop, researchers are not limiting their focus simply to the technical development of road vehicles, but are also pursuing an integrated approach in which the relationships between vehicles, infrastructure and traffic management approaches are considered and investigated in a methodical manner that addresses the entire system.

Rail Trans­port

A sustainable transport system that is viable in the long term from an economic, ecological and social point of view can only be achieved with modern, reliable and efficient rail transport. For this reason, DLR is also following a systematic research approach for this mode of transport. Under the guiding concept of the Next Generation Train, researchers are working on the technological development of rail vehicles, which also involves a variety of approaches drawn from the road vehicle and aircraft manufacturing industries, including hybrid propulsion systems, lightweight designs and improved aerodynamics.

Multimedia

DLR MAVEN
In the MAVEN project (Managing Automated Vehicles Enhances Network), DLR is testing the crossing of a traffic light intersection with a network of cooperative automated vehicles. For this purpose, the antennas and measuring equipment already installed in connection with the application platform Intelligent Mobility (AIM) at the traffic lights at Tostmannplatz in Braunschweig will be used.

DLR MAVEN

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DLR MAVEN
In the MAVEN project (Managing Automated Vehicles Enhances Network), DLR is testing the crossing of a traffic light intersection with a network of cooperative automated vehicles. For this purpose, the antennas and measuring equipment already installed in connection with the application platform Intelligent Mobility (AIM) at the traffic lights at Tostmannplatz in Braunschweig will be used.

Links

Webspecial: DLR transport research projects

Contact

Magnus Lamp

Head of Directorate Transport
German Aerospace Center (DLR)
Linder Höhe, 51147 Cologne