Expertise

DLR is the Federal Republic of Germany’s research centre for aeronautics and space. We conduct research and development activities in the fields of aeronautics, space, energy, transport, security and digitalisation. The German Space Agency at DLR plans and implements the national space programme on behalf of the federal government. Two DLR project management agencies oversee funding programmes and support knowledge transfer.

Climate, mobility and technology are changing globally. DLR uses the expertise of its 54 research institutes and facilities to develop solutions to these challenges. Our 10,000 employees share a mission – to explore Earth and space and develop technologies for a sustainable future. In doing so, DLR contributes to strengthening Germany’s position as a prime location for research and industry.

DLR has decades of experience in the transport research sector. 26 institutes are involved in the research fields transport system, road transport and rail transport whereby four institutes especially focus on transport research. About 600 staff members have a yearly budget of ca. 85 Mio € at their disposal to work on solutions for the mobility of tomorrow.

In terms of automotive research, a variety of topics are addressed. Alternative drivetrains, lightweight construction and energy management are research topics, along with the further development of automated assistance systems and studies of drivers and their interactions with the vehicles. By also carrying out impact assessments an integrated approach is reached in which the relationships between vehicles, infrastructure and traffic management approaches are considered and investigated in a methodical manner that addresses the entire system. A variety of methods such as simulations, analysis, surveys and living labs are used to reach this objective.

Participation in EU Projects and International Activities

DLR has been active in a various project related to the automotive sector. Not only in its own research framework programme (e.g. Next Generation Car), on a national level (e.g. PEGASUS) and with its industrial partners but also on EU level, especially under the EU Framework Programmes for Research and Innovation. To highlight just a view:

interACT: In the project data collection about human traffic participants interaction in real traffic conditions is basis for the development of interaction models that identify the main communication needs of road users in future traffic scenarios incorporating AVs and recognising the intentions of surrounding road users and predicting their behaviours. The 5.5 Mio. € project was coordinated by DLR from 2017-2020.

MAVEN: Project on Platooning on arterial roads in urban areas with focus on Hierarchical Traffic Management Cooperative traffic light control with phases negotiated with the demands of the traffic participants (e.g. platoons) via V2X. For the 2016-2019, 3.1 Mio. € project DLR has been coordinator.

UnCoVer CPS: The project had its focus on planning and control of cooperative manoeuvres including exchange and negotiation of reserved areas via C2C and the physical demonstration with two vehicles. In the 4.9 Mio. € project from 2015-2019 coordinated by TU Munich DLR has been one of the largest partners.

ARCADE: The projects coordinates consensus-building across stakeholders for sound and harmonised deployment of Connected, Cooperative and Automated Driving (CAD) in Europe and beyond and hereby jointly forms the CAD network of European experts and stakeholders. DLR is member in the 3 Mio. € project running from 2018-2021.