For OECON as an SME, the Lower Saxony test field offers the opportunity to combine our know-how in the field of test systems for the automotive industry with a comprehensive set of high-quality sensors and communication.
~ Frank Brennecke, Managing Director OECON Products & Services GmbH
When dreams of the future slowly become reality …
On January 8, 2020, Lower Saxony’s Minister Dr. Bernd Althusmann (Minister for the Economy, Labor, Transport and Digitization), Björn Thümler (Minister for Science and Culture) and Thomas Jarzombek (Member of the Bundestag and Federal Government Coordinator for German Aerospace), as well as Prof. Dr. Karsten Lemmer (DLR Board Member for Energy and Transport), opened in Braunschweig with a ceremonial act the new test track for automated and connected driving in our region. The so-called “test field Lower Saxony” extends from Hanover via Hildesheim to Braunschweig to Wolfsburg. In total, the Lower Saxony test field covers over 280 kilometers on the A2, A39, A391 motorways, including several federal and rural roads. The test field is an open research and development platform and, together with its users, is intended to help shape the automated and networked mobility of the future: …
Together with partners from science and industry, the DLR Institute of Transportation Systems will use the data collected on the test field to take a closer look at special traffic situations such as traffic jams, threading and overtaking maneuvers. The consequences of different driving behavior are also of great interest here. From this, functions for automated and connected vehicles can be developed or improved. The methods and tools for testing automated and networked vehicles can also be tested in practice and subsequently improved. The first priority is always to make traffic safer and more efficient, to increase comfort for vehicle users and to reduce emissions.
~ DLR
For more than 15 years, this has been a core topic that OECON has already actively dealt with in many individual research projects and is constantly driving development forward. Therefore, as a project partner, we are of course delighted that our developments on this topic are finally slowly being turned into reality and can soon be tested live under real traffic conditions.