Real-World Labs at KIT

Real-world labs bring science and society together. They enable citizens to have a say in the solutions to important future issues, to contribute their ideas, and to help shape our future coexistence.

With its real-world lab, KIT directly involves people in research and development. Together, new technologies for the major transformation challenges such as autonomous driving, robotics, climate protection, or the energy transition are piloted here. 

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At Baden-Württemberg Test Area Autonomous Driving (TAF BW), companies and research institutions can test future-oriented technologies and services related to connected and automated driving in road traffic. In the future, autonomous driving will be an important component of sustainable and innovative mobility, in which individual and public transport must be thought together.

The Center for Digital Accessibility and Assistive Technologies (ACCESS@KIT) explores new approaches to shape society so that people with disabilities can participate without barriers. The focus is on topics from the fields of architecture, human-machine interaction, digital accessibility, and assistive technologies.

Together with people in the Oststadt district of Karlsruhe, the real-world lab District Future – Urban Lab is researching and testing how an urban neighborhood can be designed more sustainable and in harmony with the environment. The question is how we can live well in the city today and tomorrow while taking care of our fellow human beings, the environment, and the future. The real-world lab is based at the Karlsruhe Transformation Center for Sustainability and Cultural Change.

Karlsruhe Real-World Lab for Sustainable Climate Protection (KARLA) takes climate protection further into society and researches selected climate protection measures in Karlsruhe in five areas: Climate-friendly business travel, sustainable climate protection in the construction industry, skilled workers for climate protection, climate-friendly canteens and car-free mobility, as well as quality of life.

The aim of the real-world lab Real-Time Decisions in Case Knowledge in the Impact Forecast of Extreme Events is Incomplete (ERNIE) is to predict and analyze the impacts of short-term extreme events as well as slow changes in climate conditions as they interact with society, the economy, and the environment in urban areas. This is increasingly useful because extreme weather events such as heat, storms or floods, are increasing as a result of climate change. ERNIE is scheduled to launch in 2023.

The objective of the Real-World Lab for Automated Bus Services in Urban and Rural Public Transport (RABus) is to explore the use of fully automated, electric buses and to test them in real conditions in Mannheim and Friedrichshafen. With this technology, the introduction of an attractive, affordable, and environmentally friendly door-to-door bus shuttle service can be offered around the clock.

The purpose of the real-world lab Robotic AI is to experience artificial intelligence in a variety of experiments and in different real-life environments, such as daycare centers, schools, museums, libraries, and hospitals. Humanoids, i.e. human-like robots, help to make artificial intelligence tangible in physical form.