Transportation Minister Razavi Visits the FZI to Learn About Autonomous Driving and Robotics
Discussion on autonomous mobility and the transition from testing to regular operation
Research Focus: Mobility and Logistics
During a visit to the FZI in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg’s Minister of Transportation Nicole Razavi and other representatives from politics, business, and government saw firsthand how AI, connected vehicle systems, and digital infrastructure work together to safely bring autonomous mobility into practical use.
The Minister was accompanied by the two State Assembly members Dr. Alexander Becker and Dr. Thorsten Schwarz, Mayor of Karlsruhe Dr. Frank Mentrup, CEO of Verkehrsbetriebe Karlsruhe GmbH Prof. Dr. Alexander Pischon, as well as Dr. Anne Benner, Head of the Mobility and Traffic Management division, and Niklas Schöllhorn, Advisor for autonomous driving in public transit.
Test Area Autonomous Driving BW: Real-world laboratory puts future mobility to the test
The delegation visited the Test Area Autonomous Driving Baden-Württemberg (TAF-BW), where vehicles can be operated autonomously in a safe manner on more than 200 kilometers of public roads, with remote assistance available if necessary.
The test track is operated by the Karlsruhe Transport Authority (KVV). During the visit, Prof. Dr. Alexander Pischon presented autonomous rail operation as an important future goal that Verkehrsbetriebe Karlsruhe GmbH and the Albtal-Verkehrs-Gesellschaft are already actively working on.
In the discussion with the guests, FZI Executive Director and Director of TAF BW Professor J. Marius Zöllner emphasized that Karlsruhe already has a very well-functioning ecosystem in which research, industry, transportation companies, and the public sector work closely together. The FZI contributes to the test field in particular through research excellence, high-performance test infrastructures, and its special expertise in technology transfer.
Dr. Frank Mentrup highlighted Karlsruhe’s role in the history of mobility and its continued development for the future. Today, the city is distinguished by its strength in collaborative research on innovative and sustainable mobility.
Future initiative for robots in public spaces
After exploring the Test Area Autonomous Driving Baden-Württemberg, the guests learned more at the FZI Living Lab Service Robotics about the planned Test Field Urban Robotics, a real-world laboratory for research and innovation in the field of robotics in public spaces in Baden-Württemberg.
How sustainable solutions are put into practice
The visit showed that the research conducted at the FZI is driving innovation that goes far beyond what has been covered in the media and is known to the public so far.
Key to further development are now strong innovation partnerships, reliable funding, and a binding legal framework that helps put sustainable solutions into practice.
About the FZI
The FZI Research Center for Information Technology, with headquarters in Karlsruhe and a branch office in Berlin, is a non-profit institution for information technology application research and technology transfer. It delivers the latest scientific findings in information technology to companies and public institutions and qualifies individuals for academic and business careers or the leap into self-employment. Supervised by professors from various faculties, the research groups at the FZI develop interdisciplinary concepts, software, hardware and system solutions for their clients and implement the solutions found as prototypes. The FZI House of Living Labs provides a unique research environment for application research. The FZI is an innovation partner of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and strategic partner of the German Informatics Society (GI).
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