Prior to the actual foundation of the research group (2007), the European funded FP6 PReVENT-WILLWARN research project was already carried out in 2004 with great success. The resulting great recognition of the automobile manufacturers and suppliers led to further follow-up projects being acquired and additional employees hired.

The focus of the activities of the research group on vehicle-vehicle and especially vehicle-infrastructure communication was with the implementation of the nationally funded project AKTIV-VM: Adaptive Cooperative Technologies for Intelligent Traffic – Traffic Management. The FGVT was responsible in this project for the complete implementation of the vehicle infrastructure communication (including the central server and the infrastructure road side units). In addition, the equipment of the test area was realized in the Frankfurt area.

As in the AKTIV project, the research group was also responsible for the communication between infrastructure communication units and the traffic control center in the project simTD (Secure Intelligent Mobility – Test Field Germany).

The management of the IRS in the large-scale field trial of this project, which was carried out with up to 500 vehicles and more than 100 IRS, was the work area of ​​the research group.

The FGVT has taken over the consortium management in the current CONVERGE project. Due their well-founded knowledge of ETSI-ITS-G5 communication and IRS development, it also led the work packages of the ITS infrastructure connectivity, as well as key responsibilities in terms of integration, verification and demonstration in the CONVERGE project.

As a consequence, htw saar became member of ETSI-ITS with the FGVT in the respective working groups. Furthermore, the research group “Development Member” in the Car to Car Communication Consortium (C2C-CC) and was responsible for the technical implementation of the C2C demo in 2008. In this demo, interoperability across all layers of OSI Reference model in the ITS were demonstrated for the first time in Europe.

In the course of this demonstration, a Technical Report was published in the middle of 2009 by the European Telecommunication Standardization Institute – ETSI. This Report has been the basis for the current AKTIV and simTD projects. (ETSI TR 102 698)

The research group worked in 2010/11 in the ETSI Specialist Task Force 395 Working Group 4 Specialist Task Force 395 “, Configuration and validation of channel congestion control methods of ITS and techniques for Co-existence Cooperative ITS / Dedicated Short Range Communication and performance and potential for the STDMA medium access SA / ETSI / ENTR / 000 / 2009-08 “rules and guidelines to ensure the performance and robustness of the 802.11p co-operative communication system.

Since 2015, the research group has also been trying to make electromobility ITS-capable. The aim is to fundamentally change the current situation in the field of electromobility, in order to make a decisive contribution to addressing the overarching energy and climate policy goals of the Federal Government in the context of the energy transition. The technology is intended to address the exact requirements specific to electromobility in order to develop recommendations for overcoming innovation hurdles.

Through the projects No LimITS and iKoPA, the FGVT was able to significantly enhance its technical expertise and scientific methodologies, in particular in C-ITS and electromobility, and complement its work in the area of ​​technology with key competences in the field of economics (socio-economic surveys, socio-economic, energy management competencies).

In the project iKoPA, the FGVT has assumed the lead of the consortium. The iKoPA project aimed for reliable automation of electric vehicles via secure electronic components with uniform interfaces.

The research group has many years of experience in acquiring and managing federal and EU projects. In addition to communication expertise in ITS, electromobility and autonomous driving, the research group is characterized above all by its traffic and economic competence. Current projects and research efforts extend these to socio-economic, psychological and energy-economic aspects, so that the transdisciplinarity and the ability to coordinate cross-sectional projects have become the strengths of the FGVT.

Together with the Institute for Telecommunications at htw saar, EuroTec Solutions GmbH, the research group has set itself the goal of making road traffic in Europe safer and more efficient.

The FGVT offers interested students the opportunity to work industrially and yet scientifically in an innovative research field. In this context, internships can be completed and final theses can be prepared. For the final theses (Bachelor, Master, DFHI diploma) students have a wide range of topics to choose from in a large subject area.