6GEM+

6GEM+ - Value-Driven 6G Communication Systems for the Connected Digital Industry

The 6GEM+ project is a joint research and technology transfer project involving RWTH Aachen University,
Ruhr University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, and the Fraunhofer Institutes IPT and IML
focused on the next generation of mobile communications, 6G. The project focuses on how new
communication technologies can enable reliable, secure, and high-performance
applications in industry, mobility, and society in the future. As part of the project, the Chair of Control Systems Engineering
is conducting research on collaborative
environmental perception and teleoperated driving.

Fußgänger läuft vor Bus auf die Straße und wird von Sensoren erkannt

Collaborative environmental perception is based on the exchange of environmental data between connected road users, for example in the form of sensor data or lists of detected objects. A (partially) automated vehicle can use data from other vehicles to detect, for example, objects that are obscured from its own sensors by buildings or other road users. This allows for an early response in hazardous situations, further improving road safety. Future generations of cellular networks are expected to enable such concepts through direct vehicle-to-vehicle communication, even in areas with limited cellular network coverage.

The project will therefore examine various approaches in terms of their communication requirements and evaluate their suitability for different traffic and network situations. In addition, new strategies and protocols for data fusion and exchange will be developed.

With the advent of fully automated vehicles, teleoperated driving is also gaining importance. In situations where the vehicle can no longer proceed on its own—such as at accident scenes—control is transferred to a control center. There, a human operator remotely controls the automated vehicle. To provide the control center with a comprehensive picture of the situation, various data must be transmitted and displayed.

Übersicht zum vorgehen bei ubergabe an den Teleoperatiosstand

These include a seamless combination of high-resolution video streams of the vehicle’s surroundings, precise vehicle and telemetry data (such as speed, steering angle, and GPS position), as well as audio and environmental signals, which are transmitted in real time to a teleoperation station developed as part of the project; this station also allows the operator to physically sense the situation through haptic feedback.

The project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology, and Space
(BMFTR) under grant number 16KIS2412.
Further information can be found at https://6gem.de.