For the first time, Volkswagen is testing Level 4 autonomous driving in real driving conditions in a major German city.

Volkswagen Group Research is testing automated vehicles in urban traffic in Hamburg, Germany. Five of the company's e-Golf vehicles—each equipped with 11 laser scanners, seven radars and 14 cameras—will drive on a three-kilometer section of the digital test bed for automated and connected driving in the city.

The results of the test drives will be continuously evaluated, taking full account all data protection rules. The results will be incorporated in the Group’s other research projects on automated driving, and will test customer-centric services and optimize individual transport. 

“The tests center on technical possibilities as well as urban infrastructure requirements,” says Axel Heinrich, head of Volkswagen Group Research.

“In order to make driving even safer and more comfortable in future, vehicles not only have to become autonomous and more intelligent – cities must also provide a digital ecosystem that enables vehicles to communicate with traffic lights and traffic management systems as well as with one another.” 

During the regular test drives—each of which lasts several hours—up to five gigabytes of data are communicated per minute. According to Volkswagen, the trunk of the e-Golf has computing power equivalent to approximately 15 laptops tucked away in it, which, combined with state-of-the-art sensor technology, ensures that data on a variety of things, including other cars, intersections and pedestrians, are captured over the shortest distances and in milliseconds.

Even with the diversity and complexity of this information, though, the artificial intelligence (AI) used in the vehicle software must register all relevant objects and respond to them without triggering any false alarms, Volkswagen notes. Several different AI approaches are used including deep learning, neural networks and pattern recognition.

Specially trained test drivers will be in the driver’s seat of the vehicles during all test drives, so that they can constantly monitor all driving functions and take action in the case of an emergency. Additionally, all data protection rules will be fully taken into account.