The research project Providentia , short for "Proactive Video-Based Use of Telecommunication Technologies in Innovative Highway Scenarios," is testing how a preview of highway traffic in real time can be implemented by means of sensors and big data. This is intended to support drivers (and later autonomous vehicles) with information. On the other hand, the goal is to make traffic safer, more efficient and simpler, says IPG Automotive , which is the provider of the simulation software CarMaker . Additional partners participating in the project are: BMW Group , Cognition Factory , Elektrobit , fortiss , Huawei and Rohde & Schwarz . The Federal Ministry of Transport is funding Providentia with 6.1 million euros.

Cameras and radar sensors will be used along roads and in networked vehicles. You will also need a cellular network for data transmission and Car2X receivers that process and transmit the collected data. "This constantly updated ‘digital twin’ of the infrastructure will allow any vehicle to reliably derive all the relevant information in real time and even under adverse environmental conditions," says IPG Automotive. The research project will run until the middle of 2019. If it is successful on the digital test field of the A9 in Bavaria, it should help promote the rapid development of a sensor infrastructure.