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A black Passat with a roof rack is actually a typical sight in winter when the people of Hamburg set off to ski.

But this year hardly anyone is driving towards the mountains, and so the vehicle already has something special on this December morning at the Baumall.

But what is really so special only becomes apparent at second glance, because a lot of highly sensitive sensors have been installed in and on the VW, including in the box on the roof.

If his human companion presses the right buttons, the car takes over the onward journey autonomously.

And finally they look for a parking space and park there independently - because that's exactly what this project is about.

It is called “UrbanSmartPark” and it has been promoted by doctoral students from the TU Braunschweig for the past year.

It was presented to the public in Hamburg last week, because the Hanseatic city is one of the project partners.

At the ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems) world congress, which is about the future of mobility, next October, autonomous parking will be one of the so-called anchor projects, of which there are a total of 42.

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All together, in conjunction with a trade fair, should then show how the traffic processes in metropolises on land, on water and in the air will or at least could change technologically.

Germany is then the host country, Hamburg is the host city.

Why a digital variant is not an option

But is such a major international event with 15,000 expected trade visitors from all over the world realistic in view of the corona pandemic?

Harry Evers firmly assumes that he is planning the event as managing director of ITS Hamburg GmbH and that he himself initiated the application.

Finally, there are still around ten months to reduce the number of infections, for example through the vaccination program, to a level that allows an event without major restrictions.

The exhibitors from abroad would also continue to plan in this way: "We have had a huge response, 80 percent of the 12,000 square meters of exhibition space has already been booked," reports Evers.

This means that the Hamburg ITS edition would be significantly larger than in the last host city, Singapore.

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Numerous Hamburg companies are involved in the planning, and there will be organized tours to the anchor projects for visitors.

Port logisticians then show what transport ideas they have for shipping, automobile manufacturers present their technical innovations, and the Helmut Schmidt University demonstrates how drones can be used helpful in the future, but also what technical means are available to remove them from airports, for example to hold.

Hamburg residents should also be able to go on these tours during and after the event.

A digital variant of the trade fair is out of the question for Evers, because the gain in knowledge only comes from looking directly at it.

Networking is also of great importance.

If the infection situation does not improve sufficiently, the event would have to be postponed and rescheduled.

But if everything can take place as planned, it would be something like the reawakening of the trade fair city of Hamburg, and the hotels would be well utilized again.

And then the parking lot problem would probably become more acute again.

"Parking vehicles in the city as we know it today actually only creates losers," says project manager Silvia Thal from the TU Braunschweig.

Loss of time, exhaust emissions, the reduction in the quality of stay due to parked cars, all of this could change if the cars were to find their own parking space.

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For example, if you log your suitably equipped car into an autonomously operating GPS guide using an app and order it back precisely, you can save a lot of time.

First of all, the principle should also be interesting for sharing services, which could keep their vehicle fleet moving even more.

When the time will come - the scientists don't know either.

But they are as confident as the ITS organizers that their respective plans will work out.

This text is from WELT AM SONNTAG.

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Source: Welt am Sonntag