EDAG Engineering has announced its partnership with the Fulda University of Applied Sciences in Germany. To this end, EDAG is providing the university with a model of the EDAG CityBot on loan, which students are now using for research and development.
The EDAG CityBot is a networked, highly automated vehicle that takes on a wide variety of tasks depending on requirements and configuration. The modular design makes the system multifunctional in use. The application scenarios include, for example, the transport of people and goods, city cleaning and green space maintenance. The Campus FreeCity project, which was funded by the Federal Ministry of Digital Affairs and Transport and ends in August 2024, has already produced the first joint research results on the concept.
The EDAG CityBot is a fully integrated solution to the urban mobility challenges of tomorrow, and represents a sophisticated ecosystem. The multifunctional, highly automated robots are networked with one another and with the smart city infrastructure. They are modular and multifunctional and, by fitting add-on modules, can be configured as passenger cells, cargo carriers, city cleaning devices or for park maintenance, around the clock as and when needed.
The EDAG CityBot is a fully integrated solution to the urban mobility challenges of tomorrow, and represents a sophisticated ecosystem.
Close cooperation over several phases
The two partners intend to continue the current research results. Students from the ‘Applied Computer Science’ and ‘Electrical Engineering and Information Technology’ faculties are now working on the EDAG CityBot model from 2020 in a practical way.
The event will kick off with lectures that will teach the first basics of the EDAG CityBot. This is followed by a phase of concrete projects with the vehicle, in which several teams implement various projects and present results in final presentations. The innovative teaching concept is a unique opportunity for students at Fulda University of Applied Sciences to participate in a future-oriented mobility system in a practical way. The teams are able to try out a wide variety of scenarios and take away a realistic project for their professional careers.
EDAG has provided an EDAG CityBot to Fulda University of Applied Sciences and the technical documentation of the vehicle and its software. EDAG also provides support in the introduction of current practical tasks and takes over individual seminars after consultation. Both partners work together on the content of the seminars for an optimal practical transfer, with the common goal to promote young talent at an early stage in a practical manner and to achieve new research results together.
“If science and business move closer together in this way, we will strengthen our region as an attractive location for business, training and employers. We are very pleased that we are taking on a pioneering role with this cooperation,” said Holger Merz, Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer of the EDAG Group. “The joint exchange of knowledge is a win for both sides.”
“We are very pleased to see the EDAG CityBot rolling on our university campus. This gives us the opportunity to bring cutting-edge technology into teaching and to impart realistic knowledge to our students on future-oriented topics such as mobile robotics and autonomous driving,” added Prof. Martin Kumm of Fulda University of Applied Sciences.