5 Years of ICM: Pioneering Technologies and Innovators Shaping the Future of Mobility

Shaper of transformation, promoter of young talent, STEM training initiative, transfer and start-up accelerator and, with more than 170 projects, one of the most successful research initiatives in the country. Since its establishment in 2019, the Innovation Campus Mobility of the Future (ICM) has built up an innovation ecosystem that develops pioneering technologies and solutions for the social challenges facing society.

The mobility industry is undergoing a profound transformation that affects both mobility systems and their production. The innovative development of software functions, services, and processes is becoming an increasingly critical factor for success. In order to actively shape this change, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the University of Stuttgart established the ICM in 2019. With four professorships, five junior professorships, four junior research groups and more than 20 future labs, the ICM is creating infrastructure for research into software-supported technologies and systems for mobility and production applications. "At ICM, our research focuses on the intersections between the original fields of study, including software-defined mobility, software-defined manufacturing, and manufacturing for mobility," explains Dr. Sandra Kauffmann-Weiß, Managing Director of ICM from KIT.

Software-supported technologies are the basis for efficient, safe and highly automated mobility and the adaptive, self-learning production of the future. Three projects showcased at ICM Day demonstrate the immense potential that can be harnessed through innovative research.

By outsourcing non-safety-related functions such as air conditioning, heating and ventilation control to a cloud, the researchers in the OTrace project increased the energy efficiency and thus the range of electronic city buses by 20 kilometers per trip. In the SWUpCar project, a modular and standardized software architecture was developed that enables the simple integration of new hardware components and software functions. The project partners are laying the groundwork for the future development of upgradeable vehicles and the reduction of electronic control units. The demonstrator from the RoboCable project proves that artificial intelligence enables machines to take on highly complex manual tasks and thus mitigate the shortage of skilled workers. The robot accurately detects connector positions and independently assembles unsorted cable harnesses. It is a first step towards the fully automated assembly of wire harnesses in the mobility industry and other production areas. 

The ICM actively fosters young talent through a variety of programs and initiatives.  “With our mobile research labs, we want to get pupils and students interested in the various STEM subjects,” says Maike Schwammberger, ICM Junior Professor at KIT and responsible for the Modeling and Analysis in Mobility Software Engineering research group. The mobile research labs are used at schools, study and careers fairs, science courses and events such as TryScience and Girls' Day. On ICM Day, visitors have the opportunity to explore the mobile test bench of the MOVER Lab project alongside researchers, or to test and optimize algorithms for the small autonomous robot cars featured in the AMASE2RC mobile research laboratory.

“Young creative individuals are important drivers of innovation. This is why the ICM supports young researchers at an early stage in developing their ideas into independent bottom-up projects on relevant technologies,” explains Kauffmann-Weiß. The format welcomes both fundamental and risk-oriented research approaches, as well as transfer projects. Ultimately, innovations emerge when cutting-edge research is successfully translated into practical applications, a feat achieved by Jannis Noeren and Lukas Elbracht at the Institute of Electrical Energy Conversion (IEW) at the University of Stuttgart.

The two have developed a system for the dynamic charging of industrial trucks that significantly reduces downtimes and increases the service life of the batteries. The "trade secret" lies in the optimal design of the interaction between inductive charging while driving and strategic charging stops during periods without transport orders. As part of the DynaCharge transfer bottom-up project, the two researchers successfully built a demonstrator that operates without the need for inductive charging zones embedded in the ground. As a result, it can be rapidly integrated into existing logistics infrastructures and easily adapted. The system serves as the technological cornerstone of AMPLINK GmbH, founded by Noeren, Elbracht, and three partners in the summer of 2024. This GmbH is the first start-up to emerge from the university environment to participate in the ICM Early Ride Program, marking a successful venture into entrepreneurship.

About the InnovationCampus Mobility of the Future
The mobility and production of the future are sustainable, efficient and made in Baden-Württemberg. But this requires new breakthrough technologies - from innovative vehicle drives to versatile production processes. The goal of the InnovationCampus Future Mobility (ICM) is to help shape this change. At the ICM, the University of Stuttgart and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) combine their expertise in research and innovation to jointly develop new technologies quickly and flexibly, test new approaches, and create the basis for breakthrough innovations. The ICM is one of Germany's largest initiatives on mobility and production of the future. Funded by the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Science, Education and the Arts.