1.400 square meters of radio and positioning at Fraunhofer IIS

“This hall is huge. It fits entire trucks.” The eyes of Dr. Axel Plinge, Group Leader at Fraunhofer IIS, light up as he talks about the Test and Application Center for Positioning, Identification, Navigation and Communication (L.I.N.K.) at Nuremberg's Fraunhofer location in the Nordostpark. The hall is indeed large - but what makes it so special? “When you look around, you see technology everywhere. Various tracking systems are installed throughout the entire area”. This allows for the testing of numerous scenarios: from wireless localization and communication technologies to motion capture for virtual reality, as well as reinforcement learning applications, enabling systems to autonomously develop strategies for problem solving through trial and error. Since 2013, the hall and an additional outdoor space have been available for various tests and experiments. Together, they  provide an impressive environment for the development, demonstration and evaluation of cutting-edge positioning and networks technologies, as well as for industrial applications in areas such as Industry 4.0 or the Internet of Things (IoT), which is one of a kind and cannot be found anywhere else.

Hands-on science

“The cool thing is that there is an incredible amount of flexibility. For example, we calibrated the Corona-Warning-App with Bluetooth positioning. To do so, we recreated an entire ICE train with chairs. The test subjects were able to sit down and eat in the virtual on-board restaurant while we calibrated the app's distance measurement,” says Axel Plinge. The test scenarios in the L.I.N.K. hall, which can be implemented in a variety of ways, inspire the computer scientist, who has been at home in the Nuremberg Metropolitan Region for seven years, has been working at Fraunhofer IIS ever since, and has also been leading a research team on reinforcement learning for four years. Half of his team consists of scientists with doctorate degrees. The members have a STEM background and programming experience, whereby practical knowledge and a passion for research are equally  significant.

Tobias Volk demonstrates the latter. The 22-year-old is pursuing a master's degree in electrical engineering at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg and is employed as a student assistant at Fraunhofer IIS. He also spends a lot of time at the Test and Application Center. “You can test a lot of application environments in the L.I.N.K. hall,” emphasizes the student. “I'm very enthusiastic about technology. When I see all the top-notch safety systems and positioning systems installed in the hall,  it makes my heart  soar. It's just fun: you sit down with your team, you chat a bit, and test and debug together. I've never learned as much as during these sessions – not least because everything is physically right in front of your eyes in the L.I.N.K. hall.”

“When you look around, you see technology everywhere. Various tracking systems are installed throughout the entire area”

An innovation ground for technologies

We are currently testing a driverless transport system. It was previously trained in simulation using reinforcement learning. In this process, the AI learns on its own how to navigate around obstacles or take shortcuts. This can be tested in practice in the L.I.N.K. hall, which offers positioning options. This transfer from simulation to reality is what distinguishes the Test and Application Center, as Axel Plinge emphasizes: “Not everyone has such a gigantic volume for optical tracking, in which they can have things driven around or let them drive. It's just cool to work with this technology. It's a lab, but it's also practical testing. An unusual, unique place for science.”

The Nordostpark site

Most of his time, however, the group leader spends in the office and co-working spaces at Nordostpark in Nuremberg. This is home to one of the three large Fraunhofer IIS sites in the Nuremberg Metropolitan Region, which also includes the L.I.N.K. hall. This is also where Angela Raguse, corporate communications for the Positioning and Networks division, has her office. She knows the location and its advantages inside out: “The ultra-modern workspaces and laboratories make life a lot easier.” Around 140 scientists and 80 students work together on numerous interdisciplinary projects in the Positioning and Networks division at Nordostpark. Together with the L.I.N.K. hall, the researchers have access to a state-of-the-art infrastructure. The office concept at the  Nordostpark premises, which is also home to the Center for Applied Research on Supply Chain Services at Fraunhofer IIS, follows the principles of modern workplace design and features on various meeting rooms with comfortable areas to linger: “People meet in the spacious cafeterias, meeting rooms or in one of the many co-working spaces and exchange ideas.”

It is precisely these meeting spaces that define the location for Axel Plinge as a group leader and researcher – and, of course, the people who meet there. “You are surrounded by a lot of incredibly smart people,” emphasizes Plinge. “You never run out of things to talk about. It feels like a large think tank, a cluster of ideas and research drive.“