Climate change is leading to an increasing number of hot days quality of life and health of the population The PROLOK project (“Prozessschema für lokalspezifische Hitzeanpassung in kleinen Kommunen” – process scheme for site-specific heat adaptation in small municipalities) is now set to explore ways in which small municipalities can better protect themselves from heatwaves the project will work together with the municipality of Ihringen at the Kaiserstuhl which is one of the heat-related hotspots in Germany The PROLOK project is part of the state's Sustainability Innovation Campus (ICN) The University of Freiburg and the South German Climate Office at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) are responsible for the scientific management of the project The Regionalverband Südlicher Oberrhein (Regional Association of the Southern Upper Rhine) and the consultancy Klima Plus are the project’s field partners The pilot municipality of Ihringen is particularly affected by heatwaves The call for tenders for the pilot municipality was issued in June 2024 by the Regionalverband Südlicher Oberrhein together with the University of Freiburg It was aimed at municipalities with 5,000 to 20,000 inhabitants that are severely affected by heat Among the three applicant municipalities that met the formal criteria the project partners selected the municipality of Ihringen as a pilot partner professor of Geography of Global Change at the University of Freiburg and co-project manager of PROLOK explains the decision: “Ihringen is already considered one of the heat-related hotspots in Germany and will be affected by heatwaves more frequently and more intensely in the future As a small community with around 6,300 inhabitants it is excellently suited for the project’s objectives The project results can then be applied to other communities.” “We want to make climate research applicable: With the results of the regional climate models used at the KIT we can support local stakeholders in specific issues such as the heat in Ihringen,” says Dr Hans Schipper who heads the South German Climate Office at the KIT “The health and well-being of our residents especially the very young and the very old are particularly important to us,” emphasises Benedikt Eckerle “Participating in the PROLOK project offers us the opportunity to work with our citizens and local stakeholders to develop tailored solutions to combat the increasing heat and thus ensure the long-term quality of life in our community.” Develop applicable heat protection concepts The aim of the PROLOK project is to develop a process scheme that enables smaller municipalities to deal with heat hazards in a preventive and innovative way despite limited financial and human resources The developed process scheme is to be tested together with the pilot municipality of Ihringen in the period from October 2024 to March 2025 in the context of two stakeholder workshops and further developed based on experiences with the process The first workshop will take place in Ihringen on 21 November 2024 “The Sustainability Innovation Campus addresses the major challenges of our time – from climate protection and resource conservation to future urban planning The Upper Rhine region is to become a beacon of sustainability research through leaps in innovation projects such as PROLOK have the potential to improve people’s lives in a very practical way heat protection concepts are being developed in the pilot municipality of Ihringen that can be applied elsewhere This application-oriented research advances us on the path to a more sustainable society,” says Minister of Science Petra Olschowski about the development of the Innovation Campus model dateFormat['de_DE'])+ ' - '+item['institution']+' Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg im Breisgau Weitere Pressemitteilungen dieser Einrichtung Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker Technological tipping points are not always easy to identify and the pace of change in the automotive industry can make it a challenge for garages not affiliated with new car dealerships to stay on top of new carfeatures as they begin to require repair Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) are emblematic of this and considering their centrality to the safe operation of many new cars Tyres & Accessories magazine visited Hella Gutmann Solutions’ (HGS) facilities in and around Ihringen Germany to see how the supplier of diagnostic and camera and sensor recalibration solutions is responding to garages’ increasing need for new equipment head of business development at Hella in the UK and an Institute of the Motor Industry automotive trainer tells T&A that the current “complexity of the systems in cars is outstripping the competences of diagnostic tools and training” typical of independent garages now While many will have been tempted to wave off the need to get up to speed on ADAS in the short-term he argues that “more will have worked on ADAS equipped cars than they might know.” He states that the “only way” to be sure all systems fitted to the car have been identified is to “perform a global scan… using a suitable diagnostic device” – HGS’s solution for this is its range of mega macs tools as T&A witnessed during its time at the facility Hella’s Neil Hilton presented both the company’s current ADAS solutions and its findings on the legal obligations of garages with regard to ADAS at the 2018 NTDA Annual Conference Having consulted a leading law firm representing clients in the automotive sector he also presented a summary of the legal situation: “The development of ADAS technology raises complex issues relating to liability If the ADAS system has failed than the driver will be alerted by a clear fault code however if the system becomes slightly misaligned this may not be detected by the driver but performance of the system can be significantly downgraded Even minor workshop repairs could misalign the ADAS “Historically liability has focussed on the driver or owner of the vehicle causing the damage However if the accident can be traced back to malfunctioning of the vehicle then manufacturers or repairers could face liability Manufacturers now specify that recalibration of ADAS system must take place after work has taken place on a car but independent garages are not often clear on or aware of this requirement A workshop is under a general duty to provide its service with reasonable skill and care and delivering a vehicle with incomplete repairs results in a safety issue workshops are vulnerable to a claim if they either have failed to recalibrate failed to refer a customer to a specialist for recalibration or failed to notify a customer before commencing a repair that recalibration is required.” a minimum of two ADAS systems must be fitted to a new car for a five-star NCAP rating There are now 32 car manufacturers fitting ADAS and this is not confined to the premium brands – or even models; very common cars such as the Audi A4 and the Volkswagen Passat are now available with a variety of ADAS features ADAS cameras and sensors are often well-hidden for example behind apparently transparent bumpers and can be inadvertently disabled or misconfigured during routine repairs to paintwork most relevant to those providing tyre servicing altering the geometry of the car can lead to misalignment of cameras and sensors without the system reading the new alignment as a fault meaning automated ADAS-enabled safety features such as lane departure prevention wheel alignment companies are now selling ADAS spin-off systems Hilton adds that the legal requirements of garages with regard to ADAS are still emerging Since NCAP five-star rated cars will have been insured as such or otherwise compromising features required to attain such a rating could have serious repercussions HGS consulted a leading legal representative of automotive firms which stated that workshops could become vulnerable to a claim (see textbox for more details) and Hilton himself believes “we’re heading for a test case” in the current climate Hilton adds that garages “need to be able to calibrate or refer to someone who can,” in order to ensure ADAS systems are properly maintained HGS has been engaged in the ADAS aftermarket for five years increased up-to-date data for the calibration of new car models’ latest systems technician training and marketing materials for more widespread awareness It states that its tools and data systems are “designed to grow with the technology” arguing that its growing complexity and usage means garages will require continued updates to ride the wave of change Hella’s engineering department demonstrates the labour-intensive process of mapping car data for use with its diagnostics and calibration equipment Hella has a training room and practical workshop with a capacity of 25 delegates It has helped to produce the IMI’s course for ADAS and runs assessments requiring 75 per cent to pass (Neil Hilton wryly comments that the test “can be failed”) the “Hella Academy” also offers online training including videos and ultimately an “HGS diagnostics specialist” qualification for completing enough parts of the training the Hella Academy is set up to be rolled out over other regions – the online provision is already available in seven languages Hella also runs a highly sophisticated support operation from a building near its Ihringen site trained by HGS and recruited as specialists already – each has worked for their speciality marque for “at least five years” with ongoing fortnight placements every year in garages in the region – are organised into offices dedicated to the various car marques which is connected to HGS’s mega macs diagnostic tools in addition to other contact routes ensures responses are made in a timely fashion The response target time is under 30 minutes though this depends on the quality of the information collected – the company addresses this via 15 dedicated data collectors The contact centre also feeds back to HGS to identify new data requirements for diagnostics delivering an aftermarket solution for diagnostics becomes an important In order to access the increasing number of data points while getting around the security OEMs place on data HGS must “re-engineer” the data presented via the data link connection a task that ultimately takes up to around six months for one person to complete now – partially thanks to the exponentially growing amount of data now processed by modern cars The company believes that showing the intensity of the work required helps to “justify” its subscription fee for its data updates characterises this data-gathering as proof of Hella’s championing of independent technicians While he believes “sensitivity will grow” among drivers and their attitude to third parties accessing their car’s data Motorists’ greater awareness of the data access required to fix their cars will help to argue the case that this data must be accessible so that independent garages have the opportunity to add value to their customers Press visitors to Hella Gutmann Solutions try out the current range of mega macs diagnostic systems At the centre of HGS’s product range stands its line of mega macs diagnostics tools while the company has also added a Camera & Sensor Calibration Tool (CSC tool) for high-precision calibration of ADAS data supplying camera and radar systems Its current CSC tool is characterised as “a true universal solution focussed on real workshop needs,” with 28 brands currently covered Three optional CSC tool kits also enable all-round vision and rearview cameras HGS has also developed an additional portable calibration solution for cameras offering new possibilities for roadside assistance providers All ADAS calibrations are managed by various iterations of the mega macs system The tools feature operator guidance through vehicle-specific work steps The flagship mega macs 77 was launched this spring including a full HD touchscreen and cable-free charging station the mega macs 77 software architecture is intended to increase the possibilities surrounding mega macs 77 preparing “for digital workshop processes and platform-independent applications in network-based systems,” HGS states it seems clear that workshops must take steps to enable ADAS-ready servicing If you would like the latest news from the Chinese tyre industry in Chinese, visit our partner site TyrepressChina.com