Partnership profile i_city: intelligent city

How do you make cities intelligent, i.e. sustainable, efficient and thus liveable? The i_city research partnership has dedicated itself to this question. Scientists at the HFT Stuttgart are thus working with around 25 companies and institutions in the region to develop concepts for the city of the future, with projects ranging from innovative, energy-saving building structures to intelligent energy management and sustainable mobility.

“The aim of i_city is to create highly efficient energy, building and mobility systems in city districts, which will be interconnected and operated efficiently and sustainably using information and communication technologies (ICT),” says Dr Dirk Pietruschka, Managing Director of i_city. “We have also been integrating environmental, economic and social aspects from the beginning, as we want to create comprehensive solutions which not only boast impressive technology but are also perfectly tailored to the users’ needs.”

As part of the subproject “E-bike sharing concept for Stuttgart and Tuttlingen”, for example, qualitative user surveys are being carried out based on target group analysis. “The aim is to identify the drivers of and obstacles to implementing the e-bike sharing concept, and then develop practical solutions on this basis,” explains Pietruschka. For this reason, the HFT founded i_city in early 2017 with Professor Ursula Eicker and Dirk Pietruschka. i_city is based on the research focus established by the HFT Institute for Applied Research (IAF): energy-efficient buildings and sustainable urban development. To ensure a broad, interdisciplinary approach to research, researchers of all the HFT Competence Centres are involved in the i_city work:

• Centre for Sustainable Energy Technology (zafh.net),
• Centre for Geodesy and Geoinformatics,
• Centre for Sustainable Urban Development,
• Centre for Integral Architecture, Sustainable Economics and Management,
• Centre for Acoustic and Thermal Building Physics and the
• Centre for Industrial Applications of Mathematics and Computer Science.

Business psychology researchers are also involved in a variety of subprojects. Partner companies in the Stuttgart metropolitan region, including Daimler TSS GmbH (the company’s internal IT service provider), Robert Bosch GmbH and Schüco International KG, guarantee a consistent focus on applications. There are also municipal and federal political institutions such as the Stuttgart Office for Urban Planning and Renewal (Amt für Stadtplanung und Stadterneuerung Stuttgart) and the state of Baden-Württemberg. “The work is exciting and practice-oriented,” says Pietruschka enthusiastically. “With innovative research, powerful partners and close collaboration with local authorities, the project is broadly focused and well-coordinated. i_city is a lot of fun, because it affects many aspects of our lives.”

The comprehensive approach of i_city leads to a wide range of topics – the research and development activities focus on six fields of action with a total of 19 projects.

Selected i_city lighthouse projects

Sustainable mobility
E-bike sharing project for Stuttgart, Tuttlingen and the surrounding region

Vehicle sharing can play an important role in reducing CO2 emissions and particulate air pollution and thus improving the quality of air and life in the city. Car sharing models have long been established in many cities. There is also high demand for bike sharing options such as city bike hire systems in many places, including Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Berlin. In the “sustainable mobility” field of action, i_city is working on introducing an area-wide e-bike sharing system, first in Stuttgart and Tuttlingen and then in the rural surroundings. The service will be closely coordinated with public transport and existing car sharing services. These services will be networked in order to offer residents interconnected, sustainable mobility for various routes. The cooperating scientists and companies are also working on economically viable business models for future implementation of e-bike sharing systems. Simple booking and payment systems that can one day be used for all the different mobility services are also being considered.

Energy management and ICT
Increased efficiency through an intelligent network of generators and consumers in industrial estates, with Robert Bosch GmbH at its Schwieberdingen location as an example

Robert Bosch GmbH operates its own heating and cooling network at its Schwieberdingen property. The property’s current energy supply offers high energy savings potential thanks to new strategies for intelligent and predictive systems regulation in the network. Flexible heating and cooling loads represent another key approach to increasing energy efficiency. Intelligent, prognosis-based management and storage allow for plannable flexibility in the operation of the combined heat and power (CHP) system and refrigeration plants. Commercial and industrial estates thus help to compensate for regional and national fluctuations in power generation with renewable energies, which can be a highly economical solution for operators of high-energy industrial and commercial estates.

Information platform and urban simulation systems
Multi-scale Urban Scenario Interface (MUSI) project

Urban planning and development is a complex task, which can be simplified with urban simulation programs. In addition to helping with planning, they also make it possible to test and optimise newly developed solutions in realistic conditions before the launch. With the aid of the online MUSI software package for energy management planning, renovation and energy efficiency measures can be analysed with a focus on both costs and energy, from individual buildings to entire cities. As a planning and analysis tool, MUSI addresses a large range of applications, primarily “sustainable urban development and district energy concepts”, “information platforms”, “urban simulation systems” and “financing and acceptance”.

Partner statements

Werner Steiner, Powertrain Solutions, Facility Management, Robert Bosch GmbH

“We are undergoing a process of change, a transformation which demands agility and a wealth of ideas from us as a society and a company, as these are essential to maintaining our prosperity and success. Existing infrastructures, “methods and opportunities”, which need to be in place before they can be exploited, are key to this success. In this context, it’s imperative to develop valuable knowledge and innovations early on and thus identify infrastructure requirements. We want to provide these infrastructures as a catalyst. As a think tank, i_city offers a unique opportunity to think outside the box with an interdisciplinary approach. The decades of collaboration with the HFT Stuttgart have also expanded the level of trust, creating an unrivalled efficiency.”

Dr. Wolfgang Käfer, Senior Manager Business Evolution, Daimler TSS GmbH

“The demand for suitable mobility solutions in urban transport, including access to and from rural regions, requires new transport concepts. In addition to developing technologies for traditional vehicles such as new drives, it is also essential to incorporate new vehicle classes like e-bikes and e-scooters into the range of mobility services. In particular, the public transport network needs to be seamlessly connected with new sharing models across all vehicle types. It’s also important to integrate additional services such as package delivery directly to vehicles to ensure more efficient use. All this can only be achieved through modern, data-driven software architectures which ensure an expansive network of intelligent vehicles. i_city makes it possible to bring together many different forms of inspiration for new innovative ideas in this heterogenous world.”