Research Vehicle for Automated and Connected Driving

360° Perception

karl. can see in all directions at the same time. Cameras and lidars are mounted on its modular sensor rack to minimize blind spots. Together, its 19 environment sensors redundantly cover the 360° environment, from short range to long range.

9
Stereo
Cameras

4
Rotating
ToF Lidars

1
FMCW
Lidar

5
4D
Radars

Ubiquitous Connectivity

karl. is connected at all times. Redundant 5G enables high-speed data streaming to cloud services, infrastructure, other vehicles, and vice-versa. Standardized V2X communication lets karl. talk directly to nearby traffic participants.

5G
Dual SIM
Dual Active

V2X
ITS-G5 &
C-V2X

Wi-Fi
802.11ac

Powerful, yet Efficient

karl.'s intelligence is powered by a high-performance computer and two embedded AI chips. The HPC runs the automated driving stack with ease, leaving headroom for even more AI applications. The embedded AI computers power the vision system and allow to prototype on production-grade hardware.

64
CPU
Cores

192 GB
GPU
VRAM

256 GB

2
NVIDIA
Orins

Lightweight Control

karl. utilizes the stock vehicle’s built-in advanced driver assistance systems and ECUs for lateral and longitudinal control, without adding dedicated actuation hardware. A prototyping ECU interfaces with the vehicle’s CAN bus to control steering, braking, acceleration, and secondary functions such as turn indicators. Integrated and developed by our partner fka GmbH, this setup enables safe automated closed-loop driving with minimal intrusion.

DbW
Drive-by-Wire
by fka

Lateral
full steering range

Longitudinal
full ACC acceleration range

Open Automated Driving Stack

OpenADS, the Open Automated Driving Systems project, is providing the software stack powering karl.'s automated driving capabilities. OpenADS is a collaborative and open-source ecosystem for automated driving systems, aligned with the German EM4.0 and European ECAVA.

4200+
GitHub Stars

Apache-2.0
Permissive License

OpenADStack in Action

Watch OpenADStack, the open-source automated driving reference stack of the OpenADS project, drive karl. autonomously around the WDR Studios in Cologne. The autonomous ride was part of karl.'s prime time TV appearance in the “Große Maus-Show” on Sep 12, 2026.

Riding in Style

karl. does not only attract attention with its sensor setup. The eye-catching wrap makes karl. one of a kind and, at the same time, informs the public about the purpose of the car that is standing in front of them in traffic.