The automobile of the future - options for efficient individual mobility

Individual mobility is closely linked to the welfare of any society. Not surprisingly, the number of automobiles has been inexorably increasing and is likely to double in the next twenty years. Clearly, this development creates many benefits and economic opportunities, but also many problems, such as air pollution, traffic fatalities, increased energy consumption and carbon dioxide emission. In this talk the relevance of these problems will be prioritized and some of the most likely technological solutions will be presented. One key point is that in most — if not all — of these approaches automatic control systems will be an enabling factor, without which no true breakthroughs are possible. After these rather general remarks, the following some examples will be presented to show what typical problem setups are to be faced and what methods are to be used to tackle these problems.