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3. July 2020Joint future project by MAN, Deutsche Bahn, Hochschule Fresenius, and Götting KG for the development and testing of an automated truck for more flexible container handling at the terminal launched. Fully automated truck will be tested at the DUSS terminal in Ulm.
(Ulm) To automate the handling between transport modes, the project “Autonomous Innovation in Terminal Operations” (ANITA) starts on July 1, 2020. A fully automated truck will be developed and tested in real logistics operations at the DUSS terminal in Ulm. Combined transport – the connection of road, rail, and/or water – is one of the strongest growth markets in freight transport. The ANITA project is another important building block on the way to automating the entire transport process. It allows for more flexible deployment of vehicles and drivers.
Project partners are MAN Truck & Bus SE, Deutsche Bahn AG, Götting KG, and Hochschule Fresenius. It is funded with 5.5 million euros from the “New Vehicle and System Technologies” program of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. The duration is 39 months.
Testing Under Real Conditions
The fully automated truck will be deployed at the Ulm Dornstadt site. It will move automatically in the container depot of DB Intermodal Services and the DUSS terminal. For the tests, a safety driver from MAN will always be on board. Initially, the digital infrastructure with all necessary interfaces will be set up on the premises. Experienced crane operators will handle the containers to ensure that operations can be tested under real conditions.
Dr. Sigrid Nikutta, DB Board Member for Freight Transport: “Combined transport is key to a successful transport transition. Through the handling terminals, the customer gains access to the rail, so it is important that we offer efficient and innovative processes here. Containers need to be handled faster and more flexibly. We utilize digitalization as in the ANITA project: Autonomous trucks in the terminal are initial but important steps towards Terminal 4.0.”
Another Milestone
MAN Truck & Bus SE is developing the vehicle for the project: “Together with our partners, we will gain valuable experience with autonomous vehicles in container handling on a terminal site. Following our already very successful platooning project with DB Schenker AG and Hochschule Fresenius, ANITA represents the next important step towards automated driving in the hub-to-hub application – another milestone in our MAN Automation Roadmap,” says Dr. Frederik Zohm, Board Member for Research and Development at MAN Truck & Bus.
Götting KG will develop algorithms for location and obstacle detection for the vehicle. The CEO Hans-Heinrich Götting: “The ANITA project aims to elevate our environmental perception for full automation to a new level. Cooperation with significant partners within a real environment is extremely important for Götting KG.”
Analysis of Human and Machine
To ensure communication between the truck and the terminal or container depot, the behaviors of humans and machines on the terminal site will first be analyzed to subsequently transfer them into digital processes and regulations. Hochschule Fresenius is responsible for this: “It is our tradition to analyze processes in complex systems,” says Prof. Dr. Christian T. Haas, Director of the Institute for Complex Systems Research at Hochschule Fresenius. “In the current project, the special challenge is not only to understand the system behavior but also to transfer it into a digital concept that machines can work with. Safety is the top priority – but performance aspects are also essential for the rollout process.”
Photo: © MAN
