MAN tests automated truck at the Ulm-Dornstadt terminal

After the successful testing of autonomous trucks at the Hamburg port, MAN is conducting another automation project in Ulm. There, MAN is also testing the use of a fully automated truck in real terminal operations together with partners in the ANITA project. The first step towards Terminal 4.0 has now been made with the completion of extensive analyses.

(Ulm/Munich) The numbers are impressive: Up to 600 times a day, a container is moved in the DB Intermodal Services depot in northern Ulm over 90,000 square meters, and a truck transports one of the containers between the depot and the neighboring DUSS terminal (Deutsche Umschlaggesellschaft Schiene-Straße mbH) 50 to 60 times a day over a nearly one-kilometer-long public route. There, the containers are transferred to the rail via one of the three 330-ton and 25-meter-high portal cranes along the 700-meter-long crane track: The Deutsche Bahn organizes the transshipment on four tracks and four sidings – and this will increase: Combined transport is one of the strongest growth markets in the entire freight transport sector. Therefore, a new module with automated crane systems is to be established in Ulm Dornstadt in the coming years.

Delivery traffic in the depot and at the terminal involves many paper-based processes, a short hub-to-hub destination between the two locations, an innovative environment, and the prospect of reaching the limits of the existing infrastructure in the future: There is much potential for more efficiency and flexibility in Dornstadt. And that is precisely why it is an ideal environment that the ANITA participants (“Autonomous Innovation in Terminal Operations”) have chosen for their testing: MAN Truck & Bus, Deutsche Bahn, Hochschule Fresenius, and Götting KG. Since July 2020, the partners have been working on the pilot project, which is planned for 39 months and funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, to automate the transshipment between transport modes – and also to take the next step towards automated hub-to-hub traffic.

Extensive analyses nationwide

First, the infrastructure with all interfaces had to be recorded and digitally mapped so that trucks and terminals can communicate with each other in the future. This was a complex undertaking that Hochschule Fresenius has now completed. For about a year, researchers observed and described human and machine along the processes, analyzed documents and regulations, and conducted interviews with truck and forklift drivers, dispatchers, and freight forwarders on-site to capture implicit knowledge as well. “These are established and proven rules that are not documented anywhere – such as a nod as a signal between the truck driver and the crane operator or other spontaneous human decisions,” explains Prof. Dr. Christian T. Haas, head of the Institute for Complex Systems Research at Hochschule Fresenius. “We also need to understand these rules to later teach them to the truck as an algorithm.”

The analysis took place not only in Ulm but also at other DUSS locations. Ultimately, the algorithms are to be transferred to other terminals, ports, and industrial facilities where autonomous vehicles will operate. Differences must therefore be considered from the outset in the programming. “Every terminal has its own rules; we have defined generalized functions for all terminals as well as locally applicable, specifying functions,” explains Haas – a significant challenge: “Unlike humans, an automated system cannot improvise or bend rules; there must be a clear action instruction for every situation.”

Language skills for autonomous trucks

Next, the modular circuit diagram created will be transferred into software for mission planning. For the first time in such a development process, the contract language “Contract Specification Language” from the company Deon Digital is being used, with which Hochschule Fresenius collaborates. At the same time, MAN and Götting are also using the results for the further development of the autonomous truck. Test drives with the automated prototype vehicle are planned for the second half of 2022; always with a safety driver on board.

Next level of complexity

MAN has already tested automated trucks at the Hamburg port. “With ANITA, we are tackling the next level of complexity along our automation roadmap,” explains Andreas Zimmermann, head of pre-development electronics at MAN Truck & Bus, placing the project in Ulm, where more external traffic and interaction with the infrastructure will take place. “Consequently, a truck with similar automation technology as in Hamburg, equipped with numerous Lidar, radar sensors, and cameras for a 360-degree view, will be used here, but it will have a higher level of development maturity.” For this purpose, a large cross-departmental team is working in MAN development. “In addition, we are leveraging synergies from the VW Group,” adds Zimmermann.

Photos: © MAN