Study of Container Movements with a View to Autonomous Operations for the Future

SWEDEN – This autumn will see a new feasibility study on behalf of Turkish headquartered Yilport to investigate and understand how autonomous systems can improve transport flows throughout the Port of Gävle. The work will be undertaken by international technology company Semcon.

Gävle is one of Sweden’s biggest ports seeing large quantities of goods transported through every day with Yilport in charge of operations. Because ports, like mines and production facilities, are enclosed areas, Semcon, which works in a variety of industrial sectors, sees them as ideal environments for automated solutions.

The initial logistics process that will be investigated is the transport of containers by truck from warehouses to the docks, prior to loading via cranes onto ships. During the project, Semcon will map all parts of the procedures, costs, needs and challenges in order to understand the process in depth. A requirements specification, concept solution and business case will then be delivered to Yilport.

To assist in the project, Semcon is calling on its close partnership with Norwegian based Yeti Move, which is providing a platform for controlling and monitoring autonomous operations. Yeti Move is a software provider and is jointly owned by Semcon, Øveraasen and Husqvarna. David Darwall, Global Business Manager for Applied Autonomy at Semcon, commented:

“Semcon has unique cutting-edge expertise as a full-service provider of autonomous solutions. We cover everything from design and development to implementation in a wide range of applications and in many different industries, whatever the vehicle type or manufacturer.

“We have been commissioned to map and analyse the benefits and values autonomous solutions could provide to Yilport for a specific logistics process. The feasibility study will focus on a single process, but the vision is to build a fully autonomous logistics production solution. Autonomous solutions not only optimise operational costs, they also contribute to improved safety, quality and traceability.”

The process of moving containers is of course universal and Yilport has that task in the 22 ports in which it operates globally. The company is looking at the work being undertaken at Gävle with a view to making financial gains which can be rolled out to all similar sites worldwide. Håkan Bergström, Sales Director Yilport Nordic concluded:

“For Yilport, it’s important to always be at the forefront of technological advances so that we can offer our customers effective solutions and in Semcon we have found a partner we truly believe in. Automation in ports is common, but no one has really come up with a solution to get it to work in conjunction with other traffic, and in this Semcon is at the cutting edge.”

Photo: Port of Gävle.