Partnership develops autonomous vehicles
DFDS is part of a partnership that was granted EUR 20 million EU funding for the development of automated driving systems for heavy vehicles
The European Commission has outlined the growing need for automated driving systems for heavy commercial vehicles, and there are already a number of initiatives promoting this.
One is the AWARD project which DFDS takes active part in. It was recently granted nearly €20 million funding by the European Commission.
“The AWARD project is an exciting partnership of 29 leading industry suppliers who aim to develop and demonstrate systems for driverless heavy-duty vehicles in ports, airports and transport hubs,” says Mads Bentzen Billesø, Senior Project Manager in Innovation & Partnerships.
“It will contribute to the development of automated freight transport solutions in Europe and around the world. DFDS is leading the demonstration part and is heavily involved in development of fleet management and control services together with Applied Autonomy, a solutions and service provider for sustainable autonomous transportation,” says Mads
Heavy-duty vehicle manufacturers KAMAG, Kion/Linde, Terberg and TLD Group will over the next years develop autonomous vehicles together with leading providers of Sensor and Autonomous Driving Technology. Vehicles will have a very advanced sensor and system setup, and this will enable them to operate in all weather conditions. They will be demonstrated in real logistics operations with end users Avinor, DB Schenker, Rotax and DFDS.
The automated driving systems can improve safety and efficiency in freight transport. Optimization of fuel consumption and better vehicle utilization are just some of the benefits that can be expected when highly automated systems are used in logistics operations going from hub-to-hub in mixed traffic and in confined areas.
Matt Ellis, Innovation Lead Autonomous, says: “By understanding what the autonomous future may bring and being part of its evolution we can help to shape it and work out how to use the best parts of it for our operations and the impact it might have on our people. The project will be rolled out from 2021 for 3 years and we are eager to begin testing when it’s ready. .”
“This is another satisfactory result of our engagement in partnerships. Technological development is a must for DFDS to be successful also in the future, and we are currently demonstrating how companies with various areas of expertise together can achieve technological advances that we would not be able to achieve as individual companies,” says Torben Carlsen, CEO.
EasyMile, a provider of software and complete solutions for driverless mobility and goods transportation, is coordinating the project.
NB: The Project name AWARD is short for All Weather Autonomous Real logistics operations and Demonstrations.