Tianjin Port’s container terminal in northern China has become the first container terminal in the country to be automated using the locally developed Beidou (literally meaning big dipper) satellite technology.
The automation was demonstrated on 17 January 2021, with several unmanned electric container trucks passing through the automatic loading and unloading station in an orderly manner, before stopping at a predetermined location. Automated quay cranes then grabbed the containers from the truck to be loaded on a waiting ship.
Tianjin Port chairman Jiao Guangjun said at a press briefing that initially Beidou technology was used to automate the bridge over the container yard track last year, the port has now expanded the application to the whole terminal.
Jiao added that it took less than one year to automate the whole terminal. The port chairman said that the automation improved the terminal’s overall operating efficiency by nearly 20%, cut energy consumption per container by 20%, and reduced overall operating costs by 10%.
China developed Beidou in the 1990s as an alternative to the US-originated Global Positioning System (GPS). Since the first Beidou satellites were launched in 2000, newer generations of satellites have been developed and more than 70% of mobile phones within China are now Beidou-enabled. Currently, more than 6.98 million motor vehicles and over 1,300 government-owned vessels nationwide have installed the Beidou system.
Tianjin Port Container Terminal’s technical engineering manager, Peng Xiaoguang, said that the 24-hour land coverage capability of the Beidou system ensures the uninterrupted operation of unmanned container trucks.
Peng said, “High-precision positioning support is the basis for ensuring the location accuracy of unmanned container trucks.”
Source : Container-News
