The ports of Bremen are facing a variety of challenges. In order to remain competitive, port processes must be digitalized and automated. Bremen's port industry has already been working together with scientists from Bremen for many years. Another component is now to be a Smartport Living Lab, with whom five research institutes from Bremen and Bremerhaven want to jointly develop innovative solutions for the digitalized port of the future. The state of Bremen has approved funding of 2.8 million euros for the necessary infrastructure.

The scientists want to use this money to procure systems such as drones and walking robots for monitoring the condition of the port's superstructure or an autonomous ship demonstrator. By intelligently linking these systems via a cooperation platform, the aim is to optimize processes in the port and increase the safety and resilience of (digital) infrastructures in maritime logistics. To this end, the scientists want to apply for and implement projects together with the port industry in order to transfer the scientific findings into practical applications as quickly as possible.

The research institutes in Bremen involved in the project are BIBA - Bremer Institut für Produktion und Logistik, the Institute of Shipping Economics and Logistics (ISL), TOPAS Industriemathematik Innovation, the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Bremerhaven. In the Smartport Living Lab, BIBA will focus on the condition monitoring of port superstructures. The aim is to use flying drones and 3D recording and rendering technologies to create detailed 3D condition images in real time. This is intended to support visual monitoring and inventory control. The drones will be combined with autonomous mobile robots (AMR), which will implement the recorded action requirements, such as the removal of obstacles at the port terminal. A precision positioning station will improve the positioning accuracy of the autonomous systems.

Press release by the Senator for the Environment, Climate and Science