ERTICO’s flagship project, 5G-LOGINNOV supports the development of innovative ideas and the creation of new synergies to foster 5G-enabled improved port and freight operations.

These operations are expected to offer opportunities for reducing costs and for positive impacts on the ecosystem. Innovative use cases deployed in the three Living Labs will test and evaluate 5G-enabled services during the project. In particular, the project has a strong interest in the emergence of new market players such as SMEs and start-ups taking advantage of the growing adoption of distributed cloud computing technologies in 5G networks and making  open innovation possible at the service level.

“5G-LOGINNOV’s vision is to optimise freight and traffic operations at ports and logistics hubs by using new innovative concepts, applications and devices supported by 5G technologies, Internet of Things (IoT), data analytics, next-generation traffic management, Cooperative, Connected and Automated Mobility (CCAM) and the 5G logistics corridor,” says Dr. Eusebiu Catana, the project’s coordinator.

In order to increase business opportunities, specifically to create new markets using the innovative start-up model, 5G-LOGINNOV organised an Open Call for start-ups to be included in the Living Labs use case development and deployment. The aim is to collect innovative ideas based on the application of 5G technologies tested in the Living Labs, thus reducing the existing gaps between the current and future scenarios. This 5G-LOGINNOV start-up activity will benefit the logistics community as well as the network of start-ups in assessing and addressing the opportunities for deploying the next generation logistics operations. This is expected to create a concrete impact for the existing logistics eco-systems as well as for the future innovation actors, during the second half of the project. Lastly, the existing strong relationships between the 5G-LOGINNOV beneficiaries and 5G-PPP will rapidly bridge the potential gap of start-ups related to 5G knowledge.

The five winners were publicly announced at the ITS World Congress in October 2021 and have been awarded a budget (costs) of €50,000 to develop and integrate their innovative idea in Living Lab(s) architecture and use cases.

“The selected start-ups are very likely to develop market-ready products or services with the identified demand-side,” said Mr. Frank Daems, Senior Manager responsible for leading the ERTICO start-ups initiative. They have been evaluated considering the innovative aspect of their project and of their goals applied to logistic hub operations and freight traffic management. Considering the three Living Labs in Koper, Athens and Hamburg these are the winning applicants:

  • auTonomous dRones for marITime OperatioNs (TRITON) – Hellenic Drones for Koper LL. TRITON by ARTEMIS AGRAIA SYMVOULEYTIKI S.A. “HELLENIC DRONES” aspires to develop a system that will enable autonomous drone operations targeting activities taking place in a port. This project opens up brand new value propositions wholly unrelated to the way drone technology is currently being utilized in the maritime domain. TRITON develops the technology for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the port’s environment, increases the port’s operational flexibility, enhances health and safety standards, and reduces costs. The drones will autonomously navigate, and more importantly, automatically recognise moving obstacles in the port’s airspace in order to reconfigure their aerial paths to avoid mid-air collisions.
  • Real timE drowSiness detectiON, AlerTing and rEporting (RESONATE) – Libra AI for Athens LL. LIBRA AI TECHNOLOGIES PRIVATE IDIOTIKI KEFALAIOUCHIKI ETAIREIA developed an effective yet relatively low-cost Driver Drowsiness detection system targeting professional drivers and fleets. The approach can support future extensions of the system for the detection of driver states beyond drowsiness, such as distracted driver detection.
  • 5G-Loginnov-4-Amazon (5G4A) – eShuttle for Hamburg LL. eShuttle will equip Amazon CEP delivery vans with the 3 telematics devices foreseen by the 5G-LOGINNOV project partners. The usage of these devices is targeted to improve dispatching and order management of Amazon fleets in the North of Germany showing the potential of carbon reduction by optimizing route and tour planning. The implementation of 5G-Loginnov use cases is designed to support the overall carbon reduction targets of the Amazon group.
  • TAXi-AD Data (TAADD) – uze! Mobility GmbH for Hamburg LL. Data is collected by gearing up taxi vehicles (including self-driving vehicles, bicycles, motorcycles and trucks) with digital displays that comprise sensors. The sensors in the mobile advertising display continuously record situational geo-targeting criteria (e.g. weather, traffic situation, location, time). Additionally, repurposed data is acquired from a broad range of existing and accessible databases such as government-provided services and databases of IT companies and the automotive industry. This allows use! Mobility GmbH to build the basis for a traffic management system that will assist in creating speed and acceleration profiles, analysing traffic flow and building artificially intelligent (AI) traffic applications.
  • Intelligent Traffic Guidance System (ITGS) – ROAD AI for Hamburg LL. The goal is to demonstrate and validate the ITGS in its operational environment while testing the efficacy of ITGS in reducing CO2 emissions and improving traffic flow. At the same time, the introduction of a novel business model Traffic Management as a Service (TMaaS) while evaluating the potential of the ITGS as a support infrastructure can assist autonomous driving systems in mixed traffic environments.

5G-LOGINNOV’s approach is to foster innovation and market take-up of SMEs and start-ups. For this reason, the five selected start-ups resulting from an Open Call will be integrated into the project for developing and deploying innovative applications, using 5G augmented capabilities and integrated into the 5G network architectures at the three EU Living Labs. 5G-LOGINNOV will thus contribute to building a first-class European industrial supply side for 5G core technologies with global market footprints in the logistics sector.

5G LOGINNOV is co-funded by the European Commission, Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 957400 (Innovation Action)