The right position

Choosing the wrong positioning technology solution can be a costly mistake, as Felicity Landon finds out
Satellite navigation specialist Septentrio recently received an unusual request from one container terminal; the client wanted to use GPS to check when its straddle carriers were stationary. “Sometimes drivers might park up their straddle carrier and listen to music or eat their sandwiches,” says product manager, commercial products, Jan Leyssens.
“But based on GPS and real-time positioning of the vehicles, the despatcher could see when a straddle carrier was not working.”
That might be a bit too ‘Big Brother’ for some, but the reality is that positioning technology is in increasing demand as ports seek maximum efficiency while handling huge volumes of boxes under extreme commercial and operational pressures.
“The main reason for implementing positioning technology systems is to gain efficiency,” says Mr Leyssens. “In the past, terminals started every morning’s work with a physical check of where every container was – and, in fact, there are ports still doing this.
“But to get much more information and get more traffic through your terminal, you have to know where every container is – and that also includes tracking containers with dangerous contents, valuables, etc.”

Preparation, preparation
Septentrio, based in Leuven, Belgium, supplies GPS receivers into positioning systems, working with integrators to create the system that best suits each individual terminal – and that, says Mr Leyssens, is critical.
“Many port customers just assume that they can pick a system and it will work. But it is a matter of doing a proper onsite evaluation with the customer first, and choosing the appropriate technology. Often what we see is that they start with specifications – where people have made a selection based on data sheets and the initial price. It will probably work in 80% of the terminal area but as soon as you get close to an obstruction, the system starts to give the wrong position. A project only reaches that stage after the port or terminal has spent money and resources – and then people just give up.”
As Mr Leyssens says: “A system that gives the wrong information is worse than no information at all. You only need one container with a bad location, and the whole system is messed up.”
There are big challenges in the container environment, thanks to cranes and numerous other metallic objects which can cause obstruction and deflection of the GPS signal; GPS isn’t a ‘supersystem’ and it doesn’t work everywhere, he says.
In those environments, combining GPS with other sensor technology like inertial measurement sensors, which contain accelerometers and gyroscopes, will allow you to get a reliable solution.
“But where GPS is the correct solution, then no extra infrastructure is required on the yard. It also allows a flexible yard management system, which can easily be modified to match future needs. Any reorganisation of the terminal is easy; just paint new lines and it is simple.”

Good to talk
Mr Leyssens says close collaboration between GPS manufacturer or positioning technology specialist, the systems integrator and the terminal owner is vital to get the right solution.
“Depending on the demands of the project, you need different technology. Sometimes people think they need centimetre-level accuracy of positioning because some sales guy has told them so. But on the other hand, when you look closely at the project, they realise they only need to know where the container is, so that translates to 1.7 metres accuracy – corresponding to half the width of a standard container.
“These things often have a big impact on the price and total cost of the installation, so it’s really important to involve specialists from the start.”
Septentrio would typically do onsite tests, installing systems on straddle carriers, logging data over a few days and carrying out an analysis of the data to decide which technology solution is best, says Mr Leyssens.
“Based on that, it may emerge that there isn’t visibility in particular areas of the terminal. You might need to look at the Russian global system as an option (GLONASS). Or you may discover that you don’t need an expensive solution, just use GPS.”
Thomas Gylling, general manager and head of the YardIT business line at Konecranes, says demand for container positioning detection system is growing.
YardIT has supplied more than 200 container positioning detection systems to RMGs, RTGs, straddle carriers and reachstackers.

Computer says yes
“We see that the terminals – including smaller terminals – are more and more picking up on this trend and seeing the real benefits with the system,” says Mr Gylling. “With precise and reliable position technology, our customers can keep an accurate container inventory, which has many practical benefits. It is about registering all the container moves automatically, which eliminates mistakes that may come when a human is involved in registering the container moves.
“Our solution registers 100% of the moves; container pick-up/drop-off can always be determined by combining the CHE (container handling equipment) fix with the twistlock activity signal.”
Germany’s automation specialist SICK, based in Waldkirch, offers range of sensor technology for port automation, including protection of the driveway of STS cranes, maintaining minimum distance between trucks, protection from risk of collision between the crane boom and the ship deck, and collision prevention for RTGs.
However, the major automation issue in ports is the correct and rapid positioning of yard cranes over the parking slots, and the relative positioning of the trolley over the crane, whether STS or yard type, says the company.
“A good automation system will help the port operator save time in serving a ship, in storing and retrieving a container without errors, and in avoiding damage to the containers.”
SICK supplies a range of sensors to crane manufacturers and system integrators, including linear absolute positioning systems, rotating encoders for loop control of motors, and TOF laser distance sensors.

More than tracking
At Septentrio, Jan Leyssens says customers’ initial requirement is invariably for container tracking in the yard – but now they are also looking to track the movement of ship to shore cranes, and to integrate with other sensors – for example, to measure accessibility to vehicles, provide collision detection for straddle carriers and make optimum use of equipment, to do ‘smarter things’ with job planning.
He says small ports are very much less aware of positioning technology, probably because the problem is less urgent. “For example, in a big container terminal only a few percentage of efficiency loss has a huge impact on their business, whereas in a smaller terminal it is less of an issue to find a container; but small ports can still make significant efficiency gains by automating and tracking their containers on the yard. It is all about margins these days.
“If you lose a container or you don’t know where it is, you have to start by cordoning off part of the yard so you don’t have machines operating, and then send people in to check each and every container with a handheld to input the information; and that’s time-consuming and dangerous.”
It can also be a frequent occurrence in non automated terminals, he says. “And if you are handling 1m containers a year, 10% misplaced is a huge number and a huge efficiency loss.”