Automated vehicle logistics put to the test: Volkswagen, Telekom, Unikie and BIBA conclude innovation project in Emden
Volkswagen, Deutsche Telekom, Unikie, and BIBA have completed a two-year innovation project testing automated vehicle movements under real-world logistics conditions at the Port of Emden.
Over the past two years, Volkswagen, Deutsche Telekom, Finnish technology company Unikie, and the Bremen Institute for Production and Logistics at the University of Bremen (BIBA) have explored how vehicles can be moved automatically across logistics sites and safely integrated into existing processes. The federally funded innovation project "AutoLog," supported by the Federal Ministry of Transport (BMV), aimed to examine the potential of automated vehicle movements for more efficient, future-ready port logistics.
The test site is located on a logistics area close to the Port of Emden, including parking areas, roadways, and a heavily used traffic circle. Under these conditions, the project partners examined different traffic situations, with a particular focus on the interaction between automated and manually controlled vehicles during ongoing logistics operations.
Technology Integration
From a technical perspective, AutoLog combines several components into an integrated system for automated vehicle logistics. The Unikie Marshalling Solution (UMS) provides overarching control and coordination of the vehicles, requiring vehicle technology, environmental sensing, communications infrastructure, and logistics software to work together reliably.
A digital representation of the parking areas supports the planning and coordination of vehicle movements. For communication between the system and the vehicles, the project uses Deutsche Telekom's public 5G network, enhanced with additional functions to meet the application's requirements. The UMS runs on an edge cloud system, with data processed close to the mobile network through a high-speed fixed-line fiber-optic connection.
AutoLog shows how industrial-grade connectivity can serve as the digital backbone for automated processes across vehicle logistics. The interplay of low-latency, reliable connectivity, edge infrastructure, and intelligent vehicle control creates the technical foundation for scaling automated vehicle distribution from the end of the production line via rail and ship to the end customer.
Project Insights
Other project priorities included standardized communication and safe interaction between people and technology. AutoLog follows the ISO 23374 standard for Automated Valet Parking and explores how automated vehicles can be integrated into complex logistics environments, including interaction with people and other road users.
Christian Vollmer, member of the Volkswagen Brand Board of Management for Production and Logistics, emphasized the practical value of the project: "AutoLog shows the potential automated driving offers for our logistics. For us, it is important not only to develop new technologies under laboratory conditions, but also to test their practical suitability where our logistics operations take place every day."
Elsewhere in the Volkswagen Group, work is also underway to automate vehicle movements. As part of a collaboration between the AutoLog project and the Audi site in Ingolstadt, the project partners tested the automated loading of vehicles onto railcars, focusing on precisely positioning vehicles as they are transferred to rail transport.
In Emden, we demonstrated that automated vehicle movements can be tested even in a demanding logistics environment with mixed traffic. The interaction between our marshalling solution, the existing infrastructure, and manually driven vehicles is an important step. The insights gained help us further develop the technology and assess its market readiness for use in other logistics environments.
Future Applications
With the conclusion of AutoLog, the joint pilot phase comes to an end. The insights gained are intended to inform the further development of automated logistics processes and provide a basis for evaluating additional potential applications. Over the long term, automated vehicle movements could help make logistics operations more flexible, safer, and more sustainable, while opening up new opportunities for organizing vehicle transportation at plant and terminal sites.
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