Automation approaches in public transport depots
How can operational processes, e.g. driving to the car wash, workshop or charging station, be optimized through automation in the vehicle depot? What approaches are currently being tested and how could these be put into practice?
The demand for sustainable and affordable mobility is growing rapidly. In the long term, this can only be guaranteed by efficient and economical local public transport. Transport companies are facing major challenges in this regard: on the one hand, vehicle fleets must be rapidly converted to climate-neutral drive systems, while on the other hand, companies are facing increasing cost pressure and a growing shortage of skilled workers.
In this context, the optimization of operational processes at depots is also coming into focus. An indispensable solution here is the (partial) automation of certain operational processes, in particular tasks such as driving to the car wash, workshop, gas station, or charging station, parking the buses at the end of the shift, or lining them up in the order of departure at the start of the shift.
Depot automation with economically justifiable effort
This is precisely what the partners in the “Innovative Depot Automation” (IDEA) research project MRK Management Consultants GmbH, Peak Mobility GmbH and the Technical University of Dresden have been working on. By enabling vehicles to move to the locations designated by depot management in a driverless and coordinated manner in future, the effort required by drivers for internal journeys will be reduced and significantly more effective and reliable operational processes will be achieved.
Project manager Andreas Küster, managing director at project coordinator MRK Management Consultants GmbH, explains what distinguishes IDEA from other research projects on fully autonomous vehicles:
“In most cases, sophisticated vehicles and expensive infrastructure are used here, which is why there are economic, legal, and technical hurdles to timely and comprehensive implementation in practice. With the IDEA project, we have demonstrated how depot automation can already be achieved today using innovative technology and at a reasonable cost.”
In particular, the study examined how innovative data transmission and location systems based on existing technologies, such as 5G, can be used for this purpose.
Reuse in commercial applications
IDEA was funded as part of the “InnoNT” program for promoting innovative network technologies in mobile communications with a total of €3 million from the Federal Ministry of Digital and Transport (BMDV). The core of the project was the research, testing, and subsequent validation of radio-based communication between driverless vehicles and a depot management system (DMS) via an innovative 5G campus network.
In principle, the prerequisites for increasing automation of depot processes through DMS and modern vehicles with appropriate components are already in place. What is still lacking is a suitable infrastructure and standardized interfaces to efficiently link the various subsystems. Developing an interoperable infrastructure that ensures economical reuse in commercial applications is therefore a top priority.
One of the challenges of automated vehicle movement is the high precision required for positioning both indoors and outdoors, as accuracy must be within a few centimeters. This requires robust, reliable, and accurate positioning systems that also meet economic requirements. In the project, a 5G campus network was used for both low-latency data transmission and indoor positioning.
Advanced DMS
An instance of the Peak.DMS depot management system served as the test environment, which was expanded in the project to include functions for controlling and monitoring automated driving maneuvers and supply processes. As Peak.DMS already has tried-and-tested functions for fully automated vehicle, parking space and loading management, the basic requirements for controlling automated driving maneuvers and supply processes were already in place.
Torsten Vogel, Managing Director of Peak Mobility GmbH, explains the idea:
“In current operational practice, our DMS transmits the driving instructions to the driving or shunting personnel via displays or mobile media. It therefore makes sense to transfer these instructions, known as ‘missions’, to a system for automatic vehicle control.”
The Automated Fleet Control System (AFCS) then implements these missions in conjunction with the onboard components in the form of automated driving maneuvers for the individual vehicles.
The interfaces between Peak.DMS and AFCS were implemented as part of IDEA. The DMS uses them to transfer the missions to the AFCS and receives the necessary information from the positioning system. To ensure the interoperability of the systems, a standardization process was initiated for the relevant interfaces. Peak Mobility is in close contact with the Association of German Transport Companies (VDV) and the European standardization association Information Technology for Public Transport (ITxPT).
Project progress
Parallel to the integration of the interfaces, a location-enabled 5G campus network was installed on private MRK premises in Torgau. In addition, a standard 18-meter hybrid articulated bus was equipped with control components for autonomous driving. The aim was to use a brownfield approach to investigate the conditions under which it would be worthwhile to retrofit existing vehicles and infrastructure. In addition, an already automated minibus was available from the ABSOLUT project. The two vehicles were used to test and evaluate the main use cases for depot automation. In a further step of the project, a profitability analysis was carried out based on all the research results.
Make preparations for depot automation
The project participants were able to demonstrate both the functionality and cost-effectiveness of the tested solutions: Torsten Vogel: “We are in a position to provide public transport companies with guidelines on how they can automate their vehicle depots in the short to medium term. At the same time, by standardizing the interfaces and system architecture, we want to encourage vehicle suppliers and public transport software manufacturers to develop their products early on and sustainably for future depot automation.”
Industry observers know that now is a good time for this. Many transport companies are planning to build or renovate depots in the short or medium term, particularly as part of the transition to emission-free fleets and infrastructure. In most cases, depot automation requirements are also being taken into account in this process. Companies should be encouraged to ensure that new vehicles are equipped with the necessary components and interfaces for automated driving from the outset, or can be retrofitted with minimal effort. The same applies to the necessary DMS extensions for automated driving on depot premises: transport companies that already have a modern DMS should be able to supplement it with an AFCS at a reasonable cost.
IDEA – Innovative Depot Automation
Goal: Automation of public transport depots using innovative radio-based communication between individual autonomous vehicles and a depot management system via a 5G campus network.
Project partners: MRK Management Consultants GmbH, Peak Mobility GmbH, Dresden University of Technology; associated: Association of German Transport Companies (VDV), Information Technology for Public Transport (ITxPT).
Web: bmdv.bund.de/
