Vodafone Germany to equip fjord in Kiel with 5G for autonomous ferries
Vodafone Germany has signed a letter of intent with the Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel and the Ministry of Economics of the state of Schleswig-Holstein to carry out the project Foerde 5G. 5g on kiel fjord
The partners want to use 5G technology for driver-less ferries between the banks of the fjord. The ferries will be partially autonomous in the initial stage of the project and fully autonomous at a later stage. The 5G network could be used also for applications in port logistics and sailing. The consortium in the project includes also the city of Kiel, AVL Deutschland, Raytheon Anschuetz,the HH-VIision, Addix Internet Systems, Seehafen Kiel and the Wissenschaftszentrum Kiel.
The partners are examining different applications in four sub-projects, from 5G testing to simulations in shipping, analysis of 5G data and control of autonomous ferries. Vodafone is building the 5G infrastructures at several locations on the inner fjord to enable sensors, ships and people to exchange data and information in real-time. Further 5G applications for local companies and users are being researched and tested, including the optimization of port logistics with 5G or 5G-based coaching in sailing regattas. Vodafone Germany will equip the inner city part of the Kiel inner fjord with 5G by the end of 2021.
In December last year, Ericsson, Telia, and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) partnered to show that you don’t need wheels, or roads, to benefit from 5G-enabled driverless transport. kiel fjord 5g
The partners have successfully demoed a small connected passenger ferry, with an AI captain, in the Norwegian fjord city of Trondheim.
The autonomous ferry, named milliAmpère, transported passengers across Trondheim’s harbor canal. Ericsson 5G technology enabled Telia to securely support the large amount of data transfers needed to support the autonomous ferry.
MilliAmpère is equipped with sensors that record its surroundings and the steering system on board. This generates large amounts of data that needs to be communicated with the control center.
Jenny Lindqvist, Head of Customer Unit Northern and Central Europe, Ericsson, says: “Ericsson’s world-leading 5G technology and its ability to upload large amounts of data in a short time was key to the success of the pilot. Ericsson’s 5G Radio and superior software enables upload speeds of more than 200Mbps and download speeds above 1Gbps.”
