SUMINISTRA
Technological transformation and digitalization of the supply chain of the future
File EXP - 00154710 / MIP-20221001
The overall objective or mission of the SUMINISTRA project is the Optimization and Digitalization of the Supply Chain, focusing on its core, the warehouse.
SUMINISTRA proposes several innovative research projects integrating knowledge areas such as autonomous vehicles (drones and ground vehicles), digital twins, distributed robotics, communications and interoperability to drive supply chain transformation.
To this end, SUMINISTRA proposes industrial research in TRL 3 and 4, in areas that allow disruptive innovation for the industry that allow greater competitiveness and efficiency.
- In this way, its main objectives are:
Redesign a more automated supply chain through unhandled vehicles, air and land, favoring the development of collaborative environments with humans.
- Adding value to logistics processes, through the development of intelligent systems for inspections and maintenance of inventories in warehouses, freeing the most qualified staff for tasks of greater added value.
- Acceleration in decision making, using optimization and predictive algorithms for functions that contribute to the efficiency of processes in the warehouse; including the integration of global and on-board artificial intelligence. All this using low latency, with high-speed communications with 5G and high-precision positioning indoors.
For this purpose, two use cases have been defined:
1- Development of a system that allows the process of carrying out inventories by drone, ensuring real-time visibility of the assets and verification of the disposition of the status of the merchandise in the relevant locations.
2- Deployment of a set of drones to perform assets inspection operations in the corridors of distribution centers.
Smart logistics center (SLC) analysis and specifications
In this activity, the use cases of the project will be defined in detail from the initial definition and taking into account the Advisory Group formed by companies and experts from the logistics sector to know the problems and scenarios they face.
For each case, the most appropriate technologies will be selected according to the current state of the art. Once defined, the requirements of the different systems to be conceptualized and designed in SUMINISTRA will be defined, together with the associated validation plans.
Research in architecture and communications infrastructure of the SLC
This work package includes the tasks dedicated to the definition of a communications architecture and asset location systems in indoor environments. The objective is to connect the different agents that coexist in the SLC to an information management platform without using the local network of the SLC itself.
Taking into account the large volume of data expected in a logistics warehouse of the future, as well as the need for low latency in transmission, systems based on 5G technology will be defined..
Likewisewith the aim of ensuring connectivity in case of low coverage within the SLC, methodologies will be investigated to create a multichannel platform that allows the use of more than one SIM from different operators, so that both channels can be virtually combined, regrouping the data in an intermediate server. In addition, the possibility of providing a connection in limited mode via WIFI will be studied in case of loss of coverage (backup system). Finally, the deployment of a communications network whose nodes communicate with a main node or concentrator for the transmission of low data flows will be studied and validated. The objective of this network will be to reduce the cost of mobile operator. This concentrator will be the only node connected to the data platform.
The objectives in terms of location will be the research and design of high-precision positioning and localization algorithms optimized for radio frequency systems of the UWB type, safety techniques and algorithms for merging position data and inertial sensors characteristic of autonomous vehicles; as well as those carried by people in the scope of action of autonomous vehicles can exchange precise information of their position through the low-latency communications network with the central server for the control of the platforms in real time.The objectives in terms of location will be the research and design of high-precision positioning and localization algorithms optimized for radio frequency systems of the UWB type de técnicas de seguridad y de algoritmos de fusión de datos de posición y sensores inerciales característicos en vehículos autónomos; así como los portados por personas en el ámbito de actuación de los vehículos autónomos puedan intercambiar información precisa de su posición a través de la red de comunicaciones de baja latencia con el servidor central para el control de las plataformas en tiempo real.
Research on SLC platform, services and protocols
In this activity, the mission generation, supervision and control platform will be researched and designed, involving the available set of unmanned vehicles in the warehouse environment. The platform will use the information provided by the communications systems embedded in the different UAVs/AGVs and from different sensors deployed that will be taken into account in the overall optimization of the operation.
This platform is the basis of a warehouse Digital Twin, according to the broad definition of the term: presenting an updated view of the status of the monitored assets, status/location and the evolution of the different planned activities in a corresponding coordinate system in real time; establish communications with them, to send them the different missions to be carried out, and finally the simulation of scenarios, to evaluate their impact on the fleet.
The following specific objectives are:
- Monitoring of the warehouse status and its monitored assets.
- Planning of fleet tasks, based on operations data from the ERP.
- Ability to dynamically replan tasks in the event of incidents.
- Real-time definition and visualization of key performance indicators (KPIs), potentially including: downtime, productivity, etc.
- Research in accepted industrial standards of communication and management of UAVs / AGVs and design of interfaces with external equipment, fleet and relevant sensors according to them.
- Design a distributed architecture (based on Blockchain), around a transfer system capable of tracing the exchanges of information between the platform: with companies and external systems; and unmanned vehicles in storage.
Laboratory tests and validations of the SLC
The objective of this activity is to carry out the validation of the developments carried out throughout the project based on the defined Test Plan.
In addition, this activity will compile the integration tasks between the different systems designed and the verification of their operation in laboratory environment and / or proofs of concept, allowing the SUMINISTRA project consortium to evaluate results and validate them against those expected.
THE FOLLOWING HAVE COLLABORATED IN THIS PROJECT:
Our partners:
Collaborating Entities:
Call:
