Autonomous inland navigation: research project presented at XPONENTIAL Europe

At XPONENTIAL Europe, Europe's leading trade fair for autonomy and robotics, Alexander Puzicha from the Department of Computer Science presented current research into civil autonomous inland navigation and the automation of port processes.

Together with partners from the University of Duisburg-Essen and the DST Entwicklungszentrum für Schiffstechnik und Transportsysteme e. V., various future topics relating to autonomous maritime systems were presented. The exhibits included developments in autonomous VHF radios and solutions for the autonomous docking of ships.

A special highlight was a demonstration trip with Federal Minister of Transport Patrick Schnieder, during which technologies for autonomous navigation in inland traffic were presented.

To accompany the trade fair, the research work was also presented at the Autonomous Inland & Short Sea Shipping Conference. In two specialist presentations, the team discussed the approaches presented with an international audience of experts from leading European ports and research institutes. The event thus provided an important platform for the exchange of information on future developments and applications of autonomous systems in inland shipping.