Konecranes and Fluidmesh Networks announce that they have joined forces and successfully carried out proof-of-concept testing of fully wireless communication for the Konecranes automated rubber-tired gantry (ARTG) system.
This breakthrough allows container terminal operators to roll out remote control and automation to RTGs in the container yard without running fiber or cable spools, with substantial savings in cost and time.
Port and container terminal operators have been embracing automation to increase productivity and give better working conditions to their employees.
Many of the newest and largest container terminals have been adopting some level of automation and support for remote operations: from ship-to-shore cranes, to horizontal transport, to automated stacking cranes.
However, this has not been the case for RTGs, which are widely used in container terminals around the world. Much of the world’s RTG fleet is diesel-powered, and there have been limited options for automating RTGs given the fact that running cables to them is costly and often unpractical.
Konecranes and Fluidmesh have been working closely to solve the connectivity challenge, creating a new opportunity for container terminal operators.
The automation solution for RTGs comes as part of the Konecranes ARTG 2.0 system update, which was in development for over two years with thousands of hours of field testing.
Fluidmesh MPLS-based wireless technology has been used to guarantee low latency and high throughput to the RTGs for control and live-video data. The system has been designed to operate on licensed as well as unlicensed frequencies around the world, providing north of 99.95% uptime in real working conditions.
