AWARD an H2020 Project
The main objective of AWARD is to pave the way for the roll-out of driverless transportation in a wide variety of applications and thus addressing the pain points of driver shortage and capacity utilization, whatever the weather conditions are. This will be demonstrated by running a range of real-world hub-type missions each with one or more autonomous driving fitted vehicles. The knowledge gained from these operations is designed to validate that the solution functions, scales and adds value for hub operator or fleets. AWARD will be a key step for a fully integrated freight management system.
AWARD aims at developing and operating safe autonomous transportation systems (ATS) in a wide range of real-life logistic use cases in a variety of different scenarios. This encompasses the development of ADS- Dedicated vehicles targeting compliance with ISO 26262 and taking into consideration SOTIF recommendations which is also capable of handling adverse environmental conditions such as heavy rain, snowfall, fog. The ADS (Autonomous Driving System) solution will be based on multiple sensor modalities and an embedded teleoperation system to address 24/7 availability. The ADS will then be integrated into multiple vehicle types used in low-speed areas. Finally, these vehicles will be deployed, integrated and operated in a variety of real-life use cases to validate their value in the application and identify any limitations: forklift loading and unloading in warehouses and industrial plants, hub-to-hub shuttle service on open road, automated baggage dispatching in airports, container transfer operations and vessel loading in ports.
Logistics operations will be optimized thanks to a new fleet management system that will act as a control tower, gathering all information from subsystems (vehicles, road sensors, IT systems, etc.) to coordinate the operations and protect vulnerable road users with a more systemic approach. This work should then enable commercial exploitation of the technology and policy recommendations for certifications and approval processes
To achieve the objectives of this project, a consortium of 29 partners is teaming up, coordinated by Easymile. Together the partners have extended relevant experience in the development and worldwide deployment of connected and automated transport systems. The total value of the project is 20 million €
This consortium includes:
- Perception system providers: Continental, Navtech, Adasky, Foresight
- Autonomous driving system providers: Easymile, Continental
- Heavy-duty vehicle manufacturers: Dematic, Terberg, SAS and Kamag
- Fleet supervision and teleoperation:Easymile, Applied Autonomy, Ottopia, Kion, DFDS
- Research organizations: CEREMA, VTT, AIT, LCM, FHO
- End-users: Rotax, DFDS, Avinor, DB Schenker
- Proving grounds: Digitrans, CEREMA, VTT
- Consulting companies: Applied Autonomy, ENIDE;
- Certification bodies: CERTX
- Regulatory and airport environment expertise: AVINOR, FRACS-STACS
- National and international organizations: IRU, Projects, Association CARA, BIZ-UP, ITS Norway, AustriaTech.