Southampton port uses drones in trial with BT


SOURCE: DAILYECHO.CO.UK
SEP 29, 2021

A CUTTING edge trial combining drones and artificial intelligence (AI) could revolutionise the way the Port of Southampton is operated.

BT flew a drone over the port’s vehicle cargo and fed images into an AI- powered system to track and analyse vehicle occupancy.

The trial, carried out with Associated British Ports (ABP) and RoboK, was part of the port operator’s effort to harness the latest technology to improve efficiency, accuracy and safety.

BT, which has a long-standing partnership with ABP, used drones to identify, track and analyse the number of vehicles in the port at any given time.

This allows accurate billing, makes costs savings and provides data to inform decision making.

Cambridge-based start up RoboK, which specialises in 3D computer vision, used its AI tech to detect, track and count vehicles in real time from the drone footage.

The trial was aimed at understanding the potential uses of “drone in a box” (DIAB) technology, which sees drones deploy autonomously from a box that also functions as a landing pad and charging base.

Dave Pankhurst, head of drones solutions at BT’s enterprise unit, said: “Drone technology can deliver vastly improved services to businesses and the public and even more so when dovetailed with automation capability.

“Our trial demonstrates how drone technology – underpinned by BT’s network – can lead to meaningful innovation to transform business operations.

“For ABP, it can fast track new levels of digital transformation across their UK ports – saving costs, boosting efficiency and improving safety.”

Harm van Weezel, chief information officer at ABP, said: “Technology is an incredible enabler to streamline processes, help digitise our ports, and ultimately provide better services to our customers. ABP’s collaboration with BT – whether it is the Internet of Things (IoT), drone technology or AI - continues to push the boundaries for new and exciting innovations and how they can play a vital role for our ports in the future.”

In July, BT and ABP used IoT and sensor technology to speed up the movement and processing of cargo at the port and digitise its logistics and operations processes.

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