On January 20, 2022, along with the long sound of the ship's whistle, the orange-red bridge crane at the Xiamen Port Hairun Container Terminal was running automatically, slowly lifting a 40-foot container from the giant ship, smoothly crossing the ship's side, and steadily. Landed on the blue autonomous truck (IGV), and after a series of smooth and orderly operations, the intelligent gantry crane finally placed the container on the IGV accurately and smoothly on the designated container location. This also marks the official start of trial production of the first full-process intelligent transformation project of a traditional container terminal in China.

In July 2020, Xiamen Port Holding Group took the Hairun Terminal as a pilot project and took the lead in launching the intelligent transformation and innovation project of the whole port area and the whole operation chain of the first traditional container terminal in mainland China.

The most difficult one is the intelligent transformation of the traditional RTG. The professional team of the project worked day and night to jointly overcome more than a dozen industrial problems such as anti-sway, automatic traveling of carts, and high-precision positioning. The accuracy and efficiency of the transformed gantry crane automatic stacking box are not inferior to the level of manual operation, achieving a breakthrough in the industry. After the transformation, one driver can remotely control 6 intelligent gantry cranes at the same time.

"We have successfully completed the intelligent transformation of all tire-mounted gantry cranes, which has exceeded the industry's expectations. The technical value is very high, and it can be widely promoted and applied to drive changes in the entire industry." said the person in charge of the project professional team.

The intelligent operating system "i-TOS" with independent intellectual property rights is also a major innovation and breakthrough, becoming a "super-powerful brain" capable of independent learning, good thinking and intelligent decision-making.

At present, "i-TOS" has completed the docking with the IGV horizontal transportation management system and issued instructions to it, realizing the efficient integration of IGV into the production process of the terminal. With the support of the industrial control-level 5G private network covering the entire terminal and realizing all-scenario applications, IGV can not only receive and accurately execute operating system commands in real time, but also automatically make fine-tuning and avoidance actions according to the surrounding environment, so as to safely travel through the In the dockyard.

After more than 500 days and nights, under the premise of not changing the layout of the yard and the operation process of the wharf, Xiamen Port has carried out intelligent transformation and upgrading of the existing bridge cranes and tire-type gantry cranes of Hairun Wharf while ensuring production, applying the current industry The most advanced IGV for plane transportation, independent research and development of the terminal "super-brain" intelligent production management system (i-TOS), built the country's first physically isolated industrial control-level 5G private network, integrated use of the Internet of Things, Beidou navigation, AI, etc. The cutting-edge technology finally realizes the "intelligent" command and connection of multiple links such as operation instruction issuance, container loading and unloading, plane transportation, and yard operations, and connects with the container intelligent logistics platform to extend the terminal operation management intelligence to the entire container logistics chain. .

According to the staff, the intelligent wharf is still the scene of wharf machinery operation on the surface, but fundamental changes have taken place in it. Take the common gantry crane operation as an example. In the past, the gantry crane driver had to climb up the equipment nearly 30 meters high with his bare hands, and bent over to work in the cab with limited space. After the intelligent transformation, the driver can sit in the spacious and bright office and operate the handle through the screen. This move not only makes it easy for one person to operate multiple devices, but also reduces the workload by more than 50%, greatly improving the working environment, safety and reliability of operations.

In order to realize the digital and intelligent transformation of traditional terminals, the intelligence of horizontal transportation cannot be avoided, and at the same time, the production and operation of the terminals must be guaranteed. It is reported that this project is also the first nationwide to carry out intelligent transformation of the whole process on the existing traditional equipment at the terminal, and the first nationwide to ensure production while implementing transformation.

It is worth mentioning that since the implementation of the project for more than a year, Xiamen Port has been "renovating and producing at the same time", and has always maintained the dock to receive ships normally. Data show that in 2021, the container throughput of Xiamen Port will exceed 12 million TEUs, a year-on-year increase of more than 5%. Among them, the throughput of Hairun Terminal was 1,001,300 TEUs, a year-on-year increase of 2.16%, and the operation volume of intelligent equipment exceeded 40%. Since the project entered trial operation at the end of 2021, the system stability and overall operational efficiency have exceeded expectations.

The relevant person in charge of the Xiamen Port Administration said that Xiamen Port has reached 141 ports in 50 countries and regions around the world. The port will aim to build a world-class smart port and green port, continue to promote the digital transformation and upgrading of the port, and rely on green wisdom to promote the port industry to take the lead in realizing modernization.Editor/Ma Xue