Digital perception radar for ports

An all-weather, all-condition digital perception radar sensor solution for use in autonomous trucks operating in shipping ports has been delivered by Uhnder, Inc. and Yunshan Technologies Ltd. China Merchants Port (CMPort) is deploying the solution in a fleet of autonomous trucks operating at its Mawan Smart Port in Shenzhen.

“Smart port development is of key importance for CMPort,” said Wang Pei, CEO of China Merchants Information Technology (CMHIT), a subsidiary of CMPort specialising in port, terminal, and logistics technology solutions that leads the Mawan Smart Port project. “We are deploying the newest digital radar sensing technologies in our fleet of autonomous trucks to enable efficient and safe operation, even in extremely challenging conditions due to rain, fog, or dust.”

Precision parking

Uhnder’s digital perception radar solution provides high-precision data to ensure an autonomous truck arrives in the correct position, to within five centimeters, for automated container movement between the ship and storage or departure areas. Uhnder’s digital perception radar technology enables a large number of co-located radars operating within the industrial port to co-exist reliably. This is a challenge that analog radar solutions have not been able to meet, said the company, adding its digital radar reduces cost of operations and increases safety, both of which are essential for ports to process an increasing number of containers efficiently.

The digital perception radar solution generates a rich 4D point cloud with the ability to detect and track thousands of objects. The Uhnder digital radar high contrast resolution capability enables perception solutions to clearly identify closely spaced objects common in the port setting, for example, a worker next to a container. The sensor solution uses a digital code modulation that results in best-in-class interference immunity performance.