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Economic and environmental sustainability are the two main drivers behind today’s logistics innovation. On the one hand, Industry 4.0 technologies are leading towards self-organizing logistics by enabling autonomous vehicles, which can significantly make logistics transport efficient. Detailed impact analysis of autonomous vehicles in repetitive, short-distance inter-hub transport in logistics hubs like XL Business park is presently being investigated in KIEM project STEERS. On the other hand, the zero-emission technology (such as battery electric) can complement the autonomous logistics transport in making such a logistics hub climate-neutral. In such a scenario, an automatic vehicle charging environment (i.e., charging infrastructure and energy supply) for autonomous electric vehicles will play a crucial role in maximizing the overall operational efficiency and sustainability by reducing the average idle time of both vehicles and charging infrastructure.
The project INGENIOUS explores an innovative idea for presenting a sustainable and environment-friendly solution for meeting the energy demand and supply for autonomous electric vehicles in a logistics hub. It will develop and propose an intelligent charging environment for operating autonomous electric vehicles in XL Business park by considering its real-life settings and operational demand. The project combines the knowledge of education and research institutes (Hogeschool van Arnhem en Nijmegen and The University of Twente), industry partners (HyET Solar Netherlands BV, Distribute, Bolk Container Transport and Combi Terminal Twente), and public institutes (XL Business Park, Port of Twente, Regio Twente and Industriepark Kleefse Waard). The project results will form a sound basis for developing a real-life demonstrator in the XL Business park in the subsequent RAAK Pro SAVED project. A detailed case study for Industriepark Kleefse Waard will also be carried out to showcase the broader applicability of the INGENIOUS concept.