The test field of this project is the 15 km long section of the Dortmund-Ems Canal from the port of Dortmund to the lock in Waltrop. This canal section has a total of 15 bridges. The Schwieringhauser bridge has the lowest passage height of 5.02 m at standard water level. As a result, the traffic volume of this section of the Dortmund-Ems Canal is relatively low, which is why it is ideally suited for testing the autonomous inland waterway vessel.
In future project phases, the infrastructure of the test field will be expanded to suit the requirements of autonomous inland navigation. On the one hand, a high-performance 5G network will be installed along the canal section to ensure the necessary data transmission in real time. On the other hand, landmarks will be installed along the canal bank to support the camera systems and other optical sensors.
In the scope of upgrading the sensors and actuators of the test vessel, some footage of the test area was recorded with a drone. The stunning impressions can be viewed in the current video “Autobin Test Field”.
