International Transportation (70) 1 | 2018 27 Business line PRODUCTS & SOLUTIONS Projects in a nutshell Overview of selected mobility solutions The world’s largest electric truck on work T he world’s largest electric vehicle with an empty weight of 58 tons and a payload of 65 tons started its work in the quarry of Vigier Ciment. The electric dump truck designed over the past 18 months is a Swiss interdisciplinary cooperation and has set three world records. The eDumper is the largest and most powerful battery-powered electric wheeled vehicle in the world. For this purpose, the largest battery ever produced for an electric vehicle was installed, which weighs 4.5 tons and is as heavy as two complete passenger cars. The eDumper will transport more than 300,000 tonnes of rock per year over the next 10 years. According to preliminary calculations, the vehicle will save up to 1,300 tonnes of CO 2 and 500,000 litres of diesel over the next 10 years. The eDumper will transport lime and marl rocks from a higher mining area to a lower processing plant. During the fully loaded descent, the batteries are charged by recuperation of braking energy. According to preliminary calculations, the electricity generated in this way is largely sufficient for the unloaded return journey uphill to the mining area. Thus, the vehicle would be be a zero-energy vehicle. The exact energy balance of the eDumper will be shown by investigations in everyday operation over the next few months. The environmentally friendly eDumper was completely rebuilt on the basis of a diesel-powered Komatsu HD 605-7 dump truck. In order to optimally dimension the electric drive, researchers at the Bern University of Applied Sciences at the Institute for Energy and Mobility Research IEM equipped the conventional model with a variety of sensors so that numerous measurement data could be obtained. Among other things, the necessary torque at the cardan shaft and the power output of the engine are measured together with the respective driving condition and the GPS data of the vehicle. In order to guarantee the longevity and robustness of the technology, the Interstate University of Applied Sciences Buchs investigated the vibrations of the diesel dump truck in real use and the heat emission of the battery cells of the future eDumper. This research team also designed the thermal management for the battery pack, calculated the necessary strength of the battery holders and the design of the welding seams. It is also responsible for monitoring the eDumper battery in real use. The 600- kWh power storage, consisting of 4- blocks, is located in the engine compartment and instead of the diesel tank. The eDumper is now designed in such a way that a failing cell cannot affect neighbouring cells. www.empa.ch The eDumper in the quarry of Vigier Ciment Photo: Andreas Sutter International Transportation (70) 1 | 2018 28 PRODUCTS & SOLUTIONS Business line Malaysia: Leitner ropeways system lifts to the world’s largest-hotel T he “20th Century Fox World Theme Park” at the Malaysian “Resorts World Genting” is the top attraction at a height of 1,800 meters above sea level, and the new “Awana Skyway” gondola lift takes the visitors up. “Resorts World Genting” is situated 58-kilometers and just a one hour drive from Kuala Lumpur. For overnight stays, the impressive leisure park boasts the “First World Hotel”, the largest hotel in the world, with over 7,000 beds, as well as five other hotels. Every day, up to 6,000 guests check in and out at the hotel complex with more than 10,000 beds. The Resort welcomes roughly 20 million visitors annually. With an annual average temperature of less than 21°C, surrounded by 130 millionyear-old rain forest, the 46,000 m 2 leisure complex offers a wide range of attractions like a shopping mall, restaurants, theme parks, cinemas, theaters and a concert hall. Highlights include Malaysia’s largest indoor snow park and the only casino in the country, attracting almost four million visitors annually. The new ropeway is Leitner ropeways’ third project in Genting and replaces an old aerial tramway. Cooperation started in the 1990s with a small ropeway system. In 1996, Leitner built the longest and fastest ropeway in South East Asia. Since then, over 100 million passengers have used this installation. “Awana Skyway” has 99 cabins - ten of which with a glass floor. Each cabin is also furnished with a double roof for thermal insulation and a special ventilation system. With four stations in total, the journey takes around ten minutes. www.leitner-ropeways.com Awana Skyway Source: Leitner Ropeways Vienna, Igoumenitsa and Turda announced for European sustainable mobility awards T he winners of the EuropeanMobility- Week Award 2017 and 6th Award for Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning (SUMP) are the cities Vienna (Austira), Igoumenitsa (Greece) and Turda (Romania). They were selected by an independent panel of mobility and transport experts and will each receive a promotional video highlighting their achievements. Vienna was named the winner of the EuropeanMobilityWeek Award 2017 for larger municipalities, with Igoumenitsa revealed as the inaugural winner of the newly added category for smaller municipalities (below 50,000 inhabitants). The 6th- Award for Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning (SUMP) was presented to Turda. The awards were presented to the cities by Commissioner for Transport Violeta Bulc and Director General for Environment, Daniel Calleja end of March 2018 at a ceremony in Brussels (Belgium). Commissioner for Transport Violeta Bulc said: “My congratulations to each of the award winners. Through their actions, Vienna, Igoumenitsa and Turda are creating a more sustainable Europe. They also help their residents to move around in a cleaner, healthier and more enjoyable way. It is my hope that these cities will inspire others to embrace the core message of EuropeanMobilityWeek - sustainable mobility is the right choice for everyone.” Commissioner for the Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Karmenu Vella said: “Mobility Week gets bigger every year. More proof, year after year, that green is everyone’s favourite colour. Green means clean, it means convenient, and it means a city where people find it easy to go about their business. And best of all, it’s better for your health.” The EuropeanMobilityWeek campaign runs from 16 to 22 September each year, and provides towns and cities with an opportunity to test out sustainable transport alternatives. Encouraging individuals to choose sustainable transport modes such as walking and cycling can lower carbon emissions, improve the quality of the air, and make urban areas more pleasant places to live and work. The EuropeanMobilityWeek Award showcases local authorities that demonstrate significant efforts in promoting sustainable urban mobility, while the SUMP Award recognises outstanding sustainable urban mobility planning. This edition of the SUMP award focused on shared mobility in the planning process. www.mobilityweek.eu Tramway (called “Bim”) passing Vienna parliament Source: Gugerell/ Wikimedia International Transportation (70) 1 | 2018 29 Business line PRODUCTS & SOLUTIONS Blockchain solution could revolutionize ocean shipping A consortium comprising AB InBev, Accenture, APL, Kuehne + Nagel and a European customs organization has successfully tested a blockchain solution that can eliminate the need for printed shipping documents and save the freight and logistics industry hundreds of millions of dollars annually. With this solution are documents no longer exchanged physically or digitally but instead, the relevant data is shared and distributed using blockchain technology under single ownership principles determined by the type of information. Through a detailed review of the current documentation processes, the group examined a re-allocation of information ownership, accountability and risk enabled by the trust and security blockchain technology offers. An international shipment of goods for companies in areas such as the automotive, retail or consumer goods industries typically requires more than 20 different documents, many of which are often paperbased, to enable the goods to move from exporter to importer. Across these documents, up to 70 % of the data can be replicated. The document heavy approach limits data quality and real-time visibility to all parties involved in the trade and this can also delay the financial settlement on goods. The solution can speed up the entire flow of transport documents, reduce the requirement for data entry by up to 80 %, simplify data amendments across the shipping process, streamline the checks required for cargo and reduce the burden and risk of penalties for customs compliance levied on customers. Blockchain is a new type of distributed database system that maintains and records data in a way that allows multiple stakeholders to confidently and securely share access to the same information. The technology is poised to revolutionize operations across a multitude of sectors, such as financial services, government, healthcare, entertainment and freight and logistics. The tests confirmed that blockchain can reduce operating costs and increase supply chain visibility. “Our trials have proven the viability of a shipping process in which many documents can be replaced by secure and distributed data sharing with clear and defined ownership,” said Adriana Diener- Veinott, who leads Accenture’s Freight & Logistics industry practice. “This gives companies a significant opportunity to save time and money while improving their service to customers.” www.accenture.com Source: pixabay.de Dubai to test self-driving electric transport pods C areem, the leading app based booking service in the MENA region, will bring battery-powered, self-driving electric pods to region by a strategic partnership with Next Future Transportation, Inc. The partnership came on the heels of His Highness Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s announcement of the launch of the Dubai Autonomous Transportation Strategy, a new initiative aimed at making 25 % of all transportation trips in Dubai be smart and driverless by 2030. The initiative requires innovation, experimentation and the participation of companies working to transform the current transportation industry across the UAE. The electric and driverless pods can drive individually or by attaching themselves to other pods to form a bus-like structure where travelers will be able to move freely from one pod to another. This technology will be the first of its kind in the region, and the partnership between Next and Careem will bring a new wave of transportation infrastructure to the Middle East that is safer, more efficient and environmentally friendly. The pods are designed to operate as a mass transportation system that shuttles people from door to door. They will pick passengers up on demand and link together in bus-like form on the journey to get each person from point A to point B as efficiently as possible. The NX1 pods are designed to travel short and medium distances in dedicated lanes at an average speed of 20 kph and can be coupled in 15 to 20 seconds or detached in five seconds. Each measures 2.87 m in length, 2.24 m in width and 2.82 m in height and weighs about 1,500 kg. They have a capacity for 10 riders, with six seated and four standing, and can operate for three continuous hours before a six-hour recharge. www.careem.com Future Transportation pods for Dubai Source: RTA