Based on the results achieved at the autostrad operation at Patrick’s Fisherman Island berth 7 in Brisbane, Australia, Patrick has now placed an order for 14 Kalmar ESC straddle carriers that will be equipped for unmanned operations.
The machines will be delivered to three new berths currently under construction at the company’s Fisherman Islands facility in the Port of Brisbane.
The expansion of autostrad operations demonstrates Patrick’s trust in the autostrad concept during 12 months of genuine commercial operation with five retro-fitted Kalmar CSC straddle carriers.
Howard Wren, Principal Consultant, Patrick, stated:
“The first year of commercial operations with the unmanned straddles has been extremely good. In fact, the operation has met all our expectations, specifically in the areas of productivity, safety and cost efficiency.”
For the new berths, Patrick has decided to
order newly developed Kalmar EDRIVE® straddle carriers, their high overall performance having been confirmed recently by large orders from leading European operators.
Kalmar and Patrick have been working together for several years on a joint project to develop an unmanned straddle carrier operation. In mid 2002, the autostrad operation went live with the commencement of commercial operations.
Kalmar’s knowledge and experience has been applied to developing machine control systems that move, brake and steer the straddle carriers and ensure that the machines pick and place the containers in the correct positions. Included in this has been work on refining the capabilities of sensors for container detection and safety systems modules.
Patrick has been concentrating on navigation positioning using radar, lasers and GPS, the tasking system and the traffic management system.
Safety has been one of the main concerns all along. There are no people in the automated terminal. The reefer and road interchange are strictly controlled. Straddle carriers are prohibited from the reefer area if monitoring is taking place.
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