This Italian company, established in 1987, develops customized software thanks to a team with thirty years of experience. Over the years the company has developed its technological know-how, designing customized solutions in different sectors and has become a leader in the logistics sector. Since 2015, the company has been carrying out R&D activities for the development of innovative solutions focused on the rail freight transport system. The manager of the Italian national railway infrastructure has granted the company on loan for use a wagon and a section of track to test the technology.
The company has integrated expert design and electronics staff into its team in order to develop a smart wagon prototype whose movement is managed via a computer platform. The company also developed the single wagon handling management software. The software is installed on the wagon and remotely. The remote operators, using the software, make the movement requests and interface with the railway network manager who validates the movements.
At the current development stage of the technology, it is possible to manage the movement, in compliance with the current regulation, on any railway yard previously mapped with GPS coordinates, by moving the wagon simply by selecting the wagon and the destination point on a monitor, with an accuracy less than one meter. Through the use of sensors it is possible to carry out fine positioning. These allow, for example, to move one wagon to another for hooking up, approaching a warehouse or a loading device (e.g. to load containers), with an accuracy of a few centimeters.
The goal of the Italian company is to develop ready to market solutions focused on the single wagon management technology. The solutions must be such as not to require changes to the railway regulations. The Italian company has identified three types of applications. The first concerns the automatic handling for the sorting of "traditional" railway wagons. The solution provides that in the maneuvers the "traditional" wagons are coupled to a "trolley to carry out the maneuvers" (a smart wagon service in the rail yard managed by the IT platform) with only the help of a service operator near the smart wagon for manual coupling/uncoupling operations of the traction and the air intakes of the main duct.
The second concerns a new way of carrying out the loading/unloading operations of the containers. Also, in this case, a "maneuver trolley" will be used to send a "traditional" wagon next to a quay crane to be loaded with containers and then go to add to a train in formation for a specific destination or to go to a temporary storage area, automated for container handling. The presence of a railway track along the quay where the cranes operate is required.
The third application is a new method for loading/unloading any wheeled vehicle on a railway wagon. The operations are carried out using a "forklift" (smart wagon service at any railway station managed automatically in all necessary operations), which raises the wheeled vehicles to allow movement on a pocket wagon equipped as a smart wagon with a mobile loading bed. No major infrastructures are needed at the railway stations where operations are carried out.
The company is looking for technological partners who deal with the mechanical and structural development of the wagon (first and second areas of development) and its homologation as a means of work. In relation to the third development area, the international partner will take care of the construction of the forklift truck. In this case, the collaboration will take place under joint venture agreements.
The company is available to offer the technology to international partners who want to implement it in their processes, under license agreements. If support services are needed for the implementation of the technology, the cooperation will be carried out under commercial agreements with technical assistance.
