Design and Implementation of Enhanced Asset Locating System for Vehicle Pooling in a Port Terminal

Abstract

In a port terminal, containers are stored and transshipped by yard tractors and cranes. Information on the location of these vehicles is an essential factor for efficient operation of the terminal. However, most port terminals try to estimate the location of these assets using indirect methods such as event locating of shipping or unshipping containers. Because these kinds of events do not occur often, the location of the event triggered includes serious location error, as it is different from the real location of the vehicle. In this paper, we propose a real-time asset locating system that accurately and reliably obtains the location of terminal assets. The proposed system overcomes location estimation errors caused by container stacks disrupting wireless communication. In order to mitigate uncertainty and increase the accuracy of the location estimate, we designed hardware and a multi-step locating system to resolve additional problems. We implemented the system components, and installed the system at a port environment for evaluation. Our results indicate that our proposed system has a locating error level of approximately 5.87 m and that it is superior to existing systems.