News April 2022

Lock assistance system uses PPP corrections and AIS/VDES data transmission

The closure conference of the collaborative project SciPPPer funded by the BMWK took place on the 22nd of March 2022. Seven partners from business, science and administration presented the project results to a group of more than 80 participants.

In the project, which was led by the company Argonics GmbH, Alberding GmbH was responsible for the precise positioning and data transmission together with the department for traffic technologies of the WSV and the institute of communication and navigation of the DLR e.V.. Further project partners were the companies ArgoNav GmbH and Weatherdock GmbH as well as the Federal Waterways Engineering and Research Institute (BAW) in Karlsruhe.

The aim of the SciPPPer project was to develop an on-board assistance system that enables automated lock entry for inland vessels. For the precise determination of the ship's position and optimisation of the lock entry, this assistance system also uses information obtained on land, which is provided to the inland vessels via WSV's own data channels.

In the SciPPPer project, the new AIS/VDES (VHF data exchange system) method, a further development of the AIS (automatic identification system) used in inland navigation, was used for the first time for data transmission. During the measurement trips in the area of the Moselle lock in Lehmen, the project team succeeded in establishing reliable communication between the shore and onboard sides with the first VDES prototypes and transmitting precise PPP real-time correction data.

The PPP correction data were provided by the surveying authorities of Germany within the framework of the SAPOS service. Due to a lower data rate compared to RTK services and the broadcast capability, the PPP procedure in combination with AIS/VDES data transmission is suitable for establishing and operating a precise GNSS positioning service for highly automated inland navigation.

The research on PPP correction data transmission via AIS/VDES is being continued in the project "DigitalSOW - Digital test field for automated and autonomous inland shipping on the Spree-Oder-Waterway (SOW)".

Detailed information on the project as well as the presentations and the video of the SciPPPer closing conference can be found at www.scippper.de.