homePORT Hamburg and ARIC enter into cooperation

The Artificial Intelligence Center Hamburg (ARIC) and homePORT want to work closely together in the future. The homePORT nucleus is set up in the heart of the Port of Hamburg, between the Elbe, the shipyards and the St. Pauli Elbe Tunnel and is therefore in the immediate vicinity of Dockland, the seat of ARIC, directly on the other side of the Elbe.

Just like in ARIC, in homePORT “old meets new”, “tradition meets innovation”, “established methods and systems meet innovative technologies”, “established players meet ambitious start-ups”, so that the mutual overlaps are enormous. Under the motto “Connect, Collaborate & Create”, homePORT creates an urban place for experiments and paves the way for product innovations in the maritime industry, in ports and logistics. As a real laboratory, homePORT offers optimal conditions for autonomous drone and vehicle tests as well as 3D printing.

Products can be tested in a safe environment on a special port area in the mixed industrial area. For this purpose, homePORT has water test areas that can be used for autonomous tests under and above water after a coordinated project description. A private parking lot is suitable for testing autonomous robots and vehicles, as well as drones. On the basis of the U-Space regulation, homePORT accompanies a drone test field with the state air authorities and technology companies. The ARIC Hamburg was founded by stakeholders from business and science in order to promote the future topic of AI in a structured and targeted manner in the metropolitan region and to serve as a link between application-oriented research and practical application in the field of artificial intelligence. Logistics and industrial AI topics play a major role here.

Jan Schnedler from the management of ARIC is really excited that there is now such an urban “tech playground” for self-driving vehicles, robots and drones in the middle of a city like Hamburg within sight of the ARIC. This is unique and a great asset for Hamburg. Marius Eschen, project manager homePORT and Product Lead New Business and Partnership at the Hamburg Port Authority AöR adds that “with this maritime real-world laboratory, product innovations beyond established paths are developed and cross-company cooperation is sustainably strengthened, which the cooperation with ARIC shows as an example”.

For the ARIC, with its already 20 initiated AI projects, there are new test and evaluation options in a real environment for its research and industrial project partners. The use of hardware in connection with AI is particularly dependent on such test areas.

The ARIC plans to test self-driving vehicles on the homePORT test areas with various member companies and research partners. ARIC member Subsea Europe researches z. B. on autonomous measuring systems for water surveying. ARIC will also bring smart traffic light switching from Estonia to Hamburg for test purposes for more pedestrian safety and make the useful technology accessible to a broader public, for example at the ITS World Congress, at which the homePORT area south of the old Elbe tunnel will be part of the official exhibition and demonstration area . With homePORT there are a number of common project and cooperation opportunities. In addition to the projects, joint events, tech webinars and workshops are also planned.