Logistics of the future

Source: Kommersant Business Guide

Like Avtonet, the AeroNet and Marinet markets are largely dependent on the development of unmanned technology, in particular the use of crewless vessels and aircraft. Their use can transform modern logistics chains, significantly reducing costs in industries where investment cycles have been measured for decades.

The “Roadmaps” of NTI in both markets were approved as one of the first - in 2016. It is assumed that, within the framework of Aeroneta, a new global network market of information and logistics services will appear, provided by a fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles constantly in the air and in low space orbits. And within the framework of Marineta, intellectual systems of marine transport management and new technologies for the development of the world's oceans will be developed.

The Aeroneta card envisages that by 2035 Russia's share in the global unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) market should be $ 35–40 billion, including $ 10 billion in private investment in the industry. At the same time, the operation of unmanned aerial systems will employ 500 thousand people, and 600 million hectares of land in Russia is covered with high-precision 3D maps. In Marinette, the implementation of the card is expected to lead to an increase in the export volume of companies in the market by 2035 to $ 10 billion (this also applies to offshore production technologies), by 2020 this figure should reach 60 billion rubles, and the share of Russian Companies in the digital navigation market should grow to 12%

Best seen

A number of technology companies participate in the Aeroneta working group: the Kronstadt group, Finko, Aerobe, Aerokon, PTERO, TraceAir, and in the list of already supported projects there is a project on creating digital models of the Geoscan regions, an educational designer to build the drone, cargo unmanned platform SKYF. The market is primarily dedicated to distributed systems of unmanned aerial vehicles, which can be used both for remote sensing of the earth and for monitoring agriculture, as well as transporting goods and cargo, searching for and rescuing people in emergency situations.

In several regions of Russia, digital models are already being drawn up on the basis of data obtained by drones - this is one of the most promising areas, the leader of the AeroNet working group, Sergey Zhukov, notes. An agriculture experiment is underway in the Belgorod region: the AgroNTI project is being implemented in the region, in which the UAVs control snow cover, soil erosion, and enable them to monitor sowing and harvesting. Another promising direction, according to Sergey Zhukov, is logistics. In particular, the Kronstadt company is developing a project for the transportation of goods on the basis of an optionally manned (i.e. able to fly and unmanned) An-2 or other aircraft.

A total of 73 projects with monetary support are now in “Aeronete”, 68 of them received funding from the Innovation Support Fund, and 5 from the NTI Project Support Fund. In addition to selecting new companies, the participants of the working group will have to update the “roadmap” itself: the events in it were scheduled for three years - until the end of 2018, so now it needs to be updated, including adding a block on the development of private astronautics, says Zhukov . In addition, the group will develop a classifier for unmanned aircraft systems. Such a classification must be approved by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia.

Within the framework of the “roadmap” for the improvement of legislation and the elimination of administrative barriers in the sphere of action of Aeroneta, the standard of a BAS specialist has already been adopted. The key obstacles are the lack of approved airworthiness standards for unmanned aircraft systems, as well as the lack of technology and rules for the use of airspace for UAVs. In turn, airworthiness standards, which will become the basis for the certification of UAS, should be specified by means of technical regulation acts.

In addition, measures are needed to facilitate the legal regulation of remote sensing of the Earth: here we must not only reconsider the issues of secrecy. It is also important to recognize the results of aerial photography as a document, in particular for land use purposes, for example, cadastral changes. We also need to develop regulation in the field of private astronautics, notes Sergey Zhukov. It is necessary, for example, to clarify even the definition of space activity, as long as it is very blurry. Also important are issues related to licensing and certification, the definition of what is a private astronautics and who and to what extent must license this activity.

“These issues require revision of the“ road map ”according to the legislation - by the end of the year we will try to do it, but then the government must agree on the map: the issues are at the junction of the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and Roscosmos,” Zhukov said.

Regulatory regulation is the most painful topic of the Aeronet market, confirms Andrei Grudev, deputy general director for strategic projects at Geoscan GC. All aspects of the activities of the Geoscan group of companies: the development, production and use of UAVs for remote sensing of the earth — are constantly faced with regulatory restrictions. According to Mr. Grudev, the unmanned industry is rapidly entering our lives and imposes a number of requirements on the legislators - it is important to organize a civilized and conflict-free use of common airspace with manned aircraft.

Robot at the helm

In Marinette, the priority market segments of the roadmap are defined: digital navigation (e-Navigation, its standards will largely determine not only shipping safety requirements, but also how actively traffic flows through this or that country), technology development ocean resources and innovative shipbuilding. More than 20 projects received financial support in the NTI, among them: a set of services for operational monitoring of the ship-navigation situation and the state of the marine area of ​​the Sea Port (ScanEx), a three-dimensional high-resolution mapping of the seabed MPAC-3D, which allows determining the anomalies of the bottom in online (“Marine Innovations”), the project of wave dampers that are able to protect the coast from destruction and generate energy (“Hydroenergospetsstroy”),

According to Alexander Pinsky, deputy head of the working group and general director of the Marinet Center, a feature of the Marinet working group is that it combines almost the entire industry: from start-ups to state-owned companies, research centers, and universities. This is a kind of industry club, one of whose goals is to help companies enter the international market. Within the group, a plan was also developed for the creation of an industrial cluster “Marinet”, which should create a single distribution channel for high-tech products “Marinet” to foreign markets. The cluster will not just create products as part of its own production links, but will also become a guide for all other Russian developers and manufacturers to the world market: from state concerns, which will turn out to be in a familiar single customer scheme, to small enterprises whose size of business simply does not allow to compete successfully with leading players in the global market. In turn, the integration of solutions to virtually the entire Russian industry within the cluster's product portfolio will allow it to gain the necessary weight for quickly becoming one of the world market leaders, Mr. Pinsky explains.

Russian companies are already at the leading positions in unmanned ships and robotics - traditionally these technologies were interesting to the navy, where we are second after the US in the domestic market and first in exports, said Alexander Pinsky. The use of computer systems for autonomous and remote navigation in the future will reduce crew size, and the crew is the second largest operating expense for shipping companies after fuel.

The strengths of Russian companies were and remain complex innovative vessels, such as high-speed transport: hydrofoil, air-cushion ships, and ekranoplanes. 75% of tonnage is now being built in the countries of Southeast Asia, and in standard, mass shipbuilding it is pointless to compete with Asian shipyards. But our companies have practically no serious competitors on the high-speed transport market, Alexander Pinsky notes.

To bring the development to the market, the legitimization of water transport and marine equipment with a high degree of autonomy, various amphibious vehicles will be required.

“We plan that in the spring of 2019 in Russia such a legal field will be created, and this will be the first or one of the first precedents in the world. Pilot projects to test the “unmanned navigation” technology will be launched on several commercial vessels of Russian companies to prove that their use is safe, ”says Mr. Pinsky. “Based on the results of the pilot projects, we will contact the IMO (International Maritime Organization) and the Russian authorities to authorize their use.”

Another initiative concerns amendments to federal law that allow launching pilot zones to test new, not yet certified technologies. In these zones, Russian companies will be able to receive additional incentives for development.

A new regulatory framework is also needed when promoting projects created with the support of the NTI, adds Alexei Skorupsky, First Deputy General Director of ITAN ScanEx. For example, the formation of the registry of NTI products for the priority integration of innovations, so that the products and solutions developed as part of the initiative were first introduced in the industry.

“In our opinion, the maritime market is quite conservative. I would like to assist in communication with customers and continuous proactive market education on the subject of innovative products, ”the deputy head of the company notes.

Author: Tatyana Edovina