The project aims to minimize the potential risk of collisions between mobile machinery and fixed elements, vehicles, and people at the container terminal. This pilot project, based on C-V2X connected car technology and the low latency of 5G communications and Edge Computing, seeks to make APM Terminals Barcelona a safer environment for workers. This will be achieved through a system that coordinates port traffic and implements advanced algorithms for accident prevention. An alarm system will alert crane and truck drivers, as well as pedestrians, to potential collisions with fixed and mobile elements, and will also send an instant notification to a control center in the event of a collision. The project involves deploying Telefónica's 5G coverage at the APM Terminals facility in the Port of Barcelona, ​​providing 5G connectivity to Straddle Carrier cranes, trucks, and terminal personnel, and installing an acoustic warning system for potential collisions.

Straddle Carrier cranes will be equipped with an onboard unit capable of communicating via 5G and C-V2X technology with each other and with other stakeholders. Trucks, truck drivers, and terminal personnel will have 5G smartphones with a C-V2X application installed. The smartphone thus becomes an integral part of the V2X environment, facilitating a smooth transition to a natively connected vehicle fleet and the direct inclusion of people in the ecosystem. Fixed elements such as streetlights will also be signaled with C-V2X communications, enabling real-time communication with other mobile stakeholders. All information sent by cranes, trucks, and personnel on foot is securely transmitted to an application located geographically very close (Edge) to its point of use, allowing for immediate responses. This application, hosted at the Edge, has the intelligence to coordinate cooperative driving among the various stakeholders, a system known as Cooperative Intelligent Transportation Systems (C-ITS). It also provides APM Terminals with a dashboard, allowing them to visualize the positions of each participating stakeholder on a map. Precise location is vital, and a system has been developed to achieve this, providing centimeter-level accuracy. This cooperative intelligent transportation system is hosted on the Edge Computing node of Telefónica's Virtual Data Center (VDC) service in Barcelona. This strengthens the company's ability to offer ultra-low latency services and process large amounts of information in real time to extract high-value data. The project, which will become operational next summer, has several development phases and will use the APM Terminals Barcelona facilities as a testing ground. Depending on the results, the system could be replicated and implemented in other ports to contribute to the prevention of workplace accidents.

The three promoters of the project are Telefónica, APM Terminals and Mobile World Capital Barcelona. They have collaborated with FICOSA for the integration of the C-V2X onboard unit in the cranes, the development of the intelligent cooperative transport system that resides in the MEC and the implementation of the solution that allows precise locations, and with the participation of HARMAN for the development of the C-V2X application on smartphones.