HOLMES

Forest logistics enhanced by satellite-based navigation

Achievements

Development of an enhanced logistic service for forestry.

Brief Description

The Project HOLMES (forest logistics enhanced by satellite-based navigation) aims at developing a closed logistic system for wood industry based on satellite navigation technologies for optimization of the dispositive and administrative tasks, at testing and, at the distribution.

The service will incorporate the most advanced applications of satellite navigation, geographical information systems (GIS) in combination with wireless communication links. The added value chain which will be developed within the project consists of four main parts: maintenance of forest specific local maps, data acquisition of storage places and stock, satellite based guidance of vehicles to the storage places and automatic order and delivery preparation. The main task within the project is the development of a navigation system for data acquisition and for guidance of vehicles primary based on GNSS like GPS/GLONASS/EGNOS and in future Galileo. In case of loss of signal dead reckoning and data of autonomous sensors overbridge GNSS outages even in topographically difficult locations. The innovative advantages of the project are the reduced amount of mobile data, the less complicated documentation of the hole wood harvest process and, the visualisation and georeference of the added value supply chain that an efficient disposal and guidance of trucks is enabled. Due these approaches it is possible for the first time to develop a closed supply chain management for the forestry. This will result in upgrading the efficiency and accuracy and decreasing of costs.