Russia has developed an AI-assisted container control technology

Rusal has developed a technology that makes it possible to control containers with the help of artificial intelligence. It reduces the time it takes for containers to be sent from the terminal to be loaded with finished products by several times, the company's press service said.

The system creates a virtual twin of the terminal: thanks to machine vision and application of high-precision positioning, it records the location and numbers of all containers stored waiting to be loaded with aluminum.

The container detection technology was developed by RUSAL's Engineering and Technology Center (RUSAL ITC). It is currently being tested at one of the terminals of the Krasnoyarsk Aluminum Smelter (KrAZ). This project won the competition "ComNews Awards. Best Solutions for Digital Economy-2024" in the nomination "Best Digital Logistics Solution in Metallurgy".

"Rusal is implementing dozens of projects to digitalize production, including the use of neural networks, machine vision, and big data analysis. Artificial intelligence relieves employees of a huge number of routine operations, saves their time, and increases the accuracy and efficiency of technological processes. Honoring digitalization leaders is an important part of popularizing artificial intelligence and the prospects for its practical application," said Victor Mann, Technical Director of Rusal.

Previously, finding a container and handing it over for loading took about half an hour, as they were arranged in an unsystematized manner in the free space. The new technology reduces this time to a few minutes. After successful testing and implementation at KrAZ's container terminals, it is planned to be replicated at the company's other aluminum smelters.

"We have equipped the container terminal and loaders with cameras through which more than ten unique machine learning models recognize the container itself and its number, additional visual tags about weight and volume, and record actions with the container. The forklifts are also equipped with GPS sensors, through which the exact location of each container is determined. All this data forms a virtual model of the terminal, and the forklift operator receives a task on a tablet that shows where the containers he needs are located on the company's map in real time," explained Mikhail Grinishin, Director of Production Automation at RUSAL ITC.

According to Vadim Ivanov, Commercial Director of KrAZ, the project has proved its efficiency. It is part of a large set of measures aimed at increasing aluminum shipments in containers by 60% in the next two years.

"Containers provide the best cargo safety, maximum speed and convenience of logistics, especially in multimodal transportation. It is obvious that container transportation is the future. Taking into account the large volume of KrAZ production, such a serious increase in shipments would not be possible without digitalization of processes," he said.

Ivanov added that in order to achieve the goal at the plant, the first stage of the concrete platform for multi-level container storage was also built in front of the terminal. The construction of the second one is scheduled for next year.