Containers – durable and reusable assets used to store materials of various kinds – are essential in the management of goods, materials and waste for several reasons, including the optimisation of logistics and transport, efficient waste management and production.
The digitalisation of containers through technologies such as Digital Twin enables real-time monitoring and predictive resource management. At the same time, the integration of IoT sensors, Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence into containers is transforming the way resources are managed. Smart containers can monitor material conditions, track the location and status of assets in real time and optimise logistics processes through data analysis.
ORIONE: Research for Smarter Waste Logistics
ORIONE (Operational Resilience through Integration and Organization in Neural Eco-systems) is a research and development project focused on innovating industrial waste logistics. The project focuses on the secure and controlled sharing of container data, including data related to urban and industrial waste management, industrial containers used in production, and containers used for transportation and shipping.
ORIONE developed a smart Digital Twin for waste containers and their related logistics processes, supporting digital and lean transformation in line with the recommendations of the European Environment Agency (EEA).
The project explores AI-based platforms with predictive capabilities for:
- predictive maintenance;
- anomaly detection in collected data;
- intelligent algorithms for transport route optimisation;
- comparison of algorithms to help mitigate bias.
Data control, AI and Edge Computing
ORIONE’s local approach, without relying on third-party APIs, provides greater control over data and supports regulatory requirements, including GDPR.
The distributed system combines Artificial Intelligence, integrates lean management principles ensures traceability through Blockchain to support data, and experiments with heterogeneous sensors and edge and cloud computing.
ORIONE creates an original, project-specific dataset, improving knowledge by combining sensor data with Open Data. The project promotes new algorithms, develops AI-based decision support systems and implements distributed Artificial Intelligence to optimise operational performance.
From research to Twin Control
The Twin Control solution, derived from the ORIONE research project, is a digital ecosystem for managing different types of industrial containers, both physical and digitally represented. The platform is designed to optimise the management of production and logistics resources in complex industrial environments.
Twin Control addresses challenges such as data fragmentation, inefficient processes and the underuse of available information, while supporting interoperability, data security and data value creation. The future integration with the Manufacturing-X data space will also make it possible to enrich and exchange information about containers and logistics assets with data from other actors in the chain.
ORIONE represents a key contribution to the development of today’s Twin Control system. The research project concluded with the filing of an industrial invention patent.