We were looking for support for two sub-projects in our mobility project QCMobility. D-Fine and Planqc have now been awarded the contracts for the areas of intermodal transport and road transport. The subcontractors are Fraunhofer CML, Kombiverkehr, TriCon, UIRR, DB Regio, Fraunhofer IML and Rhein-Neckar-Verkehr; associated partners are the Port of Duisburg, Duisport and Dachser.
Quantum computers can contribute to a more sustainable, efficient and needs-based mobility of the future. We are convinced of this. The question for us is: Which mobility problems and which approaches can quantum computers help with exactly? This is what we want to find out in our major mobility project QCMobility at the DLR Institute of Quantum Technologies – together with five DLR institutes and many industrial partners using realistic use cases and data sets from real-life applications.
We have now awarded two contracts for collaboration in QCMobility to the D-Fine × Planqc consortium with its numerous subcontractors, perspectives and use cases: QCMobility | Intermodal Transport & QCMobility | Road Transport, both with the DLR Institute of Transport Research in the lead.
The sub-projects address a common problem: the increasing complexity in the planning of modern transport and logistics systems. Future mobility must simultaneously take into account and constantly re-evaluate a large number of influencing factors – such as traffic conditions, capacities, demand, time windows and environmental influences. Traditional computers are reaching their limits here.
With these contracts, we not only support the search for ways to improve mobility, but also identify the need for further development of quantum algorithms and hardware, thus facilitating the integration of the methods we have developed in industry.
QCMobility | Intermodal transport
How can quantum computers help to manage freight transport more efficiently, especially where several modes of transport such as rail, lorry and ship are interlinked? The aim of the QCMobility sub-project Intermodal Transport is to optimise complex planning and control processes along intermodal supply chains and thus support the shift of transport, for example to the more environmentally friendly railways.
Practical use cases are developed in the project and mapped as mathematical optimisation problems, for example for controlling transhipment processes and planning complex transport networks. Dynamic systems in particular, in which different modes of transport have to be coordinated, pose major challenges for conventional methods. Using practical data such as route, timetable and booking information, the project creates realistic scenarios that are analysed and evaluated using quantum-based optimisation approaches.
The contractor is the consortium D-Fine and Planqc. Subcontractors are the International Union for Combined Road-Rail Transport (UIRR), Kombiverkehr as an operator in combined transport with a Europe-wide freight transport network and TriCon as the operator of a trimodal transhipment terminal. The Fraunhofer Centre for Maritime Logistics and Services (CML) is contributing expertise in the field of logistics and quantum computing applications as a subcontractor. Duisport, Europe’s largest inland port, is an associated partner.
QCMobility | Road traffic
Mobility of the future also means being able to respond flexibly to demand and traffic conditions despite limited public space, growing traffic volumes and increasing delivery and mobility needs. Quantum computers could be useful here. The QCMobility | Road Transport sub-project is researching how and is attempting to use quantum computing to plan and control dynamic and space-related mobility and delivery processes more intelligently.
The focus is on on-demand transport and urban delivery services, two fields of application with similar challenges, namely limited road space, changing requirements, real-time demand and the question of how virtual stops or loading zones can be optimally distributed and utilised
In close cooperation with industry and research partners, the project is developing concrete application scenarios, transferring them into mathematical models and analysing them using specially developed quantum algorithms. This is intended to help transport and logistics companies make decisions in complex, dynamic planning processes.
The QCMobility | Road Transport sub-project is being coordinated and implemented by D-Fine and Planqc. The subcontractors are Rhein-Neckar-Verkehr as the transport company and DB Regio Bus as the bus company. Both are contributing data and practical experience. As an associated partner, Dachser is contributing expertise in inner-city logistics. The consortium is complemented by the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics (IML) and its research expertise in mobility and logistics issues.
d-fine
d-fine is a European consulting company focussing on analytically challenging topics, which are handled by a team with a scientific background and a high degree of responsibility for future-oriented solutions and their sustainable technological implementation.
planqc
The technology company planqc was founded in 2022 by a research team from the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics and the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. planqc builds quantum computers that store information in individual atoms. The qubits are arranged in highly scalable arrays and manipulated with precisely controlled laser pulses. planqc is the first start-up to emerge from Munich Quantum Valley.
