Application of Modern Concepts in the Automated Information Management in Harbours by Using Advanced IT-Solutions

Authors

E. Blümel (ed.), E. Ginters, E. Kindler, P. Lorenz, Y. Merkuryev, L. Novitsky, J. Pronins, K.-C. Ritter, F. Seibt, T. J. Schriber, D. Slagter, J. Tolujew, E. Viktorova

Ann Arbor, Apeldoorn, Magdeburg, Prague, Riga; March 1997.

Preface | About the Authors | Authors Index | Contents

This book was written within the project "Application of Modern Concepts in the Automated Information Management in Harbours by using advanced IT-solutions" (AMCAI). The project AMCAI ran from 1995 to 1997 is funded by the COPERNICUS 1994 Programme of the European Commission.

The COPERNICUS Programme aims to fund the collaboration of Central and Eastern European Countries and European Union countries in Joint Research Projects or Concerted Actions/Networks. Concerted Actions/Networks funded by the COPERNICUS Programme must "aim to co-ordinate, across borders, research and development activities which are already under way within the individual countries and to promote circulation of scientific and technical information, re-establish contact among scientists and engineers of Central and Eastern Europe and of the European Union and to stimulate the innovation process" (European Commission 1995).

The project AMCAI is a Concerted Action of scientists of the Riga Technical University (Latvia), Latvian Intelligent Systems (Latvia), Latvian Maritime Systems (Latvia), Charles University Prague (Czech Republic), TNO Metals Research Institute Apeldoorn (The Netherlands), Otto-von-Guericke-University Magdeburg (Germany) under the Co-ordination of the Fraunhofer Institute for Factory Operation and Automation (IFF) Magdeburg (Germany).

This multi-national Network of scientists co-ordinates research activities which have their main emphases in the areas of Modelling, Simulation and Animation with the aims of contributing to the improvement of the logistic processes of the Riga Harbour and of supporting regional adjacent working groups. The workshops and meetings of the AMCAI-Consortium were not only used for the internal exchange of knowledge but also as a means to establish contact between experts of the Harbours of Riga, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Magdeburg and Genoa and with scientists of Universities world-wide. During these meetings, and at Conferences at which AMCAI results had been presented, fruitful inputs for the project work were provided by many discussions with other scientists.

At this point I would like to thank Aldis Zieds (Riga Commercial Port), Zigmars Priede (Ministry of Communications of the Republic of Latvia), Igor Kabashkin (Latvian Transport Development and Education Association), Alexander Verbraeck (Delft University of Technology), Agostino Bruzzone (University of Genoa), Maurits van Schuylenburg (Rotterdam Municipal Port Management), and Huib H. Kneepkens (Port Management of Amsterdam) for their active support of several workshops. I thank very much indeed Thomas J. Schriber (University of Michigan) for accepting our invitation to write a section for this book. This can be seen as a sign of the world-wide discussion of Harbour Simulation undertaken by the AMCAI-Consortium.

I thank Christos Pipitsoulis (European Commission Directorate XIII -Telecommunications, Information Market and Exploitation of Research) for his support of the AMCAI project consortium.

Last but not least I thank very much indeed Ian Pitt, Frank Rohde, Peter Szyler and Juris Terauds for their technical assistance in preparing this book.

Eberhard Blümel
March 1997

Eberhard Blümel

is the head of the department of Planning- and Visualisation-Techniques at the Fraunhofer Institute for Factory Operation and Automation (IFF) Magdeburg, Germany. His fields of applied research projects are associated with themes of Discrete Optimisation, Operations Research, Logistics, Simulation and 3D-Computer-Visualisation.

spent several years of practical engineering activities at the Riga Technical University He founded the company "Latvian Intelligent Systems". His scientific interests are in software and hardware design for complex distributed data processing systems, especially in infological modelling, expert systems, structure simulation, and logistics.

is at the Department (cathedra) of Mathematical Logic and Philosophy of Mathematics at Charles University Prague. His research interests are in the area of object-oriented simulation languages. He was a visiting Professor at the University of Pisa (Italy), at the West Virginia University in Morgantown (USA) and the Blaise Pascal University in Clermont-Ferrand (France).

is a Professor in the Institute for Simulation and Graphics at the Otto-von-Guericke-University Magdeburg, Germany. His research interests include layout-based simulation model generation, advanced Web supported teaching concepts and applications of simulation and animation in manufacturing, logistics, and traffic.

Yuri Merkuryev

is an Associate Professor of Riga Technical University, Head of the Department of Modelling and Simulation. His interests are design of simulation experiments, optimisation of simulation models, and systems identification. He is a member of the Society for Computer Simulation (SCS), the New York Academy of Sciences, Director of the Latvian Centre of the SCS Meleod Institute of Simulation Sciences and President of the Latvian Simulation Society.

is a Professor at the department of Informatics and software engineering of the Riga Technical University and Director of the company "Latvian Maritime Systems". His interests are Information Technology, Computer Simulation, Logistics, Optimisation, and Computer-Aided Instruction Courses. He is a member of the international Association of Advanced Computing in Education AACE).

is the Director of the Computing Centre of the Riga Commercial Port. His interest is in the field of Information Systems application.

is a PhD-Student in the Institute for Simulation and Graphics at the Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg. He has been working on mining, traffic and manufacturing simulation and animation applications. His current main field of interest is Java-based animation for the Web.

is a CSc Master Student in the Institute for Simulation and Graphics at the Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg. His main research interests are in the designing and implementing of Web-based simulation tools and applications.

is a Professor of Computer and Information Systems at the University of Michigan. Long active in the Winter Simulation Conferences, he teaches a range of subjects while doing research and consulting in discrete-event simulation. He is a member of the German simulation society ASIM, DSI, IIE and INFORMS. In 1996 he received the Distinguished Service Award from the INFORMS College of Simulation.

is a Senior Consultant at TNO Institute of Industrial Technology Apeldoorn, The Netherlands. His professional interests are in the areas of design and realisation of laboratories testing equipment, cad/cam applications for chipmaking and sheetmetalworking, machine evaluations for functionality and safety and quality management of production processes.

is an Associate Professor of the Department of Modelling and Simulation of Riga Technical University. His research interests include the simulation of discrete event systems with GPSS-type simulation languages. He is a member of the German simulation society ASIM, and a member of the Steering Committee of the Latvian Simulation Society.

is a Researcher with the company "Latvian Maritime Systems". Her research interests are in the field of database and data processing systems design.

Authors Index