Innovate UK commissions Grid Smarter Systems to create freight traffic control platform

Grid and its partner organisations will develop and pilot an ‘alpha’ product in a live construction development

Grid and its partner organisations will develop and pilot an ‘alpha’ product in a live construction development

Innovate UK has commissioned kerbside management technology specialist Grid Smarter Cities to create a freight traffic control platform to help manage construction freight movements and deliveries in congested urban centres.

Grid will be partnering with Croydon Council and EB Charging, an electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure business on the Innovate UK funded project award, which is worth more than £485,000.

Grid and its partner organisations will develop and pilot an ‘alpha’ product in a live construction development in the south London borough from March 2020. Grid is working in parallel with a number of specialist partners to investigate the potential of vehicle telematics, 3D mapping and EVs on the future of construction logistic operations.

Karla Jakeman, innovation lead for connected transport and communications at Innovate UK, said: “This project is a great example of how an SME can work with local authorities to solve real life issues around freight. This can provide a blueprint that can be transferred to other local authorities around the UK. The potential spin-offs from this project due its boarder thinking are particularly exciting.”

The foundations of the solution are found in Kerb, Grid’s intelligent kerbside management solution. Kerb has previously been granted Innovate UK funding to build the Kerb prototype, trialling the solution across the UK and internationally through 2018 and 2019.

Kerb enables the digitisation of the kerbside, allowing drivers to park on restricted kerbs for fixed periods of time and providing real-time, dynamic management of the road network. 

Neil Herron, chief executive and founder of Grid Smarter Cities, said: “The freight traffic control (FTC) solution will build on the foundations of Kerb, improving ease of movement for commercial operators when heading into and around the construction site, whilst reducing congestion and the environmental impact of HGVs.

“Improving air quality is a key issue for society to address, and we are intent on being able to deliver technology that offers simple, easy to adopt process improvements to assist in construction freight logistics and the wider transport sectors. 

“Diesel emissions, largely attributed to freight vehicles, account for 85% of NOx emissions in urban ambient airspace, with air quality now being recognised as the cause of more than 40,000 deaths in the UK each year.

Cllr Stuart King, cabinet lead for environment and transport at Croydon Council, said: “This is an innovative project that will help us to monitor, manage and regulate HGV journeys across Croydon. This will help us try and make sure deliveries arrive not only in a timely manner but, even more importantly, that the journeys are as safe and green as possible.” 

In 2018 Grid was ranked seventh on the Metis Partners and Clydesdale Bank IP100 Intellectual Property League Table for its patented solution. The registered patents underpinning their technologies cover the UK, USA and other international territories.

The Kerb solution has won a number of awards including the ITS UK Innovation Award 2018, North East Times Impact Awards for Innovation, IoT Global Award for Smart Cities, the Computing Rising Star Award and the British Parking Award for Intelligent Parking 2019.

In 2018 Grid was ranked seventh on the Metis Partners and Clydesdale Bank IP100 Intellectual Property League Table for its patented solution. The registered patents underpinning their technologies cover the UK, USA and other international territories.

The Kerb solution has won several awards including the ITS UK Innovation Award 2018, North East Times Impact Awards for Innovation, IoT Global Award for Smart Cities, the Computing Rising Star Award and the British Parking Award for Intelligent Parking 2019.