Ningbo Daily: Empty container inspection, robotic dogs on duty

News from this newspaper (Reporter Sun Jiali, Correspondent Ge Shuyi) On the empty container inspection site of Meishan Port Area in Zhoushan Port, Ningbo, a nimble robotic dog freely shuttles between containers. It sometimes stops to "scrutinize" the box, and sometimes skillfully drills into the box to explore, performing a series of tasks such as automatic inspection, box number recognition, and foreign object recognition.
This special "new customs officer" is the latest AI assisted empty container quarantine inspection robot dog applied by Ningbo Customs. Its official "entry" marks a new stage of "AI assisted and intelligent inspection" for the supervision of imported empty containers by Ningbo Customs.
This robotic dog integrates six functions: automatic inspection, container number recognition, interlayer recognition, foreign object recognition, vector recognition, and abnormal warning. It is equipped with an optical imaging and thermal imaging dual light gimbal, multiple industrial grade cameras, high-precision navigation and positioning modules, and a laser radar. It is a steel guardian equipped with "sharp eyes" and "smart brain". By pre planning the layout of empty container storage and setting the optimal inspection route, it can independently complete inspections, automatically find and verify container numbers, and take photos to send back, achieving precise positioning and information collection.
With the help of laser measurement and image computing technology, robotic dogs can accurately determine whether containers have compartments. Equipped with fill lights and high-definition cameras, they can improve their ability to identify vector and harmful organisms, "said Zhang Jian, Deputy Director of Logistics Monitoring Department 2 at Meishan Customs.
Zhang Xiaorong, the person in charge of Yushu Technology, said, "This industrial grade robotic dog, which is deeply customized for customs scenarios, has excellent motion control capabilities and can flexibly move and climb between containers and uneven ground, meeting the requirements of all-weather and high-intensity operations
On January 6th, the robotic dog project entered the fully quantified trial operation phase, and all six functional modules were put into practical application. As of January 29th, the robotic dog has assisted in inspecting 1655 natural boxes, with a box number recognition accuracy rate of 92%, a foreign object detection rate of 95%, and a foreign object category recognition rate of 60%. The maximum number of natural boxes inspected in a single day test is 100, and the inspection efficiency can be increased by more than twice compared to manual operation mode.