Semantic Data Integration for Ubiquitous Logistics - An Approach Supporting Autonomous Logistics in Urban Environments

This paper introduces an approach for seamless plug & play data integration in a novel urban logistics concept. The logistics concept is called ubiquitous logistics and contains an agent-based perspective on shared logistics resources. Each private and public vehicle participating in the concept, as well as parcels, features an intelligent agent that may request (or offer) information services to other agents or legacy systems. The technical approach of this paper suggests that each of the heterogeneous data sources delivers additional information that is used to virtually integrate the data in an automated way. This additional information concerns, the authentication, data structure and sequence – information that have to be provided manually nowadays. The technical approach is explained using a typical situation from the future urban logistics concept. This situation represents an intelligent agent trying to deliver small goods along a stream