IN Brief:
- Dassault Systèmes and iHawk Global are piloting autonomous cargo technology at a 50,000 sq m container yard in Singapore.
- The system combines aerial drones, ground rovers, and cloud-based virtual twin technology to improve real-time asset visibility.
- Commercial deployment is targeted for October 2026, beginning with autonomous drone-based cargo data capture.
Dassault Systèmes and Singapore-based deep-tech company iHawk Global have deployed cloud-based virtual twin technology for autonomous cargo operations at an active 50,000 sq m container yard in Singapore.
The pilot combines autonomous aerial drones and ground rovers to capture live inventory data and provide real-time visibility of assets across a dense container environment. The deployment has been developed for one of the harder operating conditions in logistics automation: steel-heavy, high-density yards where GPS and communications signals can be disrupted by container stacks, vehicle movement, and the physical complexity of live operations.
iHawk’s system pairs a drone with a ground rover that acts as a precision navigation anchor, supporting sub-decimetre positioning accuracy in a GPS-denied setting. By reducing dependence on manual yard checks, the technology is intended to give operators a more continuous view of cargo location and asset status without adding more personnel to already congested terminal environments.
The system was designed and validated using Dassault Systèmes’ cloud-based 3DEXPERIENCE platform before moving into field deployment. Virtual simulation was used to test airflow, signal interference, coordination between the drone and rover, and operational scenarios before hardware was committed to live yard conditions.
Using the virtual twin approach eliminated two rounds of physical prototyping, saving up to S$30,000 in estimated hardware costs and cutting development time by four months. Mission energy efficiency improved by 30%, while the time required to prepare regulatory safety documentation was reduced by around 50%.
Commercial deployment is targeted for October 2026. The phased rollout will begin with autonomous drones capturing real-time cargo data before progressing towards integrated ground-rover coordination and live virtual twin synchronisation. Initial activity is focused on Singapore’s port and marine sectors, with expansion opportunities being assessed across ASEAN.
Cargo visibility has often been treated as a software issue, yet the limiting factor in many yards remains physical data capture. Yard management tools, warehouse systems, transport platforms, and telematics can only act on the information fed into them. When inventory status still depends on manual checks, fixed infrastructure, or vehicle-mounted scanning, asset data can drift away from live reality.
Autonomous data capture changes that operating model by turning inventory visibility into a continuous layer rather than a periodic checking process. Drones can cover yard areas quickly, rovers can support more accurate positioning, and a virtual twin can convert live data into a usable operational model. The difficulty lies in making autonomous collection reliable enough for routine planning, not simply proving that a drone can identify assets.
The same direction is visible in other parts of logistics automation. CEVA’s automated Alashankou hub uses RFID, AI measurement tools, electric autonomous forklifts, and customs-linked visibility to support cross-border road freight. In both cases, automation is being applied to the connective tissue of logistics: the handovers, checks, movements, and status updates that sit between larger transport events.
For container yards, weak visibility carries a high operational cost. A misplaced container or delayed confirmation can affect haulier collection windows, vessel loading, berth planning, customs processes, and downstream warehouse schedules. Real-time autonomous inventory data will not remove those constraints on its own, but it can reduce the manual friction that still sits inside many port-adjacent operations.
The next test will be reliability outside the controlled conditions of pilot activity. Dense cargo yards are dynamic, weather-exposed, and safety-critical. If virtual twin-led autonomous cargo visibility can hold up in commercial operation, the model is likely to attract interest well beyond Singapore’s ports.