Autonomous vehicles might soon appear at a local airport in your vicinity.
In the realm of transportation, autonomous vehicles are making strides, and airports are no exception. British company Aurrigo is leading the charge, testing its vehicles and systems at more than 270 airports globally, including Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, Changi in Singapore, and Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport.
Aurrigo's focus is now on aviation, particularly the airside, where planes are loaded and unloaded. The company's first foray into the airport scene was the deployment of the Auto-DollyTug, its first autonomous ground vehicle, at Changi Airport in 2022. Since then, Aurrigo has added two other types of vehicles to its testing phase: the Auto-Cargo, designed for cargo operations, and the Auto-Shuttle.
The Auto-DollyTug, a supersized version of the Auto-DollyTug, has garnered interest from UPS, while the Auto-Cargo has caught the eye of Piotr Grobelny, an aviation analyst, who believes that the airport environment is ideal for self-driving vehicles due to its structured, monitored nature.
The Auto-DollyTug can autonomously pick up a container and transport it directly to the aircraft, streamlining the loading and unloading process. Aurrigo's ambition doesn't stop at the aircraft door, though. The company's CEO, David Keene, stated that Aurrigo is the first globally to have a vehicle and tech that can operate from the baggage hall right up to the aircraft side, to unload and load containers automatically.
However, the path to full autonomy is not without challenges. Regulations are a significant hurdle, as no standard exists for bringing an automated vehicle into an airport. The FAA's guidance mandates that autonomous vehicles in US airports can only be used for testing and in "non-movement areas," away from where aircraft are loaded and unloaded.
Technical challenges remain, particularly with inclement weather. Snow, fog, and rain can impair the perception systems of autonomous systems, and the technologies that can counteract this are still unproven. Aurrigo is tackling these challenges with software that can differentiate between drops of rain and objects, and housing critical sensors in housings designed to protect them from heavy rain and snow.
Electrification in airports is another complex issue. Not only do you need to swap diesel vehicles for electric ones, but you need to be able to charge them and ensure there is enough capacity in the grid to support that.
Despite these challenges, Keene remains optimistic. He believes that there is a strong business case for autonomy, which might eventually be the driver of a regulation breakthrough. He predicts a global transformation in the way baggage and cargo are moved around airports, filling what he sees as a big hole in the market for autonomous technologies in aviation.
The airport landscape is changing, with autonomous vehicles playing an increasingly significant role. From electric baggage tractors rolled out by EasyMile at Dubai's Al Maktoum International Airport to autonomous busses tested by KLM at Schiphol Airport, the future of airport transportation is autonomous.
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