The multi-year partnership with CAG will see Aurrigo demonstrate its autonomous solutions at one of Asia’s largest transport hubs including testing the Auto-Dolly’s operation through the baggage handling area, along the airside roadways and at the aircraft stand.
According to Aurrigo, due to its small footprint and tight turning radius, the Auto-Dolly can manoeuvre itself precisely next to an aircraft and ground service equipment (GSE) items. In addition, with its capability to transfer a unit load device directly to and from the Skyloader equipment which loads the plane “so airports can reduce manpower and equipment”.
Changi Airport, located at the eastern end of Singapore, is the first airport in the world to test this equipment’s ability to perform autonomous loading and unloading of unit loading devices (ULDs) at the aircraft stand. If the trial proves successful, Aurrigo said it plans to roll out the autonomous vehicle at other airports globally.
Aurrigo chief executive David Keene said the company was looking to “continuously develop a vehicle that can operate safely and efficiently in the safety critical environment of an airport apron”, the area of an airport where aircraft are parked, unloaded or loaded.
Alongside the baggage vehicle, Aurrigo will also test the Auto-DollyTug at Changi. The device aims to replace a traditional diesel tractor type baggage hauler with an electrically powered, autonomous vehicle that can carry a unit load device, an aviation industry standard luggage container and Aurrigo’s airport simulation software platform.
Based on the latest data, Changi Airport serves more than 68 million passengers annually, making it the 18th busiest airport in the world. The development and testing of Aurrigo’s autonomous vehicles is partially funded by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) through its Aviation Development Fund (ADF).
Poh Li San, senior vice president of Terminal 5 planning at Changi Airport, added: “Similar to major airports throughout the world, recruiting enough ground handling personnel and drivers to support our growth is a challenge. We have been encouraged by Aurrigo’s innovative autonomous technologies to help address these issues, and we’re excited to partner Aurrigo in joint development and testing of these solutions in the real world.”
The development of the Auto-Dolly comes in the same month that Aurrigo agreed a deal to transport passengers on public roads between Sunderland Interchange, Sunderland Royal Hospital and University of Sunderland City Campus in auto-shuttles.
The UK city has received £14m in grants to deploy the technology, which will include four zero-emission autonomous HGVs and three self-driving shuttles, as part of its efforts to become the UK’s “the UK’s most advanced smart city”.
