Aurrigo International plc has been awarded £1.43million of UK government funding to investigate how autonomous vehicles can be used to make airports safer.
The company, which moved into its new Advanced Engineering Centre in Coventry earlier this year, will use the CAM Pathfinder grant to deploy its Auto-Shuttle® vehicles (pictured)to complete several routine tasks, including performing security patrols, routine perimeter inspections and counting birds and encouraging them to move somewhere safer.
They will also be used to inspect runway and taxiway surfaces for cracks, wear or spotting loose objects that can cause serious damage to an aircraft.
Named SENTRY, the project also taps into the expertise of Warwick Manufacturing Group at Warwick University, the guidance of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and access to a specialist testbed facility located near Teesside International Airport.
“Airports are busier and more hazardous than most passengers ever realise,” explained Simon Brewerton, Chief Technology Officer at Aurrigo International plc.
“Away from the terminal, staff spend their days walking and driving around parked aircraft, along taxiways and up and down runways, checking for loose debris, chasing away birds, patrolling for security, and inspecting the roadways for damage. Much of this work happens in the dark, in wind and rain, and always with aircraft moving nearby.”
He continued:
“SENTRY will investigate whether some of that work could be done by small autonomous vehicles that will navigate on their own, following a set of rules agreed in advance with air traffic control.
“Working with our partners, we are developing the technology and building it into our Auto-Shuttle®, which will firstly be deployed in controlled environments before operating in real airport conditions at Teesside International Airport and at Cincinnati in North America.”
SENTRY will build on Aurrigo International’s increasing presence in the aviation sector, with the company’s Auto-DollyTug® and Auto-Cargo® vehicles already in use at eight global airports.
This project has been designed to increased safety by detecting obstacles, birds, damage to runways and security issues, whilst also boosting efficiency through automated inspections and supporting aircraft to move smoothly around the airport.
For travellers, flights are less likely to be delayed due to runway inspections or safety checks.
“Our team will measure the changes the autonomous vehicles make, including staff time savings, how quickly issues were spotted and the positive effect on reducing emissions,” Mr Brewerton added.
“The finding will be written up in a public report that will be shared with airports, regulators and the wider sector, providing a best practice use case for adopting more autonomous vehicles.
“Aurrigo’s technology is not about replacing people, it is about taking the cold, repetitive, three-in-the-morning jobs off the roster. It will free-up experienced staff for the work that genuinely needs human judgement and gives airports a practical way to raise their safety standards.”
SENTRY, which will start in September, is part of the UK Government’s £150 milion CAM Pathfinder delivered by the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade in partnership with Zenzic and Innovate UK. All UK Government grant funding is subject to HMG approval.
Mark Cracknell, Programme Director at Zenzic, concluded:
“Today’s announcement builds on the fantastic progress made by CAM Pathfinder so far and puts the UK firmly in the driving seat when it comes to developing and deploying the CAM solutions of tomorrow.
“From construction to public roads and, airside, these projects have the potential to transform UK businesses, create and safeguard hundreds of jobs and further strengthen the domestic supply chain.”
(Picture: Aurrigo International)
