AURRIGO TO SUPPORT THE GERMAN DIGITAL TESTBED AIR CARGO (DTAC) PROJECT FOR ITS AUTONOMOUS CARGO TRANSPORT TRIALS AT STUTTGART AIRPORT
The Aurrigo Auto-DollyTug® autonomous electric baggage handling vehicle brings world first capabilities to aviation ground handling
- DTAC Consortium to deploy the Aurrigo Auto-DollyTug – a uniquely capable autonomous, electric cargo tractor to test driverless delivery of cargo to aircraft at part of the Digital Testbed Air Cargo Project (DTAC)
- Programme funded by the German Federal Ministry of Digital and Transport (BMDV) academic leadership from Frauhofer IML (Institute for Material Flow and Logistics) and Frankfurt University of Applied Science
- Auto-DollyTug tows baggage or cargo trailers and also carries a standard baggage Unit Load Device (ULD) on the vehicle, increasing load capacity and movement efficiency by 30% for the same train length
- Designed from the ground up to be electric and autonomous, Auto-DollyTug can load and unload itself without driver involvement
- Full media assets and Aurrigo’s vehicles can be found HERE
Coventry, Friday 24th November: Aurrigo International PLC secures a contract with the Digital Testbed Cargo Project (DTAC) Consortium to trial the autonomous transport of cargo from the terminal to the deck of the aircraft. The programme will use an Aurrigo Auto-DollyTug autonomous, electric vehicle, which brings unprecedented manoeuvrability and utility to the aviation sector to improve efficiency and speed up aircraft turnaround times.
The subproject, which is funded by the Germany Federal Ministry of Digital and Transport (BMDV) and is carried out under the academic leadership of the Frauhofer IML (Institute for Material Flow and Logistics) and the Frankfurt University of Applied Science is part of the Digital Testbed Air Cargo (DTAC) project. The preparation work has already begun with Auto-DollyTug expected on the tarmac in March 2024.
Auto-DollyTug combines the utility of a baggage /cargo tractor, with the ULD carrying capability of an airport dolly, making a more flexible and space efficient vehicle. This means that a combination of an Auto-DollyTug and three trailers carries four ULDs or over 30% more than a traditional tug set-up of the same overall length. Auto-DollyTug incorporates robotic arms on the body, allowing the vehicle to autonomously load and unload a ULD itself.
Aurrigo CEO David Keene explains: “We are absolutely delighted to win this first deployment in Germany, following on from announcements we have made already in Singapore, USA, and the UK. This is an endorsement of our strategy to concentrate on aviation, a sector where there is a clear demand for autonomous, electric vehicles to reduce emissions, improve efficiency and allow for continued growth in volumes, despite a shortage of security cleared ground staff.”
The operational part of the project is for an initial four week period at the project test site in Stuttgart Airport, which is expected to start in March 2024. The German project follows on from successful testing at Changi Airport in Singapore with the Auto-DollyTug, which has been running since February 2022.