Changi Airport Group partners with Aurrigo for the testing of an upgraded autonomous baggage handling vehicle, the latest iteration of the Auto-DollyTug®. This trial aims to assess its enhanced features and capabilities to improve ground handling operations.
Auto-DollyTug®
Changi Airport Group (CAG) and Aurrigo International plc (Aurrigo) have joined forces to conduct trials on the latest edition of their electric-powered autonomous vehicle, the Auto-DollyTug®, at Changi Airport.
This upgraded Auto-DollyTug® boasts new ground handling capabilities and increased maneuverability. The trial will involve subjecting the vehicle to various scenarios to evaluate its efficiency and speed in optimizing aircraft turnaround times.
Functioning as a combination of a baggage tractor and an airport dolly with unit load device (ULD) carrying capacity, the enhanced Auto-DollyTug® is designed to rotate within its own length. Employing a groundbreaking sideways drive system, it can move laterally and slide into confined spaces, facilitating the rapid delivery of a single ULD even in the presence of other ground support equipment at the aircraft.
A noteworthy industry first, the latest Auto-DollyTug® features Aurrigo’s auto-loading and release management system, equipped with bi-directional robotic arms integrated into the vehicle’s body. This innovation enables the autonomous loading and unloading of ULDs by the vehicle itself.
Professor David Keene, Chief Executive Officer at Aurrigo, explained:
“Auto-DollyTug® is the result of clean sheet of paper thinking, as we didn’t just want a modified conventional tractor that could tow some dollies to an area near the aircraft without a driver. Our technology can not only carry a ULD on its body, which maximises carrying capacity without increasing the length of the train, it can also autonomously transfer that ULD directly on to a JCPL or High Loader.”
He continued: “This level of capability has been made possible by designing a vehicle to be electric and autonomous from day one. We have never built a diesel-powered airport vehicle so we don’t have to work around the compromises of a legacy GSE vehicle product. This 3rd generation of the Auto-DollyTug® has been designed to incorporate the experience we have gained from the extensive airside testing already carried out with our 2nd generation vehicle at Changi Airport.”
Since February 2022, the initial iterations of Auto-DollyTug® have undergone testing at Singapore Changi Airport, as detailed in Annex 1. This testing period allowed Aurrigo to deploy its vehicles in an operational airside setting, pushing the boundaries of its technology in a hot and humid climate characterized by frequent extreme rain events, common occurrences in airside operations.
Ms Poh Li San, Senior Vice President, Terminal 5 Specialised Systems at Changi Airport Group, added her support: “Changi Airport is exploring the use of different vehicles across the airport, especially to automate airside operations.”
