Aurrigo International, which employs over 100 people at its Advanced Engineering Centre on the outskirts of Coventry, rose above the competition from some of the biggest global names in the industry to win Air Cargo News’ Innovation Product of the Year.
Sponsored by Dubai-based Dnata, the accolade recognised the impact of the firm’s Auto-DollyTug, a zero emission, all-electric, autonomous vehicle that can efficiently move baggage and cargo around airports.
Judges, who ranged from James Wyatt (Aeroconcept) and Brendan Sullivan (IATA) to Alexandra Herdman of Logistics UK, praised the company for implementing one of the biggest changes in the aviation industry for nearly 40 years and a breakthrough that has the potential to deliver cost, efficiency and environmental improvements.
Miles Garner, Sales & Marketing Director, picked up the award at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London in front of 250 people.
“The last twelve months have seen us make strong progress as a key player in smart airside solutions, with our Auto-DollyTugs now operational in six airports and a world first when Changi agreed to bring in a fleet of our four autonomous baggage handling vehicles to pilot under wing operations.
“This prize is the real icing on the cake. The Air Cargo News Awards is one of the biggest competitions in the sector and for us to win against superb innovations from AEROTUF, Asia Airfreight Terminal and Dronamics is a fantastic feeling.”
He continued: “We’ll definitely take this accolade forward and use it as part of ongoing discussions with different airports keen to embrace our new autonomous technology.”
Auto-DollyTug is the result of extensive airside testing that has been fed into the latest model that utilises camera and LIDAR sensor technology and is powered by an all-electric powertrain.
Combining the utility of a baggage tractor and the unit load device (ULD) carrying capability of an airport dolly, it can carry one ULD on board while towing up to four ULDs in one go.
Other industry firsts include rotating in its own length using 360-degree tank turn capability and, using the groundbreaking sideways drive system, move directly sideways and slide into tight spaces in baggage halls and aircraft stands. This enables the swift delivery of a single ULD even when other GSE equipment is in place at the aircraft.
Maybe most impressive of all, Aurrigo’s auto-loading and release management system adds bi-directional robotic arms to the body to allow the vehicle to autonomously load and unload the ULD from itself. This provides the world’s first end-to-end autonomous solution.
Miles concluded: “These advancements will lead to a significant improvement in the utilisation of space in a baggage hall and the efficient movement of ULDs, which both equate to substantial cost savings, enhanced passenger flow and environmental wins across an airport. In some cases, we estimate that replacing a diesel tug with Auto-DollyTug could deliver a 60% ‘green’ benefit.”
