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All Nippon Airways website recently featured the news about the autonomous project at Haneda Airport, conducted with Toyota Industries Corporation (TICO). T-Hive, as part of TICO, has played a leading role in developing the system behind the operations of the autonomous towing tractor.
Below is a summarized translation of the original article, published in Japanese.
“Operations of autonomous cargo towing tractor tested at Haneda Airport’s restricted area”
The objective of the test was to find out not only whether the vehicle could drive autonomously but also whether it could operate smoothly and safely in a shared environment with manned vehicles and aircraft.
The autonomous towing tractor, invented by TICO, has complex sensors that could gather localization information and detect obstacles, as well as maneuver the handle and break by itself.
The article interviewed Mori Makiko from ANA’s ground handling department, who was heavily involved in this project with TICO since the beginning.
Q: What was the path leading up to this recent test?
To prepare for the autonomous operation in 2025, we have since February 2019 started to run autonomous tests with a safety driver on the vehicle at international airports in Kyushu, Nagoya, and here in Haneda. First, we began with tests in environments where the traffic was not so busy. Then, we started running with remote instructions. Finally, after various technical verifications, we were able to complete this test with the vehicle completely unmanned.
Q: What was the result of this Haneda test?
The most important thing was that we were able to complete the tests without any accident. Among all domestic airports in Japan, Haneda has the busiest traffic, with very complex movements of vehicles. Here, the test was not simply to see whether the vehicle could run autonomously, but whether it could co-exist with other vehicles. We received very good cooperation from other operators during the test, and I would like to build the environment and design rules that will enable the autonomous vehicles and other operators to work together most smoothly by the time we introduce the autonomous tractor into real operation in 2025.
Q: What are you looking forward to after this test?
Ground handling at Japanese airports is accomplished with great cooperation by the front-end and back-end staff. This staff teamwork and good judgment are behind the reliable and smooth operations of the many flights at the airports. But while the demands for airports are increasing, we are struggling with staff shortages. If we could rely on machines to do what they can do, our human staff could focus on the more complicated tasks that require human intervention. In this way, I hope we can maintain the strength of our ground-handling work, and be able to operate for a high number of flights even with a small number of staff.
As we concluded the Haneda test, TICO and ANA will continue to improve the system with lessons learned from the tests, to prepare for the practical operations of this autonomous vehicle in the middle of 2025.