An autonomous world leader in aviation is set to deploy its technology into a live UK port for the first time after receiving up to £100,000 in funding.
Aurrigo International plc, which employs 120 people at its advanced engineering centre in Coventry, will trial its Auto-Shuttle® electric vehicle at Portsmouth International Port to prove driverless tech can operate safely and reliably in a live, mixed-traffic port environment.
Backed by the Connected Places Catapult’s Freight Innovation Fund, the exciting project will transport people, baggage and freight on a 1km journey portside.
These activities will generate evidence on reliability, journey times, interventions, energy use and integration, providing transferable learning for future freight operations and proving out a host of environmental, cost and operational savings.
Our autonomous vehicles are transforming the way airports are operating in six different countries across the world – now is the time to transfer this technology to the world of ports.
We secured an initial £10,000 Accelerator grant to provide a feasibility study for the project, working with our colleagues at Portsmouth to identify key pain points and how we were going to overcome them.
News that we have been chosen as one of the successful FIF projects to receive the full backing is fantastic and we’ll be up and running on site within the month.
Richard Fairchild, Chief Operations Officer at Aurrigo International
He continued: “The first phase will be empty runs to map out the area, ensuring every possible safety measure is taken. We’ll then move into peak period testing, loaded baggage runs, passenger transport and, finally, freight movement.”
Auto-Shuttle® is an electric powered autonomous transit vehicle, which has been fitted with more than 20 different LIDARs and sensors to help it navigate complex and shared paths/roads.
At the peak of testing, it will be configured to carry passengers or baggage from the cruise terminal to the ship to prove the utility of autonomous vehicles in the port, supporting busy cruise operations in the process.”
Chris Hatter, Head of Compliance at Portsmouth International Port, added his support:
“We have always positioned our port as an ‘innovation lab’, a place where we welcome new technologies that potentially could improve the way we operate and, importantly, enhance the passenger experience for the 1.6million people who arrive here every year.
“Working with Aurrigo, we are taking autonomous tech, proven at global airports, portside for the first time. Success will be building a shared knowledge of what works and what doesn’t and then how we can make improvements to deliver a fully operational solution.
“Portsmouth will provide a long-term learning ground for both parties and importantly give Aurrigo a ‘live’ environment to understand a new sector and unpack all the opportunities and challenges that come with it.”
Portsmouth International Port contributes £400m to the national economy and supports 5200 jobs across the UK.
It handles roughly 2.9m tonnes of goods, worth an estimated £7.5bn, every year and is home to both cruise ships and regular ferry/channel island routes.
Richard Fairchild concluded: “A live operational port is a very congested place with lots of additional complexities, including less predicate pedestrian behaviour, mixed public/staff traffic and fluctuating demand due to ferry turnarounds.
“This is an exciting challenge, which, if we get it right, could lead to deploying Auto-Shuttle® for passenger transport at ports all over the world, as well as potentially introducing our larger Auto-Cargo® vehicle for more freight focused ports.”
The Freight Innovation Fund is delivered by Connected Places Catapult on behalf of the Department for Transport.
Each SME selected for the Accelerator Programme receives up to £10,000 to develop a detailed trial proposal. The next phase sees up to eight of the bids selecting to deploy their solutions at a port or logistic hub, with further funding awarded of up to £100,000 each.
For further information, please visit www.aurigo.com/www.portsmouth-port.co.uk
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