Business
Development collaboration and grant funding
Development collaboration and grant funding.
About this update from Aurrigo International Plc
[{"type":"text","content":"\n\n5 September 2023\n \nAurrigo International plc\n \nAuto-Cargo development programme and pilot with major global logistics carrier\n \n£482k UK Government grant to support pilot deployment of autonomous electric cargo vehicle at East Midlands Airport\nAurrigo International plc (AIM: AURR, the \"Company\" or \"Aurrigo\"), a leading international provider of transport technology solutions, announces a collaboration with one of the world's largest logistics companies, to develop Auto-Cargo, an autonomous electric vehicle designed to move heavy cargo loads to and from aircraft.\nThe project will receive £482,020 in grant funding from Innovate UK and the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV). The two companies will develop and pilot Auto-Cargo over a 14-month period from September 2023 at East Midlands Airport - the UK's second-largest cargo terminal. If successful, it will then move to real-world driverless cargo movement operations with in-service aircraft.\nAurrigo's Auto-Cargo, which has been developed in concept form, is based on the Company's autonomous electric baggage tractor called Auto-DollyTug®, which combines the capabilities of a baggage tractor, with the ability to also carry a standard Unit Load Device (ULD) baggage container.\nAuto-Cargo has been designed to transport a combination of different sized cargo containers such as a standard full-size cargo pallet or two half-size aviation industry standard ULDs, up to a total load of 7.5 tonnes and to tow a further fully loaded 7.5 tonne cargo trailer behind it. This unique capability halves the length of a conventional baggage tractor and two trailer combination which is currently the industry standard, as well as being fully electric and emissions-free. \nThe project aims to develop and deploy an electric vehicle which can not only improve air quality within the airport environment, but also bring operational efficiencies. The autonomous capability will enable the limited numbers of security-cleared cargo operators to have increased availability to perform higher level tasks with these vehicles and other roles around the airport.\nDavid Keene, CEO of Aurrigo, commented:\n\"This collaboration is an exciting opportunity for us to grow into the air freight space, where there is huge demand for automation and better operating e...