RoboCar Tractor 25T commercializes level 4 Transport at Haneda Airport
AiRo Corporation, a joint venture between ROBO-HI Corporation and Marubeni Corporation, with the cooperation of Japan Airlines Co.,Ltd (JAL), is pleased to announce the start of commercial operation of Level 4 autonomous cargo transport in the restricted area of Tokyo International Airport (Haneda Airport), the first in Japan, using the “RoboCar® Tractor 25T” autonomous towing tractor developed by ROBO-HI.
Background and Overview of Commercialization
As resolving labor shortages and improving efficiency in airport operations become urgent issues, AiRO, with the cooperation of JAL, has commercialized the “RoboCar Tractor 25T”, an autonomous towing tractor optimized for unmanned autonomous driving in the highly safe airport environment.
The RoboCar Tractor 25T is equipped with “IZAC,” a highly reliable autonomous driving system based on ROBO-HI’s (formerly ZMP) long track record in developing autonomous driving vehicles and autonomous robots for public roads. This vehicle is based on an EV towing vehicle manufactured by airport ground support equipment (GSE) manufacturer WEIHAI GUANGTAI AIRPORT EQUIPMENT CO., LTD. and achieves fully autonomous* Level 4 unmanned autonomous driving. By linking with the multi-vendor robot platform “ROBO-HI® OS” provided by ROBO-HI, the vehicle performs traffic control in conjunction with the airport’s camera system. The vehicle has undergone repeated driving tests with JAL’s cooperation and, after review by the Civil Aviation Bureau of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, has made unmanned autonomous driving (Level 4) possible in the airport restricted area.
Autonomous driving includes two types: one that depends on infrastructure (magnetic nails, electric wires, symbols, etc., embedded in the road), and the fully autonomous driving type, which requires no road work and drives solely with sensors mounted on the vehicle.
Future Development
RoboCar Tractor 25T does not require infrastructure work, it can reduce the time and cost involved in adding or changing routes. Using the ROBO-HI OS, one remote operator can manage up to 10 mobilities, and different manufacturers’ autonomous and conventional manually operated mobilities can be integrated for safe management. This allows the system to be utilized as a management platform for various mobilities, contributing to the overall efficiency improvement of future mobility operations at the airport.
ROBO-HI and AiRO will further promote autonomous driving solutions based on this commercialization case and strongly push forward with DX and automation at airports. ROBO-HI will actively expand into large-scale in-house logistics fields such as factories and warehouses, contributing to the realization of automation and efficiency for society as a whole.
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