A firm specialising in autonomous transportation tech has secured more than £1 million of grants to accelerate airport and transport projects.
Aurrigo International, which employs over 110 people at its engineering centre in Coventry, has secured four separate grants to support its work in simulation, feasibility studies and real-world vehicle trials.
The company works with airports around the world to supply vehicles which can move luggage around terminal buildings autonomously.
This latest quartet of projects will take place in the West Midlands, at East Midlands Airport and on The Orkney Islands, involving collaboration with British Airways owner IAG, Highlands and Islands Transport Partnership and consultancy Urban Foresight.
Among the grants is just under £100,000 for a 12-month project to develop an outline business case for an airside baggage operation which is being created in Coventry.
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This project is aiming to enhance Aurrigo International's 'Auto-Sim' platform by integrating virtual reality technology into baggage handling simulations.
It will allow customers to train staff and plan operations within detailed 3D airport environments that include weather dynamics, aircraft and ground support equipment.
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The majority of the grant funding, almost £700,000, will be used to extend the ongoing 'Autonomous Cargo' programme by deploying autonomous units and a shuttle vehicle at East Midlands Airport.
The objective is to refine a multi-vehicle fleet for airside logistics enabling simultaneous cargo and aircrew transport.
The other work will see the money spent on removing the need to have a user onboard baggage handling vehicles so they can be operated 100 per cent autonomously.
Finally, the 'Kirkwall AutoLink' initiative explores the feasibility of deploying a connected and autonomous, zero-emission shuttle service between Kirkwall Harbour and Kirkwall Airport in Orkney.
David Keene, chief executive of Aurrigo International, said: "These awards reflect our commitment to building the next generation of intelligent, sustainable and scalable transport systems that operate in both urban and airside operations.
"From immersive VR for airside training to real-world autonomous vehicle deployments and rural mobility innovation, we're proud to be working with exceptional partners across the 海角视频 to bring transformative change to both aviation and ground transport.
"This funding helps us to accelerate and, importantly, prove technologies in the real world, speeding up adoption and ensuring the 海角视频 continues to lead the world when it comes to autonomous vehicle deployment."
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The grant funding has come from Innovate 海角视频's Launchpad programme and The Connected and Automated Mobility Pathfinder - Enhancements.
The latter is funded by the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles which is a joint unit between the Department for Business and Trade and the Department for Transport.
It is delivered in partnership with Innovate 海角视频 and Zenzic.