Driverless snowploughs planned for airports

Autonomous snowploughs will allow airports world-wide to reduce delays by streamlining their snow clearing.

Self-driving snowploughs 20 metres long and 5.5 metres wide were used for the first time on March 19 at Fagernes Airport in Leirin, Norway, 200 kilometres north of Oslo.

In a project developed by Yeti Snow Technology, co-owned by Semcon and Øveraasen, for Norwegian airport operator Avinor, the snowploughs can clear 357,500 square metres in an hour.

The AVs can also clear snow in formation and with the same precision no matter the weather.

Runways must be completely clear of snow if flights are able to depart and land on time. Currently, airports always need to be prepared and have staff on standby who can clear snow when needed. Problems with snow also result in many delays and stranded passengers every year.

“This is a good example of how autonomous vehicles can increase profitability and add value for people,” Semcon chief executive officer Markus Granlund says.

Semcon project manager John Emil Halden says the company has designed a control system that sets up digital patterns for autonomous snow clearance at airports. The system can then download these patterns and monitor a number of vehicles that navigate using RTK GPS, an accurate form of position measurement, and communicate using 4G modems.