Industry triggers robot revolution

Taxibot, the pilot-controlled, semi-robotic towbarless tractor concept, made another significant step in its evolution at Inter Airport Europe in Munich in October with the signing of an exclusive risk-sharing agreement between Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and TLD Group for the development and manufacture of the Taxibot tractor.

Under the agreement, TLD Group will develop two new tow-tractors, one for handling narrow-body aircraft, the other for operations with wide-body aircraft.

The decision on which of the two tractors will be developed first has yet to be made. According to Antoine Maguin, Chief Operating Officer at TLD, the power required for the narrow-body version is similar to that used in the larger towbarless tractors that are currently available (approximately 500 kW).

In the development of the widebody model, although the benefits are significantly greater, the challenges are more difficult to overcome, since the 2 MW power required to tow the aircraft at up to 20 kt (40 km/h – the current taxiing speed) is up to four times greater.

It is expected that the final decision will be made by IAI in the coming weeks after both parties consider many parameters, including time-to-market, return on investment for Taxibot users, potential alternative solutions and airport constraints.