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World’s First Self-Driving Baggage Tractor Deployed at French Airport

The future of smart airports may still be a relatively distant dream, but at least we got a good preview of it with the Autonom Tract AT135, aka the world’s first self-driving baggage tractor.
Autonom Tract AT135, the world's first autonomous baggage airport tractor 3 photos
Photo: Air France
Autonom Tract AT135, the world's first autonomous baggage tractor used in real-life conditions at French airport
The first autonomous baggage tractor in the world to be tested in real working conditions was introduced at the Toulouse-Blagnac airport in France last month, and Air France, Charlatte Autonom and their partners can now tell the world about the excellent results they’ve been getting. You can see a video of the tractor in action at the bottom of the page.

The tractor is fitted with LiDAR sensors, cameras and GPS for accurate navigation and, when in autonomous mode (it can also be operated manually, if need be), it can drive itself from the baggage sorting area to the plane, carrying containers with luggage. Once at the plane, an airport worker unloads the containers and sends the tractor back to the loading area.

For every trip back and forth, human intervention is needed to input the destination of the tractor in a special touchpad.

According to Charlatte Autonom, the tractor can “see” obstacles and pedestrians, and made decisions. It only travels at a speed of 25 mph and is meant to help operators focus on other, more important tasks than ferrying baggage around. The AT135 is seen as a pioneer in the field, paving the way to the smart airport of the future, where human operators will be replaced by smart machines for this type of task.

Or, as the makers put it, “with the roll-out of smart, autonomous vehicles, air transport players aim to improve baggage flow performance and ramp safety at airport hubs. By automating traffic flows, operators can focus on decision-making and management actions, which saves time and efficiency when handling aircraft.”

Since Air France is one of the partners on the project, expect AT135 to pop up at other airports in the country pretty soon.

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About the author: Elena Gorgan
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Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends.
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