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Saturday, Feb 08, 2025
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Unmanned vehicle introduced to patrol Hong Kong airport in world's first
In a world's first, the Airport Authority has introduced four unmanned vehicles to patrol the airport restricted area.
Two have already started operation in September and are patrolling the South Runway to prevent trespassers in the restricted area.
Another two will be put into service in December to patrol North Perimeter Road in Chek Lap Kok.
Once the car detects someone within three meters of the fence, a warning will be issued and the footage will be sent to the control room immediately. In addition, when it detects any physical obstructions within 10 meters, it will stop and notify nearby patrol car drivers to remove it.
Steven Yiu Siu-chung, the airport's deputy director of service delivery, said that the patrol cars can save a lot of manpower as they can pass by the same location every five minutes and work for 16 hours on a single charge. They can also withstand wind speeds of 180 kilometers per hour.
In 2018, the AA introduced the driverless system and has since invested HK$50 million to develop the vehicles.
It brought in a driverless baggage trailer in 2019, and there are currently eight of them in operation.
Yiu said that after the completion of the three-runway system, the distance from the cargo building to the apron was 7 km and took 40 minutes, but there was only one towing in operation in this area which consumes a lot of manpower.
With the increasing of cargo frequency, he expected the airport to purchase 70 new cargo towings for the system and put them in service in the second quarter of this year, with each capable of carrying 35 tonnes of cargo.
"The towing does not completely replace manpower because the procedure of sending cargo to the plane still needs human assistance," Yiu said.
He added that another plan for the future is driverless buses, of which two are being modified at present and are expected to be put into use next year. Their main purpose will be carrying staff to and from the passenger terminal and the restricted area.
He expected the service to be opened to passengers after the buses finished development, and hopes that it will operate between SkyCity and Hong Kong port in 2024, as well as extend the service to Tung Chung in 2028.
Another two will be put into service in December to patrol North Perimeter Road in Chek Lap Kok.
Once the car detects someone within three meters of the fence, a warning will be issued and the footage will be sent to the control room immediately. In addition, when it detects any physical obstructions within 10 meters, it will stop and notify nearby patrol car drivers to remove it.
Steven Yiu Siu-chung, the airport's deputy director of service delivery, said that the patrol cars can save a lot of manpower as they can pass by the same location every five minutes and work for 16 hours on a single charge. They can also withstand wind speeds of 180 kilometers per hour.
In 2018, the AA introduced the driverless system and has since invested HK$50 million to develop the vehicles.
It brought in a driverless baggage trailer in 2019, and there are currently eight of them in operation.
Yiu said that after the completion of the three-runway system, the distance from the cargo building to the apron was 7 km and took 40 minutes, but there was only one towing in operation in this area which consumes a lot of manpower.
With the increasing of cargo frequency, he expected the airport to purchase 70 new cargo towings for the system and put them in service in the second quarter of this year, with each capable of carrying 35 tonnes of cargo.
"The towing does not completely replace manpower because the procedure of sending cargo to the plane still needs human assistance," Yiu said.
He added that another plan for the future is driverless buses, of which two are being modified at present and are expected to be put into use next year. Their main purpose will be carrying staff to and from the passenger terminal and the restricted area.
He expected the service to be opened to passengers after the buses finished development, and hopes that it will operate between SkyCity and Hong Kong port in 2024, as well as extend the service to Tung Chung in 2028.
