Fully automated towing of aircraft could emerge as a spin-off of an Israel Aerospace Industries concept for pilot-controlled towing tractors, initial testing of which has just been completed.
The IAI concept, known as Taxibot, is intended to avoid the need for aircraft to start their engines for taxiing to and from the airport gate.
Three months of tests in co-operation with Airbus, using a towbarless tractor and an A340-600, ended on 4 June. If analysis of the results proves positive, Airbus says, a joint venture with IAI - and probably a tractor-manufacturing partner - could be formed to produce and sell the Taxibot to handling companies and airlines.
While the baseline version would be a "steer-by-wire" operation, with direction and braking controlled by the aircraft pilot, Airbus says that a fully automated variant - which would be supervised from the cockpit - is "also being considered". This would combine an approved database of airport layouts with a navigation and guidance system.
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Certification of the initial Taxibot concept is expected in the second half of 2012. The system includes a specialised mechanical interface with the nose-gear, a vehicle-drive system, and an electronics control system to manage towing under pilot control.
Airbus says that the potential joint venture would produce a tractor for narrowbody aircraft and a separate vehicle tailored to widebodies. It points out, however, that the Taxibot would be compatible with all aircraft types with no major modification required.
Although the aircraft engines would not need to run until the aircraft reached the runway, the auxiliary power unit would have to be engaged to provide internal cabin power.
Airbus is assessing the Taxibot as part of a memorandum of understanding concluded with IAI last year. "A subsequent phase, if approved, would involve the design and evaluation of an operationally-representative prototype," it says.
Source: Flight Daily News
