Aurrigo International plc is set to deploy its technology into a live UK port for the first time after receiving up to USD$133,000 (£100,000) in funding. The company will trial its Auto-Shuttle electric vehicle at Portsmouth International Port to prove driverless tech can operate safely and reliably in a live, mixed-traffic port environment.
Backed by the Connected Places Catapult's Freight Innovation Fund, the project will transport people, baggage and freight on a 1km journey portside. These activities will generate evidence on reliability, journey times, interventions, energy use and integration, providing transferable learning for future freight operations and proving out a host of environmental, cost and operational savings.
Auto-Shuttle is an electric powered autonomous transit vehicle, which has been fitted with more than 20 different LIDARs and sensors to help it navigate complex and shared paths/roads.
Portsmouth International Port contributes USD$534 million (£400m) to the national economy and supports 5200 jobs across the UK. It handles roughly 2.9m tonnes of goods, worth an estimated USD$10 billion (£7.5bn), every year and is home to both cruise ships and regular ferry/channel island routes.
The Freight Innovation Fund is delivered by Connected Places Catapult on behalf of the Department for Transport. Each SME selected for the Accelerator Programme receives up to USD$133,000 (£10,000) to develop a detailed trial proposal. The next phase sees up to eight of the bids selecting to deploy their solutions at a port or logistic hub, with further funding awarded of up to USD$133,000 (£10,000) each.