Currently twelve airports over Russia and in the Belarus capital use 121 aircrafts’ autoloaders with installed digital platforms developed with participation of the researchers from the St. Petersburg Federal Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences (SPC RAS). By estimates of the aviation economy experts, approximately one thousand of such machines can possibly be required to get all Russian Federation airports digitalized; a discussion on this industry development took place at the TASS press center in St. Petersburg.
Previously, the SPC RAS researchers have developed the first in Russia digital complex concerning the automation of the aircrafts’ loading and unloading processes, including food supplies, valuable cargo and people with limited mobility. The system is based on digital autolifts, a sort of regular trucks with a lifting body (autolift). Such a loader is equipped with a sensor system and an on-board computer. The system allows for automating the work of autolifts, increasing the speed, efficiency and securing their work.
"Currently, our industrial partners have implemented 121 units of digital autolifts at twelve airports in Russia and in Minsk. So far, this is not an industrial scale, but I think that such a domestic development will eventually be in demand at all airports in the country and beyond. On the one hand, this is a work on import substitution, and on the other - digital autolifts are critical elements in the maintenance of civil aviation aircraft, reduce delays in aircraft maintenance, prevent accidents and generally optimize the airfield operations, «said Andrey Ronzhin, director of SPC RAS.
He also added that the active digitalization of the airports can possibly start when the aviation industry will recover from the pandemic consequences, restores the passenger’s traffic. As Victor Gorbachev, General Director of the Airport Association of Civil Aviation, noted during the discussion, today it is possible to approximately forecast how many digital autolifts are needed to digitalize all airports in Russia.
"According to our estimates, such equipment will require about one thousand units to equip the airports in our country. Plus, the CIS countries will also go to this, and they also use and are interested in our domestic developments, «Victor Gorbachev said.
"He also said that, probably, at the first stage, the purchase of digital autolifts for airports can be costly. However, if their production reaches the industrial level, the price will go down and will be acceptable for the Russian market. At a press conference Mark Styskin, a member of the Airport Association of Civil Aviation, presented his calculations regarding the cost of equipping the autolifts with new technical means.
"At the moment, the introduction of a standard autolift unit leads to the cost increase, according to our estimates, of 15-20%. I think that with the growth of mass production, it will be possible to reach the current cost for autolifts without any intellectual component. In general, we are talking about standard budgets for airports’ re-equipment. Moreover, the legislative framework is now being tightened to digitalization, and international requirements are being introduced to ensure that airports implement some intelligent systems," Mark Styskin explained.
At the end of the event, Andrey Ronzhin also noted that the development of the digital complex for the airports continues at SPC RAS, and today scientists are ready to provide the consumers with the most promising models of digital autolifts not only in Russia, but also within the CIS countries. In addition, St. Petersburg researchers are exercising projects on digitalization for other sectors of economy.
"Now we do pilot and research projects in the field of railway transport, as well as in the field of shipbuilding. Moreover, our information and analytical platforms are being implemented in agriculture, urging the digitalization more than other industries. I am talking, in particular, about crop production, animal husbandry, dairy production, as well as fish farming," said the director of SPC RAS.
The TASS press conference can be available at the link: