Vancouver airport launches self-driving mobility robots
Posted July 25, 2024 4:27 pm.
Last Updated July 25, 2024 9:06 pm.
People with mobility needs will soon have a new way to get around the Vancouver International Airport.
YVR has partnered with a Vancouver-based “electric micro-mobility” company, A&K Robotics, to pilot self-driving robotic pods that can move one person at a time.
A&K Robotics co-founder Jessica Yip told press Thursday that the robots were made to help passengers who need assistance when travelling.
“The pods, as we like to call them, are designed to help people with limited mobility to independently navigate large spaces like airports,” said Yip.
The airport says the move will make its vast floorplan more accessible, adding its international terminal, for instance, is “approximately 650 metres from the security screening checkpoint to the last boarding gate.”
YVR CEO Tamara Vrooman says the pods are about more than just mobility.
“We think innovations like this will promote dignity and will promote access and efficiency for people in our community to be able to travel,” said Vrooman
“This technology was jointly developed … to really test the opportunity to have passengers with mobility challenges move independently throughout our terminal.”
The AI-enabled robot was designed with built in sensors that tell the robot when to slow down, stop, or adjust positions to whatever is going on in the surrounding area.
“It takes in all this information from the sensors and uses that information in order to make smart driving decisions,” said Yip.
The federal government, in partnership with the province of B.C., has reportedly provided $10 million for the project.
10 pods will be launching at YVR over the next several months.
—With files from David Nadalini.
