Skip to main content

Semcon deploys autonomous snowploughs at Norwegian airport

Semcon has deployed 20 autonomous snowploughs to clear runways at Fagernes Airport in Leirin, Norway, which are said to clear an area of 357,500 square metres an hour. The machines, according to the company’s chief executive officer Markus Granlund, will allow airports all over the world to streamline activities and reduce delays for passengers. The project has been developed by Yeti Snow Technology and is co-owned by Semcon and Øveraasen, for airport operator Avinor. These systems are said to clear snow
March 26, 2018 Read time: 1 min

Semcon has deployed 20 autonomous snowploughs to clear runways at Fagernes Airport in Leirin, Norway, which are said to clear an area of 357,500 square metres an hour. The machines, according to the company’s chief executive officer Markus Granlund, will allow airports all over the world to streamline activities and reduce delays for passengers.

The project has been developed by Yeti Snow Technology and is co-owned by Semcon and Øveraasen, for airport operator Avinor. These systems are said to clear snow in formation with several vehicles working together.

John Emil Halden, Semcon’s project manager, said: “We have designed a control system that sets up digital patterns for autonomous snow clearance at airports. The system can then download these patterns and monitor a number of vehicles that navigate using RTK GPS, an accurate form of position measurement, and communicate using 4G modems.”

Related Content

  • Newcastle rush-hour traffic trials get the go-ahead
    February 15, 2013
    Traffic trials aimed at streamlining the rush-hour commute in the UK’s north-east have been given the green light. The project in Newcastle involves new satellite navigation technology which helps drivers adjust their speed so they can pass through a series of lights on green. The European project is being led by Newcastle University and Newcastle City Council, and aims to reduce city centre congestion and pollution associated with stop-start driving. Phil Blythe, Professor of Intelligent Transport Systems
  • Cubic promotes the power of partnerships
    August 22, 2016
    Cubic’s Andy Taylor considers the growing need for partnerships in the transportation sector. At the end of June, The Guardian newspaper in the UK broke a game-changing transport story – Sidewalk Labs, a secretive subsidiary of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, is working on a project that aims to radically overhaul parking and transportation in American cities.
  • Cold efficiency
    July 24, 2012
    Tools to support operational decisions in winter maintenance can remove subjectivity and increase efficiency; Vaisala's Danny Johns talks about latest developments Even the presence of trees at the roadside can have an effect on temperature An effective Road Weather Information System (RWIS) network can save a local road authority or jurisdiction tens of thousands of dollars or Euros'-worth of labour and consumables in a single night. Get those winter maintenance operations right over just three or four nig
  • Sidewalk Toronto decision delayed to June
    April 27, 2020
    Covid crisis pushes back a decision on Toronto waterfront smart city plan