Most people have found themselves overwhelmed by work at one time or another. In those cases, a partner or a team of co-workers can drastically reduce the workload and free up an individual to focus on the most critical tasks at hand.
Zing Robotics is applying that concept as it designs autonomous ground support equipment (GSE).
Brent Shedd, CEO at Zing Robotics, recently joined Josh Smith on the AviationPros Podcast to explain his company’s vision.
Shedd notes that at an airport, the stakes are high as GSE is operated around multimillion dollar aircraft and in close proximity of ground personnel.
“The margin for error is very thin. So, in environments where rules and regulations are necessary, those are environments where we, as humans, just don’t tend to perform extremely well,” Shedd said. “We’re free spirits. We do unpredictable things, and we don’t always understand why we do unpredictable things.”
Conversely, robots can be programmed to operate a specific way and to carry out tasks without distraction.
“So, by handing those tasks off to the robots, to do the things that the robots do better than we do, it frees us up as workers on the tarmac to focus on the higher level operations, and being able to do our jobs better,” Shedd said.
He added officials at Zing Robotics view autonomy as a force multiplier.
“It’s going to make the humans’ work environment better. It’s going to allow the humans to operate at a higher level of execution for the airline or for the airport. And it’s going to just make the entire experience for the humans better,” Shedd said.
“But to do that, we’ve got to design these robots as co-workers – not robot overlords.”
Zing Robotics is also working to eliminate the amount of equipment on the ramp. The company’s eGSE platform can be configured to carry out multiple functions.
“For instance, a GPU configuration where the vehicle, itself has the power onboard to act as a ground power unit for a 747 or for whatever kind of aircraft you have – that vehicle can also act as a baggage or cargo tug. It can also act as a bobtail. It can also act as a pushback. It can also act as a FOD detection and clearance [vehicle].
“It’s an exhaustive list, but the point I’m trying to get across is this is an inflection point on the tarmac where we’re no longer talking about mission-specific vehicles,” Shedd said.
To learn more about autonomous technology, how it can benefit ground handling operations and Zing Robotics’ design, listen to the entire podcast at https://www.aviationpros.com/21225421.
