During a visit to Paderborn-Lippstadt Airport, North Rhine-Westphalia's Transport Minister Oliver Krischer learned about current decarbonisation measures and planned innovations. Since the restart after the coronavirus pandemic, numerous projects and initiatives have emerged that serve as role models. These include "FastGate" and "AEM-Speedport", in which Paderborn University is involved. Prof. Dr. René Fahr, Vice-President for Transfer and Sustainability at Paderborn University, presented the "Innovation Airport PAD" initiative to the Minister of Transport.
Krischer described the important role of regional airports using the example of Paderborn/Lippstadt: "The airport shows how innovation, climate protection and regional mobility can be thought of together. It is the East Westphalia-Lippe region's real-life laboratory for sustainable mobility and a good example of how the future of aviation can be driven forward regionally." With the involvement of the regional research community, in particular Paderborn University and Fraunhofer IEM, the main focus is on exemplary, innovative applications that could also be used at other locations.
Two of the first innovation projects are an automated passenger boarding bridge ("FastGate") and the automated manoeuvring of aircraft on the apron ("AEM Speedport"). In "FastGate", Paderborn-Lippstadt Airport was used as a real-life laboratory to realise an automated passenger boarding bridge that allows airports to compensate for skilled personnel who are difficult to find. The project partners have implemented a programmable logic controller (PLC) and a robot that can operate the bridge on the basis of a robust and intelligent sensor network. It controls the aircraft doors of passenger planes, for example. The "AEM Speedport" project focuses on the autonomous manoeuvring of aircraft using state-of-the-art sensor technology and AI-supported processes. Paderborn University is involved in the field of technology acceptance. The scientists complement the engineering view of technical functionality in development with the expectations, requirements and fears of the relevant stakeholders regarding autonomous technologies at an early stage.
This text was translated automatically.
