There’s a new crew member at Toronto Pearson International Airport dedicated to securing the runways at Canada’s busiest travel hub.
On Tuesday, officials with the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) showcased the new airfield inspection vehicle, which they said is the first-of-its-kind.
"Toronto Pearson is proud to be a leader when it comes to investing in technology that will enhance the efficiency of our operations," Brian Tossan, GTAA’s chief technology officer said in a news release.
The GTAA said the electric vehicle is able to autonomously detect safety or security issues on runways, taxiways and security fences and report them to back to airport staff as they arise.
"Airports are constantly under pressure to ensure the safety of passengers, airplanes and operations, and we are always working with industry-leading partners to make sure we're investing in a safe and efficient airport for everyone,” Tossan said.
While the robot is only in its proof-of-concept stage, meaning there’s no date set for its official deployment, video released by the GTAA showed the vehicle scanning a security fence and identifying objects as it passed.
It's expected that the additional testing and regulatory review required to implement the concept will be complete by 2025, the GTAA said.
The robot, which can also be controlled remotely, is a collaboration between the airport and Honda, Illuminex AI, Genwave Technologies, Cisco and Eagle Aerospace.
Tuesday’s display is just the latest in a series of Artificial Intelligence (AI) enhancements Toronto Pearson has made in recent years.
In March, the GTAA announced it had partnered with Swiss aviation software company Assaia to deploy its ApronAI technology, which tracks aircraft turnaround performance to identify and correct inefficiencies at the gate.
Before that, in 2022, the airport announced it was testing a new AI-based security portal to automatically detect weapons as well as another program that carries out runway inspections using drones.
