Self-driving snowploughs at airports may soon be the norm. 

On 19 March, self-driving snowploughs were presented for the first time when they were deployed at Fagernes Airport in Leirin, Norway. This project, which is known as Yeti and uses technology developed by Semcon, aims to increase efficiency and reduce delays at airports.

The snowploughs can clear an area of 357,500 square metres an hour, and they can do so in formation, several vehicles working together, and with the same precision no matter the weather.

“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,” explains John Emil Halden, Semcon Project Manager.