ROBOTIC tractors could one day be used to tow aircraft between the airport gate and the edge of the runway. This could save airlines $7 billion a year in fuel costs and cut 18 million tonnes of carbon dioxide from aviation’s annual emissions.
Jet engines run at their most inefficient when used to propel planes around the taxiways. To get around this problem, the European aircraft manufacturer Airbus and the military robot maker Israel Aerospace Industries are working together to create a “taxibot” that docks with an aircraft’s nose landing gear to tow the plane.
Pilots would guide the taxibot…
