Autonomous Aircraft Tow Vehicle With Coordinated Ground Service Operations

Abstract

A system for autonomous aircraft towing includes a tow vehicle with a turntable lifting unit configured to engage an aircraft's nose landing gear, a sensor system, and a controller. The controller receives real-time communications over a dedicated network from tow vehicles, ground service vehicles, control towers, centralized workstations, or stationary sensors, autonomously generates control commands based on received communications, controls the turntable lifting unit to capture and lift the nose landing gear, and maneuvers the tow vehicle to tow the aircraft. A method for autonomous aircraft towing includes engaging an aircraft's nose landing gear with a turntable lifting unit, receiving real-time communications over a dedicated network, autonomously generating control commands, controlling the turntable lifting unit, and maneuvering the tow vehicle.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.