Mantis Starts Selling Autonomous Chairlifts And Secures Six New Installations

After a successful test phase, the Zurich start-up Mantis Ropeway Technologies has officially started selling its solution for autonomous chairlifts. The innovative, AI-controlled technology will be put into operation on six new systems this winter together with development partner Doppelmayr. Well-known operators rely on Mantis' pioneering technology.

Last year, Mantis received operating permits from the Swiss and Austrian authorities, enabling the official use of the AI-controlled software to control unmanned mountain stations. Now the market entry is in full swing. "With the first six systems sold, we have reached an important milestone," explains Carl Biagosch, co-founder of Mantis. "The collaboration with Doppelmayr/Garaventa and the use of our technology in their 'AURO' product group is already bearing fruit. We are convinced that our solution will help the cable car industry in the long term to improve passenger safety and deal with staff shortages."

The Mantis system can use cameras and intelligent software, together with a cable car retrofit, to take over control of the mountain station. This means that staff can be deployed elsewhere, while troubleshooting at the unmanned station can be carried out centrally from the valley station or a remote command center. "Although completely unmanned systems are not realistic at the moment, our technology helps operators to significantly optimize staff deployment," emphasizes Biagosch.

New facilities

In winter 2024/25, the following chairlifts will be put into operation with Mantis technology:

• Hublot Express in Zermatt (Switzerland)
• Marguns-Plateau Nair in St. Moritz (Switzerland)
• Tanzbödenbahn in St. Anton (Austria)
• Lumberjack Shuttle in Shuttleberg (Flachauwinkl/Kleinarl, Austria)
• Breiteckbahn in Schmittenhöhe/Zell am See (Austria)
• Tröglbahn in Nassfeld/Hermagor (Austria)

Growthand expansion

After the successful installations in Wildhaus and Silvretta Montafon during the test phase, Mantis is now expanding throughout the DACH region. Further international expansions are already being planned as Mantis is waiting for additional operating permits for other European countries. "Demand is also continuing to increase for the 2025/26 winter season," says Biagosch. The engineers at the ETH spin-off are also working on adapting the solution for even more chairlift types in order to make it accessible to a larger number of operators. The Doppelmayr Group only acquired an important patent in the USA in spring 2024. This means that nothing now stands in the way of entering the US cable car market.

Mantis is a Zurich-based start-up in the field of computer vision. Mantis develops AI-controlled camera systems that enable ski resorts to operate their chairlifts autonomously. Using cameras, the software automatically detects dangerous situations when boarding and disembarking cable cars and stops them if necessary. This is more cost-effective and reliable than human operating staff and mitigates the growing problem of staff shortages. Their goal is to introduce Mantis across the entire winter sports industry and make the operation of cable cars safer and more economical for ski resorts.