Doppelmayr Relies On Artificial Intelligence In Lifts

Cable cars operated with AI are no longer a dream of the future. Doppelmayr is leading the way in Austria and Switzerland.

The next ski season is just around the corner. In order to make local slopes even more attractive for winter sports enthusiasts, significant investments were made this year. In Styria alone, the investment volume for the slope infrastructure amounts to over 55 million euros. A lot of money is also being invested in future technologies, as can be seen in the example of the Vorarlberg cable car manufacturer Doppelmayr. He has been working on the use of artificial intelligence for five years and brought the autonomous operating concept AURO (Autonomous Ropeway Operations) onto the market in 2020.

Jari Höck from Doppelmayr explains what this is all about: “AURO is an operating mode that makes it possible to operate cable cars without people. It consists of many subsystems that are developed and controlled using AI. In order to intervene in the event of an incident, an employee observes what is happening from an operating center.”

Two AURO systems have already been successfully used: the autonomous Kumme gondola lifts in the Swiss ski area of ​​Zermatt and the Valisera lift in the Montafon ski area. Two chairlifts have also been in operation since the last winter season. “The AI ​​is used here in the form of intelligent image recognition in the exit area. A camera observes what is happening. If it detects irregularities, this is made visible in the operating center with AURO and the employee can intervene,” explains Höck.

Cost savings and increased security

AURO is integrated into Doppelmayr's cable car control system. Existing chairlifts can therefore also be retrofitted with AURO. The compatibility goes so far that different cable car systems in a ski area can be monitored simultaneously from one control center.

Höck is convinced that this has some positive effects: “Personnel can be deployed much more efficiently and safety is also increased because the system learns from different situations and constantly improves.” This pays off: “Every system that works with AURO “It will pay for itself after a certain amount of time,” promises Höck. Additional autonomous gondola lifts are scheduled to go into operation this winter in Vorarlberg, Tyrol and Salzburg.