Unless for some reason you have been on the front lines out on the ramp at Airport Authority Hong Kong, you are probably unaware of the silent revolution going on as this airport embraces autonomous self-driving vehicles.
     My memory does not go back far enough to recall when the subject of self-driving ramp vehicles was first whispered in the hallowed halls of aviation, and particularly the ground handling community, suffice to say it was a good number of years ago, but now we see Hong Kong, cutting past the discussions and moving fast into implementation.
     Stand pretty well anywhere on the airside of HKG and one will not have to wait long before along will come a blue painted driverless tractor, complete with flashing amber lights, pulling a dolly train loaded with pallets of cargo.      Unlike busses they don't all come along at once but go to any of the various dedicated parking spots where these vehicles hang out when not deployed and also of course autonomously re charge. One can relate to the scale of this development.
     And this is just the start, actually the airport already has autonomous security patrol vehicles and autonomous ramp busses, while the incredibly high-speed wireless system that covers the airport and its surrounds provides a platform for massive adoption of this technology.
Bob Rogers