Geneva Airport is trialing a baggage robot to help passengers with their bag drop.
Called Leo, the robot from Sita, is fully autonomous and self-propelling and has the capacity to check in, print bag tags and transport up to two suitcases with a maximum weight of 32 kg. It is capable of avoiding obstacles can navigate in high-traffic environments such as airports.
It is effectively a self-service bag drop on wheels. The smart bit is where the robot then takes the dropped bag to the baggage handling area.
Geneva Airport introduced self bag drop from Dutch company Type22 in 2013. Type22 has since been bought by Geneva based Sita.
How it works
- passengers touch the bag drop interface to open the baggage compartment doors
- they place their bags inside
- passengers scan their boarding passes
- tags are printed
- the passengers attach the tags to the bags
- with the bags loaded and tagged, the compartment door closes
- Leo displays the boarding gate and departure time
Leo then takes the bags directly to the baggage handling area where they are sorted and connected to the correct flight. The doors of the robot can only be reopened by the operator unloading the baggage in the airport.
Dave Bakker, president Europe at Sita:
“Through the innovative work of the SITA Lab we are able to tackle some of the key challenges that face airports today. Leo demonstrates that robotics hold the key to more effective, secure and smarter baggage handling and is major step towards further automating bag handling in airports. Leo also provides some insight into the potential use of robots across the passenger journey in future.”
Massimo Gentile, head of IT at Genève Aéroport:
“In a busy airport such as Geneva Airport, the use of a robot such as Leo limits the number of bags in the airport terminal, helping us accommodate a growing number of passengers without compromising the airport experience inside the terminal. Leo also proves the case for increased use of robotics to make passengers’ journey a little more comfortable, whether it is checking in baggage, providing directions or helping them through the security process.”
N.B. Image credit: SITA
