Robot to help flyers check in at airports
Prototype may also be deployed at Indian airport
Brussels: Spending hours in a long queue at an airport could soon be passe as researchers have designed a new check-in robot that will walk to passengers to assist them, a “wonderful” innovation that may also be deployed at an Indian airport.
The robotic kiosk KATE, which can work autonomously as well as part of a team of several robots, has been developed by the research arm of air transport IT provider SITA.
The intelligent check-in kiosk can identify crowded parts of an airport with the help of flight and passenger flow information and move in that direction to assist struggling passengers to locate check-in counters.
Out of the three prototypes developed, one is likely to be deployed at an Indian airport to be tested in real situations for range, safety and remote operations, according to SITA’s head for India and the subcontinent.
“A kiosk attending a big crowd of passengers can tell another kiosk that I am busy, come help me,” Renaud Irminger, Director, SITA Lab said at the Air Transport IT Summit held in Brussels last week.
SITA is a multinational information technology company providing IT and telecommunication services to the air transport industry. The company provides its services to over 430 members and 2,800 customers worldwide which is around 90 per cent of the world’s airline business.
They will be able to identify crowded areas in three ways — through its own intelligence, pre-programming and through remote control, Irminger said.
The cutting-edge robotic kiosk makes use of geolocation technology to find its way through the airport. It also deploys obstacle avoidance technology to avoid bumping into people or things.
KATE uses Wi-Fi to connect to vital airline and airport systems, doing away with the need for wiring.