System and method for passenger information, organization, guidance, boarding and accommodation on an aircraft

Abstract

The invention relates to a method, characterized by one or more waves of passengers (P), the size of which corresponds to the number of passengers (P) in the process of being accommodated who can stand simultaneously in the aisle (C) of an aircraft (A). The invention also relates to a system and a device capable of implementing the method according to the invention, as well as a related computer program.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the fields of data and information processing, planning, organization and allocation of resources, and personnel transportation logistics. Background Art

[0002] introduce

[0003] The invention relates to a method and a system for optimizing resources by sorting and directing passengers in sequential waves formed by groups of passengers. Each wave is parameterized according to the mode of transport, the number of passengers and aisles and their available seats, in particular according to the occupation of the aisle space by each wave of passengers in the direction opposite to the boarding direction, while the passengers are still in the process of settling (standing and / or storing luggage and / or hand luggage and / or getting up again to settle another passenger, etc.).

[0004] The invention also relates to a device and a corresponding computer program. Background of the Invention

[0006] The unwavering commitment generated by the need to simultaneously improve efficiency, profitability and passenger satisfaction has resulted in airlines being under increasing pressure to optimize time, especially when it comes to reducing turnaround times.

[0007] Although the boarding phase is only one component of a larger and more complex aviation process, it is one of the most critical and costly events. A substantial reduction in boarding time will reduce aircraft turnaround times and physical traffic at airports, which in turn will reduce logistics and operating costs, reduce labor requirements, improve the use of ground equipment, and reduce pollutant emissions.

[0008] Therefore, adopting an optimized boarding strategy is not only beneficial to airlines, but also to the environment, airport operators, and serves as a measure of passenger comfort and loyalty, as the boarding process directly and greatly affects passengers’ perception of the quality of the service provided.

[0009] In recent years, the focus on technology and logistical solutions to help shorten boarding times and, in general, reduce aircraft turnaround times has challenged technicians and engineers around the world.

[0010] Current state of the art

[0011] Several solutions for route organization, orientation and guiding individuals in or from a route following predetermined rules are known from the prior art, such as the solution disclosed in US patent document #US20060206353A1, which describes a method and system for intelligent route management, which uses a virtual destination locator to guide any route member with a pre-assigned final destination assignment. The guidance arranges the route members into a sequence and then guides them to the final destination by moving the virtual destination positions according to the sequence.

[0012] The method of US20060206353A1 generally relates to the management of route members entering through a gate, including the steps of identifying a plurality of route members, each of which has an assigned final destination; mapping each final destination to a virtual destination location; and directing each route member toward the corresponding final destination by the step of determining the order in which the route members should pass through the gate, using the virtual destination location, so that other route members in the sequence are not delayed as each route member moves to its respective final destination. The boarding order is determined by managing the row distance of rows that are farther from the gate (row n) that have not been occupied by passengers relative to rows that are closer to the gate (row m), that is, always following the "back to front" occupancy factor, and grouping the rows from the farther row (n-1) to the closer row (m-1) until all seats are occupied.

[0013] It should be noted that the solution proposed in US20060206353A1 has some disadvantages. Although the system continuously updates the instructions issued to passengers, the system update depends on the specific instructions of the airline ground check-in personnel manually or through the boarding card reader to update the boarding conditions. Because the system will not call the next group to board until the ground check-in agent (or device) reports that a particular group has been fully boarded, this may slow down the flow.

[0014] The use of abbreviations such as P, E, PBP and NS projected on the boarding plane and visible to passengers may not only be indistinguishable or uninteresting to passengers, but may also further confuse them as everyone focuses on their own boarding status and ultimately lead to a lack of judgment and, therefore, boarding delays.

[0015] Furthermore, as mentioned above, the update sequence always considers sequential row groups, which leaves no room for safety and comfort when boarding. Considering the example of US20060206353A1, where the aircraft has rows from "m" to "n", the system and method first instructs passengers to board from the farther row "n", such as row 30, to the closer row "m", such as row 26, thereby starting boarding from a group of rows, row 30 ("n") to row 26 ("m"). After boarding from the farthest row n or 30, the boarding agent (or device) activates the update. After the update, the system calls passengers from row "n-1" to row "m-1" or calls passengers from row 29 to row 25, and after row 29 is boarded and further updated by the boarding agent, the system calls passengers from row 28 to row 24, and so on. This solution only considers the passengers at or near the entrance of the aircraft, but does not consider the settling of passengers in the airport boarding area and already on board, and therefore cannot solve the problem of the space occupied by passengers standing in the aisle and / or storing luggage or personal belongings and / or standing again to accommodate another passenger.

[0016] Furthermore, although it is mentioned that the boarding plan is projected on the board, US20060206353 A1 does not mention or suggest how the projection is done, especially how to update the projection behavior when the passenger does not move or moves or moves unexpectedly.

[0017] Another boarding classification solution that repeats the above-mentioned passenger crowding and discomfort problems is disclosed in German patent document DE102009058848 A1, which discloses and describes a device for preparing passengers for boarding into an aircraft, discloses a barrier-like device for guiding and instructing passengers in the waiting room according to the boarding order, and provides but does not specify projections on the ground, walls, ceiling, etc.

[0018] Patent WO201622209 A1 describes a method and apparatus for boarding an aircraft, using a ground projection of the aircraft seat configuration to allow each passenger to occupy their position in the departure lounge, and then maintain classification for boarding from back to front and from window to aisle. The solution disclosed in WO201622209 A1 does not care about the spatial conditions of boarding passengers, except that it requires considerable space in the departure area of ​​the airport. It relies on specific commands to indicate / start boarding, and does not explain how to update the boarding conditions.

[0019] Similar boarding classification conditions and subsequent similar disadvantages are found in the solution disclosed in Chinese patent document CN104386261 B, which, unlike the above-mentioned document, uses a mat or treadmill that requires actual operation by ground staff, the disadvantages of which do not need further detailed description.

[0020] Finally, it is also worth mentioning the methods currently adopted by airlines, from standard single-row or multi-row boarding to group or class boarding. The first type requires no further comment, as it shows the obvious shortcomings of the traditional boarding methods. On the other hand, group boarding or class boarding, for example, first with window seat passengers, then with middle seat passengers, and finally with aisle seat passengers, as well as boarding by subdividing the aircraft into two sections, where boarding starts with passengers belonging to the rear and then those in the front, also fails to eliminate passenger congestion and long waiting times, taking into account standing and sitting, as well as ground time spent inside the aircraft.

[0021] It should be noted that any relevant state-of-the-art approach does not allow passengers in a boarding situation to simultaneously (i) know or understand the timing of their entry into the aircraft, (ii) have flexibility and adequate physical space to move when entering and exiting the aircraft; and (iii) not be delayed in boarding and be able to reach their location (and then their seat) prior to boarding the aircraft.

[0022] Finally, it is necessary to highlight that none of the solutions obtained from the current state of technology described above are intuitive enough to make passenger boarding a simpler task, improve the user experience with airlines, and provide relief to crew and boarding agents on the ground.

[0023] From the foregoing description, it can be inferred that there is room for methods and systems that overcome the deficiencies of the prior art and aim to optimize resources by improving the classification and guidance of passengers boarding. Summary of the invention

[0024] Therefore, one of the objects of the present invention is to provide a method and system that can overcome the shortcomings of the prior art and at the same time is a simple, cost-effective solution that is more intuitive for users and operators, easy to install, flexible and adaptive, avoids conflicts with existing airport infrastructure, thereby reducing passenger waiting time, facilitating the classification and guidance of passengers and subsequent boarding, and in particular reducing aircraft turnaround time.

[0025] Another object of the present invention is to provide a device, which includes the system provided by the present invention and can execute the method provided by the present invention.

[0026] Finally, another object of the invention is to provide a corresponding computer program. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027] In order to better understand and visualize the purpose of the present invention, it will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The technical effects obtained are presented by exemplary embodiments, which do not limit the scope of the present invention, wherein schematically (arrows indicate the direction and orientation of passenger movement):

[0028] Figure 1 : shows a partial top view of the interior of an aircraft in the method provided by the present invention, showing an exemplary boarding procedure of the first wave and the first group (highlighted by a dotted box) starting at the first row;

[0029] Figure 2 : Shows Figure 1 In the aircraft, after the first group, the second group boards in the first wave (rows highlighted with dashed boxes), and then the third group starts to board (rows highlighted with dashed boxes);

[0030] Figure 3 : Shows Figure 1 A partial top view of the interior of an aircraft in the example of FIG. 1 , showing that the size of each wave according to the present invention corresponds to the number of passengers who may simultaneously stand in the aisle of the aircraft during the placement process;

[0031] Figure 4 : Shows Figure 1 A partial top view of the interior of the airplane in the example, showing the order of the four waves (a, b, c, d) required to fill the airplane in the example, with 6 passengers boarding for every 24 seats, here called the 6-to-24 solution;

[0032] Figure 5 : Shows Figure 1 The example airplane shows the second wave of the first group boarding, while the first wave of passengers has already been settled;

[0033] Figure 6 : Shows Figure 1 A partial top view of the interior of the aircraft in the example of Figure 1, showing the order of the first two waves (a, b) and highlighting the respective groups, indicating the sequential settlement of passengers;

[0034] Figure 7 : Shows Figure 1 The example airplane shows the first group of the third wave boarding, while the first and second waves of passengers are settled;

[0035] Figure 8 : Shows Figure 1 A partial overhead view of the interior of the aircraft in the example, highlighting the groups of the third wave, while the passengers of the first and second waves have all been settled;

[0036] Fig. 9 : Shows Figure 1 The example airplane shows the fourth and final wave of group one boarding, while the first, second, and third waves of passengers have all been settled;

[0037] Fig.10 : Shows Figure 1A partial overhead view of the interior of an aircraft in the example of FIG, highlighting the corresponding groups of the fourth and final wave, thereby concluding the physical boarding procedure provided by the present invention.

[0038] Fig.11 : Shows Figure 1 The example of a partial overhead view of the aircraft interior demonstrates that the distance between the first rows of each group in each wave creates specific events for each group, prevents conflicts between passengers from different groups, ensures passenger comfort and timely boarding, and ensures the required space between seat rows so that all passengers in each group can be properly accommodated.

[0039] Fig.12 : A partial perspective view showing a virtual guide indicating the boarding order according to the method provided by the present invention;

[0040] Fig.13 : Shows Fig.12 Partial top view of the virtual guide;

[0041] Fig.14 : Shows Fig.13 The virtual guide in FIG. 1 shows that when the passengers move toward the boarding gate on the virtual guide, it will act like a dynamic mat, following the number of passengers behind, guiding the passengers to move forward on the virtual guide (sequence a, b and c).

[0042] Fig.15 :Taking the wave boarding of a 192-seat aircraft as an example, it shows Fig.13 The virtual guide in the figure shows the order in which the first wave of passengers on the virtual guide advances into the aircraft. The aircraft has 32 rows of seats, 6 seats per row, a single aisle, and adopts a 4-wave boarding model.

[0043] Fig.16 : Shows Fig.15 The virtual guide in the diagram schematically shows the organic movement of the virtual guide in the order in which the first wave of passengers on the virtual guide advances toward the interior of the aircraft;

[0044] Fig.17 : Shows Fig.16 The virtual guide in the diagram schematically shows the completion of the first wave of boarding and the start of the second wave using cloth piece 31 (starting from row 31);

[0045] Fig.18 : Shows Fig.17 The virtual guidance in , schematically shows the advancement and virtual guidance of the second wave of passengers;

[0046] Fig.19 : Shows Fig.18The virtual guide in the diagram schematically shows the seated passengers (rows 32, 28, 24, 20) and the progress of other passengers and the virtual guide; and

[0047] Fig. 20 : The virtual guide provided by the present invention is shown, demonstrating that the virtual guide works by creating an organic effect, because the passengers will only be guided by the guide when entering the guide, wherein the movement of the cloth blocks in the guide will adapt to the movement of the passengers in terms of size, speed, acceleration and pause, thereby proving that it is the passengers who move the guide, rather than the guide that moves the passengers. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0048] method

[0049] The method according to the invention is a method for passenger information, organization, guidance, boarding and accommodation in collective transport.

[0050] The method aims to optimize resources by boarding passengers in sequential waves formed by passenger groups.

[0051] In the context of the present invention, a sequential wave is a collection of one or more groups of people having qualitative and quantitative characteristics, which are determined according to the nature of the transport, that is, the number, grouping and physical arrangement of seats available within the transport.

[0052] In addition to taking into account common factors in the boarding procedure, the parameterization of the waves of the inventive method also takes into account the space occupied in the aisle of the aircraft by the passengers of each wave who are still in the process of settling in.

[0053] In the context of the present invention, the settling process should be understood as any intermediate situation between the passengers entering the aircraft and finally occupying their seats. For example, it includes the following situations: one or more passengers are still standing and / or stowing hand luggage and / or belongings and / or standing up again to allow another passenger to pass and / or any similar intermediate situation.

[0054] The boarding method of the present invention preferably starts from the row of seats farthest from the aircraft entrance or the last row of seats. This is applicable to boarding in the front or rear, and boarding in the case of more than two entrances and exits, in which case, necessary adjustments need to be made.

[0055] That is, the first wave of passengers according to the invention will be a wave composed of one or more groups of passengers aiming to occupy seats starting from the row farthest from the aircraft entrance, taking into account the boarding counterflow and the maximum number of passengers obviously limited to the number of seats in the above-mentioned last row.

[0056] In the context of the present invention, the concept of "all seats" includes all seats sold and / or reserved, to the extent that these seats may be occupied based on passengers or boarding or occupancy lists. However, the present method can be designed to effectively consider all seats, regardless of the occupancy of the aircraft, without affecting boarding, because passengers will immediately notice one or more vacant seats in their row.

[0057] The method may also be applied taking into account the occupancy of the aircraft or specific occupancy conditions, for example skipping rows and / or empty seats when forming groups.

[0058] In order to ensure the comfort of the passengers and in particular to board the aircraft as quickly as possible, the first group will be followed by a second group which, initially but not necessarily, will have the same maximum number of passengers as the first group and will occupy the next row at a certain distance from the row occupied by the first group in the countercurrent boarding direction, thereby allowing all passengers of the first group in a row (in a row and / or side by side and / or one after another) to stand in the aircraft aisle (C) at the same time, which is the worst case scenario in terms of movement and accommodation.

[0059] In practical application, considering a non-limiting example, an aircraft (A) has 32 rows (rows 01 to 32), each row has 6 seats (S), the spacing between each row is 0.75 meters, and passengers (P) stand in the aisle (C) and occupy an average space equivalent to the circumference of a circle with a diameter of 0.5 meters around them. The first group of up to 6 passengers (P) will occupy row 32 (such as Figure 1 ), the second group of up to 6 passengers (P) will occupy a row other than the row of at least 6 passengers (P) under the above conditions, therefore, at least 3 meters or 4 rows away from row 32, i.e. occupying row 28 (e.g. Figure 2 Similarly, the third group will occupy row 24, the fourth group row 20, the fifth group row 16, the sixth group row 12, the seventh group row 08 and the eighth group row 04, thus completing the first wave of boarding, with a total of 48 passengers (P) boarding in the order of 8 groups (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) with 6 people (P) in each group (e.g. Figure 3 ).

[0060] Thus, in the example above, 4 waves are needed to fill the aircraft (A), with 6 passengers (P) boarding for every 24 seats (S), which is called a 6-for-24 plan (e.g. Figure 4 As shown, the order is a, b, c, d, which corresponds to the order of the first wave, the second wave, the third wave and the fourth wave respectively).

[0061] Then, the second wave will follow the same criteria as the first wave, also consisting of 8 groups of 6 passengers (P) each, the first group aims to occupy the row next to the row farthest from the entrance of the aircraft (A) in the countercurrent direction, preferably skipping one of the rows, preferably the next row is an even row (if the first wave starts with an even row) or an odd row (if the first wave starts with an odd row). That is, it is best to start from the 30th row of seats (S) (if Figure 5 ), then other groups come to take seats so that according to the rules of the first wave, they occupy rows far enough away to allow the previous group, that is, passengers (P) in rows 26, 22, 18, 14, 10, 06 and 02 to have space in the aisle (C), and the second wave of boarding ends with a total of 48 passengers (P), a total of 96 passengers boarded and settled (as Figure 6 ).

[0062] The third wave will then follow the same structure as the previous one, consisting of 8 groups of 6 passengers (P) each, the first group aiming to occupy the row next to the row farthest from the entrance to the aircraft (A) in the countercurrent direction, preferably skipping one of the rows, preferably the row next to an odd-numbered row (if the first wave starts with an even-numbered row) or the row next to an even-numbered row (if the first wave starts with an odd-numbered row). That is, it is best to start with seats (S) in row 31 (if Figure 7 ), then other groups come to take seats so that according to the rules of the first wave, they occupy rows far enough away to allow space for the first few groups, namely the passengers (P) in rows 27, 23, 19, 15, 11, 07 and 03. The third wave of boarding ends with a total of 48 passengers (P) on board, and a total of 144 passengers (P) on board and settled (as Figure 8 ).

[0063] The fourth and final wave will follow the same criteria as the previous ones, also consisting of 8 groups of 6 passengers (P) each, starting in the countercurrent direction from the row next to the row farthest from the entrance to the aircraft (A), preferably skipping one of the rows, preferably the next odd-numbered row (if the third wave starts with an odd-numbered row) or even-numbered row if the third wave starts with an even-numbered row). That is, preferably starting from the seat (S) of row 29 (if Fig. 9 ), then other groups come to take seats so that according to the rules of the first wave, they occupy rows far enough away to allow the first few groups, that is, passengers (P) in rows 25, 21, 17, 13, 09, 05 and 01 to have space. The fourth wave of boarding ends with a total of 48 passengers (P) boarded and settled, a total of 192 passengers (P) on board, thus ending the passenger boarding process (such as Fig.10 ).

[0064] It should be noted that the distance between the first rows of each group in each wave creates a specific event (N) for each group, prevents conflicts between passengers (P) of different groups, ensures the comfort of passengers (P), and facilitates boarding because it respects the required space between rows of seats so that all persons (P) of each group can be properly accommodated (e.g. Fig.11 ).

[0065] In the context of the present invention, a conflict is any situation that causes delays or discomfort to passengers, waiting caused by a blocked aisle, or a situation where one or more passengers stand up to allow another passenger to sit down.

[0066] It is also worth noting that the distance between the initial rows of each wave allows room for maneuvering in the event of an unexpected event, such as passengers remaining standing for a longer period than the normal settling process, for example, still cooperating with the promptness of boarding.

[0067] In the method of the present invention, the possibility of conflicts between passengers in boarding situations is reduced to only one conflict, which may occur between subsequent waves, that is, a wave conflict may occur between the last passenger of one wave and the first passenger of the next wave.

[0068] The process of alternating odd or even waves and two by two may vary according to the characteristics of each aircraft and must be adapted to the general conditions of each application. Alternating rows on the sides and / or aisles (C) of the aircraft may also be considered.

[0069] If the aircraft has rows with different numbers of seats and / or rows with different distances and / or seat configurations, for example, in areas near emergency ends or exits of the aircraft, or in order to subdivide the space into classes (first class, business class, economy class with additional space and coach class, etc.), the row with the largest number of seats can be used as the basis for the calculation, and taking into account these conditions, waves and groups of different sizes can also be allocated.

[0070] To illustrate the case of rows with different numbers of seats (S) and / or rows with different distances and / or different configurations of seats (S), we will take the example of an aircraft (A) with a configuration of 30 rows in the economy class, each row having two sets of 3 seats (S) close to the respective windows and one set of 4 seats (S) in the center of the aircraft (A), with an aisle (C) between each set of 3 seats (S) and 4 seats (S), and a distance of at least 0.8 meters between each row. In this case, the method of the invention proposes to form groups of 10 passengers each, for example, each group can be divided into subgroups, one for the right aisle (C) and another for the left aisle (C), depending on the situation. Each group will have 10 passengers arranged at intervals of 3 rows of seats (S), reaching 10 groups per wave. Thus, the first wave will call the passengers of rows 30, 27, 24, 21, 18, 15, 12, 09, 06 and 03 respectively, the second wave will consist of the passengers of rows 29, 26, 23, 20, 17, 14, 11, 08, 05, 02 and the last wave will consist of rows 28, 25, 22, 19, 16, 13, 10, 07, 04 and 01. Thus, for every 30 seats(S), 10 passengers will be boarded, adopting a 10 for 30 scheme. It should be noted that in this example, it is not necessary to alternate between odd and even rows, thus demonstrating the flexibility and versatility of the method.

[0071] An example of a case where the space of an aircraft (A) is subdivided into classes (first class, business class, economy class with extra space, economy class, etc.) can be an aircraft (A) whose first class cabin has 4 rows of seats (S), each row has 4 seats (S), and the row spacing is larger than or different from the norm. According to this method, according to the above logic, 2 waves will be formed, each wave has 2 groups, the first wave is row 04 and row 02, the second wave is row 03 and row 01, and 4 passengers are boarded for every 8 seats (S). This solution is called 4-occupy-8.

[0072] Therefore, it is also possible to group waves and facilitate boarding of multiple waves by cabin class of the same aircraft (A).

[0073] The method provided by the invention is therefore flexible and makes it possible to speed up boarding for any type and model of aircraft (A) and for practically all configurations of seats (S), also allowing modifications according to specific needs.

[0074] The example initially shown for an aircraft (A) with 32 rows of seats, 6 seats (S) per row, with 6 passengers boarding every 24 seats (S), can also be applied to an aircraft (A) with 6 seats per row, with a total of 24 rows of seats (4 waves and 6 groups). The same aircraft (A) configuration can carry 6 passengers every 36 seats (S) (6 in 36), that is, in 6 waves with 4 groups, where the first wave is formed by seat (S) rows 24, 18, 12, 06, the second wave is formed by seat (S) rows 22, 16, 10, 04, the third wave is formed by seat (S) rows 20, 14, 08, 02, the fourth wave is formed by seat (S) rows 23, 17, 11, 05, the fifth wave is formed by seat (S) rows 21, 15, 09, 03, and the sixth wave is formed by seat (S) rows 19, 13, 07, 01. This variation in boarding scheme will depend on several factors, such as the distance between rows, space for passengers standing in the aisle (C), etc.

[0075] It should also be noted that the sequential waves in the same boarding process can have different numbers of groups, for example, in an aircraft (A) with 29 rows of 6 seats (S), the waves can be formed by groups such as seat (S) rows 28, 24, 20, 16, 12, 08, 04, then 26, 22, 18, 14, 10, 06, 02, then 29, 25, 21, 17, 13, 09, 05, 01, and finally 27, 23, 19, 15, 11, 07, 03, thus having 3 waves of 7 groups and 1 wave of 8 groups. It should also be noted that in this case, boarding does not start from the last row, which again demonstrates the flexibility and versatility of the method provided by the invention. This example refers to 6 passengers being able to board for every 24 seats.

[0076] The same aircraft (A) configuration as in the example above, also depending on the distance between rows and the space occupied by each passenger standing in the aisle (C), can be boarded with a scheme of 6 passengers boarding every 36 seats (S), with waves consisting of multiple groups: seats (S) rows 28, 22, 16, 10, 04, then seats (S) rows 26, 20, 14, 8, 02, then seats (S) rows 24, 18, 12, 06, then seats (S) rows 29, 23, 17, 11, 05, then seats (S) rows 27, 21, 15, 09, 03, and finally seats (S) rows 25, 19, 13, 07, 01, so there are 5 waves with 5 groups and 1 wave with 4 groups.

[0077] It should be noted that the method provided by the present invention is simple and intuitive, easy for passengers to understand, eliminates any and all additional tools, complementary codes or signals, legends, instructions for guiding passengers, and obviously does not require passengers to be connected to any equipment or to be assisted by ground staff.

[0078] Each wave corresponds to the total number of passengers who may be standing in the aisle (C) of the aircraft (A) at the same time, with enough space for everyone to stand and / or settle at the same time, and conflicts between passengers may only occur between subsequent waves.

[0079] Furthermore, the method provided by the invention does not require intermediate commands from boarding personnel and additional control and supervision services, since the routes formed are of short duration and automatically dissipate as the last passenger of the last group in the wave advances, that is, as the last passenger in each wave is settled.

[0080] system

[0081] The system provided by the present invention is a system for passenger information, organization, guidance, boarding and accommodation in collective transportation vehicles, and its purpose is to optimize resources by boarding passengers in sequential waves formed by multiple groups of passengers, thereby assisting in the implementation of the method provided by the present invention.

[0082] The system provided by the present invention is based on the physical structure of an airport and at least one boarding area of ​​the physical structure of an airport, and is basically composed of a main unit, which includes one or more data processing centers, one or more databases, one or more information presentation devices and other devices and / or equipment to enable its operation to fully and / or partially execute the method provided by the present invention.

[0083] A data processing center is an electronic processor, preferably a computer, which is configured with a connection to a data network, a remote database or to information storage and retrieval tools, local and / or centralized and / or decentralized and / or in the cloud, and is also equipped with all the usual peripherals in the prior art, capable of exchanging information with interfaces, applications, mobile devices, etc. by electronic and physical means.

[0084] The data processing center can be connected to the airport's data and communication network, the Internet, the cloud, computer terminals, mobile devices, telephone devices, ticket and boarding pass readers, credit cards, NFC or BLE devices, check-in counters, travel agencies, etc. to directly or indirectly implement any equipment or interface required for the method of the present invention.

[0085] The information presentation equipment (100) is any set of visual signals formed by a device capable of projecting (110) and / or emitting and / or presenting images and lights and generally capable of emitting visual and auditory signals, which is directly connected to the data processing center. The information presentation equipment (100) may also include auxiliary support monitors (130) distributed throughout the airport infrastructure environment.

[0086] The information presentation device (100) provided by the present invention is a virtual guide or dynamic mat (120) which indicates the boarding order according to the method of the present invention and is arranged directly on the ground and / or projected on the ground by projectors (110) located above or below the passengers (P). The number of projectors (110) above or below the passengers should ensure that no shadows or areas with poor presentation effects (such as Fig.12 ).

[0087] The virtual guide (120) has the form of a dynamic mat formed by adjacent cloth panels (121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126) and follows the movement of passengers (P) in an adaptive manner, wherein sensors on the ground and / or above and / or on the sides of the passengers (P) together with a computer program or application loaded or accessed through a data processing center, identify, count and classify the number of people (P) on / in the virtual guide (120) based on the monitored flow and speed, detect their movements, track the flow and speed of each passenger (P) and the group of passengers (P), and track boarding sequence instructions in real time.

[0088] The virtual guide (120) is placed in the boarding area of ​​the airport physical structure, preferably in an airport lounge next to the boarding gate, whereby boarding coordination is performed according to the method of the present invention.

[0089] According to the method provided by the invention, the virtual guide (120) basically presents the passenger (P) with procedural instructions and indications, that is, it presents in sequence the ordinal numbers of the seats (S) and / or rows and / or waves and / or groups to be boarded, depending on each case and the chosen boarding scheme.

[0090] Thus, the passengers (P) belonging to the first group of the first wave will first receive instructions from the virtual guide (120) to go to the boarding gate and present their information to the boarding control, with their row number and / or respective seat (S) number projected or presented in the virtual guide (120), reserving space for them individually or in groups, so that they can be located in the boarding area of ​​the physical airport structure ( Fig.13 ).

[0091] When the passenger moves toward the boarding gate on the virtual guide (120), it will be followed by the sequence number of the next passenger (P) like a dynamic mat, guiding the passenger to move forward on the virtual guide (120) (such as Fig.14 ).

[0092] Using the same example above involving an aircraft (A) with 192 seats, 32 rows of seats (S), 6 seats (S) per row, a single aisle (C), and 4 waves of boarding, one can imagine a virtual guide (120) that is 1.20 meters wide and 10.00 meters long.

[0093] The virtual guide (120) initiates the projection or presentation of an initial patch (121) of a specific color and / or initial visual pattern, with dimensions of 1.20 meters wide and 1.80 meters long, indicating the number of, for example, row 32 (the first group of the first wave in this example). With this shape and size, there is enough space to accommodate the 6 passengers (P) in the aforementioned row 32. After the first cloth patch (121), another adjacent cloth patch (122) of a different color and / or visual pattern from the first cloth patch (121) is projected to facilitate differentiation and attract the attention of the passengers (P), indicating the number of row 28, where the 6 passengers (P) in row 28 will start, after which another cloth patch (123) indicating row 24 will be projected, followed by another cloth patch (124) for row 20, another cloth patch (125) for row 16 and another cloth patch (126) for row 12, preferably alternating colors and / or visual patterns, thereby accommodating 36 passengers (P) in the first static image of the virtual guide (as shown). Fig.15 ). The remaining passengers (P) must approach the virtual guide (120) and wait for the virtual guide (120) to indicate their location. It should be noted that the virtual guide (120) can have different measures to increase the number of cloth pieces (121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126), accumulate more passengers (P) and / or provide more space and comfort for the passengers (P).

[0094] When boarding begins, the first passenger (P) at row 32 will start moving towards the boarding gate on the virtual mat (120). Only after the passenger (P) at the last position on the screen 32 starts moving, the last part of the cloth piece 32 will start moving, thereby reducing the length of the cloth piece for row 32 and increasing the size of the next cloth piece, that is, the size of the cloth piece corresponding to row 28 (e.g. Fig.16 ).

[0095] Likewise, the separation between the cloth 28 and the cloth 24 starts to move only after the last passenger (P) of the cloth 28 moves, and this applies to all cloths of the initial static projection, that is, from the cloth 32 to the cloth 28, 24, 20, 16, 12, and so on. It should be noted that when the last passenger (P) leaves the virtual guide (120) surface, each cloth will completely disappear.

[0096] After the cloth piece 12 moves, the cloth piece 8 will start to appear and advance along the path of the dynamic mat (120), forming a dimension of at least 1.80 meters and remain so until there is no passenger (P) on it. After the passenger (P) enters the area of ​​the current cloth, the movement will become organic, maintaining the minimum dimension of 1.80.

[0097] The passenger (P) on piece 8 will position himself on the entire route of the dynamic mat (120) to continue boarding. Thus, piece 8 appears, followed by piece 4, in sequence, following the concept of waves, until a group of 4 waves is fully formed (e.g. Fig.17 , 18 and 19).

[0098] The movement of all the panels (121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126) and their divisions follows an organic concept, the virtual guide (120) recognizes the movement of the passengers through sensors on the ground or above or to the sides of the passengers (P), thus creating the orientation, formation and displacement of the virtual guide (120). This organic boarding method therefore depends only on the previous selection of the aircraft (A) model and the type of boarding, so that the entire classification of the passengers (P) can be carried out without the need for any other commands.

[0099] In this way, the virtual guide (120) creates an organic effect, because the passenger (P) is guided by the guide only when entering the guide (e.g. Fig. 20 ). After that, it is no longer necessary for it to guide the passengers (P), but only to follow the passengers (P) in front of them in the same line, because all the movements of the pieces (121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126) in the guide (120) will be adapted to the movements of the passengers (P) in terms of size, speed, acceleration and stops. In this way, it is clear that it is the passengers (P) who move the guide (120) and not the guide (120) that moves the passengers (P).

[0100] We can also imagine performing virtual guidance (120) in partially organic and manual scenarios.

[0101] In the case of a partially organic solution, one can imagine a mat (120) that has only a split between the two panels in front of the mat, which are organically controlled as described above. The formation and creation of the rear panels is a result of the movement of the first panel, but the rear panels will have additional configurations, such as a minimum length when the passenger (P) is stopped on the mat, and a maximum length when moving.

[0102] In manual control mode, the control of the pad (120) can be operated manually, manually controlling the advancement of the first piece of cloth to produce an effect similar to the movement in a partially organic solution, which is executed by simple commands issued by the operator, moving forward or stopping, or even pulling the cloth backward.

[0103] It is to be noted that the virtual guidance (120), while intelligent, is simple and intuitive, easy for passengers to understand, eliminating any and all additional tools, supplementary codes or signals, legends, instructions for guiding passengers (P), and obviously, does not require passengers (P) to be connected to any equipment or assistance from ground staff.

[0104] The virtual guide (120) informs the passengers (P) in the waiting room of the attendance order of the boarding passengers (P) and projects the order space in the direction of the passengers (P) movement so that all passengers (P) in each group can be fully physically settled even in the waiting room.

[0105] It should also be noted that the method provided by the present invention can be performed independently of the system provided by the present invention as a whole, and can also not use virtual guidance (120), and can be coordinated through visual and / or audible instructions and / or sounds of, for example, ground staff, utilizing already installed infrastructure, such as monitors, displays, indicator arrows, paintings, etc., that the airport already has.

[0106] equipment

[0107] The device provided by the present invention is a device for passenger information, organization, guidance, boarding and settlement in collective transportation vehicles, and its purpose is to board passengers in sequential waves formed by passenger groups to optimize resources. Therefore, it assists in executing the method provided by the present invention and is part of the system provided by the present invention.

[0108] The device provided by the present invention is part of a composite component, which is basically composed of a main unit, which includes one or more data processing centers, one or more databases, one or more information presentation devices and other devices and / or equipment, which enables its operation to execute the method provided by the present invention in whole and / or in part.

[0109] The device provided by the present invention, specifically a virtual boot (120) device, is a part of the system provided by the present invention and is used to execute the method provided by the present invention.

[0110] Computer Programs

[0111] The computer program provided by the present invention is a computer program in a computer-readable medium, which is associated with the system and / or one or more devices of the present invention, and is used to implement the method provided by the present invention and coordinate one or more elements of the system provided by the present invention.

[0112] Another program provided by the present invention is a computer program set in a computer-readable medium, which can execute the method provided by the present invention in the virtual boot (120) device provided by the present invention.

[0113] Example

[0114] Extensive experiments and simulations were performed, and the results clearly demonstrated the efficiency and effectiveness of the method provided by the present invention.

[0115] The following simulations were carried out by means of a model applied to a simulator developed for computers and designed to test the current methods of boarding passengers on aircraft, in which a single-aisle aircraft was considered with a total of 192 seats arranged in 32 rows of 6 seats each, all of which were occupied.

[0116] Regarding passenger behavior, the following variables were considered and randomly assigned to 192 passengers:

[0117] A) Passenger moving speed: 0.8-1.2 m / s;

[0118] B) Route delay: 0.6 to 1 second (the time between perception and the start of passenger movement after the preceding passenger moves);

[0119] C) Passenger settlement and luggage storage time: 4 to 32 seconds;

[0120] D) Standing up from a seat to allow another passenger to sit down: 3 to 5 seconds; and

[0121] E) Identification time at the check-in counter: 3 to 9 seconds.

[0122] For the model of the present invention, a boarding model using 6 passengers for every 24 seats is used, thus 4 waves are used, each wave having 8 groups of passengers.

[0123] For comparison with the wave model provided by the present invention, two other simulated boarding methods are considered, one is single-row boarding and the other is double-row boarding, separating the front and rear of the aircraft.

[0124] The simulation of the method of the present invention also considers double counters, where two people check the boarding tickets, so in this model, if simple counters are used, the bottleneck becomes the counter.

[0125] Since the variables applied to the passengers in the simulator are random, the times obtained in the multiple simulations performed will vary. Therefore, 50 simulations were performed for each of the 3 boarding methods tested and the average of the obtained results was considered.

[0126] The times obtained in the simulations correspond to the average time between the first passenger entering the aircraft and the last passenger settling down.

[0127] The average time obtained for the one-line model was 22 minutes and 6 seconds, and the average time obtained for the two-line model was 23 minutes and 3 seconds.

[0128] In contrast, the average time obtained using the model of the present invention was 10 minutes and 55 seconds.

[0129] The time saved inside the aircraft is therefore at least 50% compared to the most commonly used boarding mode in single-aisle aircraft.

[0130] Although 32-row aircraft (192 seats) are uncommon, they were chosen because they represent the average occupancy of the most commonly used single-aisle aircraft.

[0131] in conclusion

[0132] The present invention provides a method, system, apparatus and computer program that solve the problems of the prior art of aircraft check-in logistics in a new and inventive way.

[0133] Conclusion

[0134] Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the present invention may be modified without departing from the concepts described in the above description, and such modifications shall be deemed to be included within the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the specific embodiments described in detail above are merely illustrative and exemplary, and do not limit the scope of the present invention, which shall be the full scope of the appended claims and any and all equivalent scopes thereof.

Claims

1. A passenger information, organization, guidance, boarding and accommodation system on board an aircraft, consisting of a main unit including one or more data processing centers, one or more databases, one or more information presentation devices (100) and other devices and / or equipment that enable it to carry out, in whole or in part, the method defined below, The information presentation device (100) is a virtual guide (120) which indicates the boarding order according to the method defined below, which is arranged directly on the ground and / or projected on the ground by a projector (110) located above or below the passenger (P), and wherein The virtual guide (120) is a dynamic floor mat formed by adjacent cloth panels (121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126) arranged directly on the ground and / or projected on the ground by a projector (110) located above the passenger (P), wherein the dynamic floor mat follows the movement of the passenger (P) on the virtual guide towards the boarding gate, and wherein the method comprises: i. Select the model and boarding plan of the aircraft (A) according to the data from the data processing center; ii. dividing the number of passengers (P) into waves, based on said data from said data processing center, each wave corresponds to the total number of passengers (P) who may stand simultaneously in the aisle (C) of the aircraft, with enough space for each person to stand and / or be accommodated simultaneously, conflicts between passengers (P) may only occur between subsequent waves, the size of which corresponds to the number of passengers (P) who may stand simultaneously in the aisle (C) of the aircraft (A) during the accommodation process; iii. According to the previous step, each of the waves is divided into one or more passenger (P) groups and / or subgroups, the size of each group being limited by the number of seats (S) in a specified row of the group; iv. informing the passenger (P) of the passenger (P) attendance order for boarding the aircraft by means of an information display device connected to the data processing center, projecting the row number and / or respective seat (S) number of the passengers on the ground, and starting boarding by giving the passenger (P) instructions to proceed to the boarding gate; v. giving instructions to passengers (P) requiring them to submit to boarding control; vi. Based on the previous steps, guide, board and place the first group of the first wave; vii. Repeat steps iv and v; viii. Based on the previous steps, guide, board and seat the second group of the first wave, which second group will occupy the next row of seats (S) in the counter-flow boarding direction at a certain distance from the row of the previous group, so that it allows all passengers (P) of the previous group in the aisle (C) of the aircraft (A) to be persistently present in the route at the same time; ix. Repeat step vii x. Based on the previous steps, guide, board and place one or more groups below until all passengers (P) of the first wave are boarded; xi. Repeat step ix; as well as xii. Based on the previous steps, guide, board and seat one or more following waves according to steps i to ix until all passengers (P) ready to board are boarded, wherein the second wave will follow the same criteria as the first wave, the first group will occupy the next row farthest from the aircraft entrance in the counter-current direction, skipping one of the rows, skipping the next even row if the first wave starts from an even row, or skipping the next odd row if the first wave starts from an odd row, wherein the seating process is any intermediate situation of the passengers (P) between entering the aircraft (A) and the final seat (S) occupancy.

2. The passenger information, organization, guidance, boarding and accommodation system on an aircraft according to claim 1, comprising equipment for passenger information, organization, guidance, boarding and accommodation, which is a visual signaling device formed by a device for projecting and / or emitting and / or presenting images and light and emitting visual and sound signals, and is directly connected to a data processing center in the form of a virtual guide (120).

3. A passenger information, organization, guidance, boarding and accommodation system on an aircraft according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The formed route of passengers (P) automatically dissipates with the progress of the last group of passengers (P) of the wave, that is, it automatically dissipates with the placement of the last passenger (P) of each wave.

4. A method for passenger information, organization, guidance, boarding and accommodation on an aircraft, comprising: i. Select the aircraft (A) model and boarding plan based on the data from the data processing center; ii. dividing the number of passengers (P) into waves based on the data from said data processing center, each wave corresponding to the total number of passengers (P) who may simultaneously stand in the aisle (C) of the aircraft, with enough space for each person to stand and / or be seated simultaneously, conflicts between passengers (P) may only occur between subsequent waves; iii. According to the previous step, each of the waves is divided into one or more passenger (P) groups and / or subgroups, the size of each group being limited by the number of seats (S) in a specified row of the group; iv. informing the passenger (P) of the passenger (P) attendance order for boarding the aircraft by means of an information display device connected to the data processing center, projecting the row number and / or respective seat (S) number of the passengers on the ground, and starting boarding by giving the passenger (P) instructions to proceed to the boarding gate; v. giving instructions to passengers (P) requiring them to submit to boarding control; vi. Based on the previous steps, guide, board and place the first group of the first wave; vii. Repeat steps iv and v; viii. Based on the previous steps, guide, board and seat the second group of the first wave, which second group will occupy the next row of seats (S) in the counter-flow boarding direction at a certain distance from the row of the previous group, so that it allows all passengers (P) of the previous group in the aisle (C) of the aircraft (A) to be persistently present in the route at the same time; ix. Repeat step vii x. Based on the previous steps, guide, board and place one or more groups below until all passengers (P) of the first wave are boarded; xi. Repeat step ix; as well as xii. Based on the previous steps, guide, board and seat one or more following waves according to steps i to ix until all passengers (P) ready to board are boarded, wherein the second wave will follow the same criteria as the first wave, the first group will occupy the next row farthest from the aircraft entrance in the countercurrent direction, skipping one of the rows, if the first wave starts from an even row, then skipping the next even row, or if the first wave starts from an odd row, then skipping the next odd row, where a placement process is any intermediate situation of a passenger (P) between entry into an aircraft (A) and final seat (S) occupancy, and The method is performed using a passenger information, organization, guidance, boarding and accommodation system on board an aircraft as defined in one of claims 1 to 3.

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