Baggage Label OCR Recognition with Local Flight Database
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing baggage sorting methods at airports face inefficiencies and high costs due to issues like damaged labels, missing data in databases, database access interruptions, and delays, which often require manual sorting.
Innovation Solution
A method that uses digital images of baggage labels to recognize flight information through OCR, comparing textual data with a local flights database for reliable sorting, even when barcodes are unreadable or database access is problematic, ensuring efficient and automated baggage routing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If barcode reading is used for baggage identification, then automated sorting efficiency is improved, but reliability deteriorates when labels are soiled or damaged
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a textual copy of the barcode information by using OCR to read the printed text on the baggage label. This textual representation serves as a backup identification method that can be used when the barcode itself is damaged or unreadable, thus maintaining reliability while preserving automated processing capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the identification parameter from purely machine-readable barcode patterns to include human-readable text characters. By extracting and comparing textual information from the label with flight data, the system gains a more robust identification method that is less susceptible to physical damage of the label.
2Reliability
If manual sorting is performed to handle database access issues, then reliability is improved, but productivity deteriorates due to cost and delays
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary actions by pre-fetching and storing flight data locally at the baggage sorting facility. This allows the system to have flight information available before baggage arrives, enabling immediate comparison and sorting without needing to access external databases during the sorting process, thus avoiding delays while maintaining accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a local database as an intermediary between the baggage identification system and the external flight information sources. This local cache stores essential flight data and serves as a backup when external database access is interrupted, ensuring continuous automated operation without manual intervention.
3Loss of information
If external database access is used for flight information, then data completeness is improved, but reliability deteriorates due to access interruptions and delays
Solution Approach 1:
The patent prepares compensatory measures in advance by maintaining a local cache of flight data that can be used when external database access fails. This pre-stored information acts as a cushion against potential access interruptions, ensuring that the sorting system can continue operating reliably even when external data sources are unavailable.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enhances the reliability and efficiency of baggage sorting by using a local flights database for easy access and exhaustive comparison, reducing manual sorting costs and delays, and ensuring accurate flight association and routing.
Implementation Method 1
automatically recognizing a flight corresponding to the piece of baggage by analyzing the label by optical character recognition
Data Source
AI summary
A method of sorting baggage at an airport, the method comprising: acquiring a digital image of an identification label for identifying a piece of baggage, the label including an identification code designed to correspond to a set of items of data from a first database compiled as the baggage is being checked in; the method further comprising the following steps: retrieving information that is printed on the label from the image; comparing the information with data that is recorded in a local second database at the airport before the label is printed, the second database being distinct from the first database, the data from the second database being representative of a list of flights to or from the airport; and, in response to a match being detected, transmitting data representative of a flight number corresponding to the piece of baggage to a conveyor system.