Scanner-Guided Baggage Collection With Targeted Conveyor Delivery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current baggage collection systems in airports are inconvenient for end users due to moving conveyors, heavy bags, and the risk of grabbing incorrect bags, especially when similar-looking luggage is involved.
Innovation Solution
A requestor-based baggage collection system that uses scanners to identify bags, determines their locations, and directs them to specific conveyor belts for delivery to the correct pickup location, with notification devices ensuring passengers know where to collect their bags.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a conveyor system is used to deliver bags to passengers, then bags can be transported efficiently, but the conveyor is constantly moving and bags may be heavy or difficult to lift while moving
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by stopping the conveyor belt at a designated collection area and holding the bag in place before the passenger arrives. The notification system alerts the passenger in advance, allowing them to prepare for collection. This eliminates the need to lift heavy bags from moving conveyors.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces an intermediary mechanism - a notification device that communicates between the baggage system and the passenger. The notification device (display screen, audio output, or printed ticket) serves as a mediator to guide the passenger to the correct collection area and timing, resolving the information asymmetry between the conveyor system and the passenger.
2Productivity
If bags are delivered on a moving conveyor, then continuous transport is maintained, but someone may grab an incorrect bag that looks similar to the user's bag
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback by notifying the passenger of their specific collection area through display screens, audio outputs, or printed tickets. This feedback loop ensures the passenger receives accurate information about where to collect their bag, preventing incorrect bag selection while maintaining continuous transport through other areas.
Solution Approach 2:
The conveyor system is segmented into multiple collection areas, with each area designated for specific bags or passengers. This segmentation allows different bags to be delivered to different locations simultaneously, maintaining overall system productivity while ensuring accurate delivery to each passenger through targeted notification.
3Device complexity
If passengers must locate and retrieve bags from a moving conveyor, then no additional collection infrastructure is needed, but passengers may experience difficulty locating their bags among many similar-looking luggage items
Solution Approach 1:
The notification device acts as an intermediary that provides guidance information to passengers, eliminating the need for complex manual search processes. The system maintains simplicity in the physical collection infrastructure while adding intelligent guidance through notifications, thereby improving ease of operation without significantly increasing device complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
An article of manufacture can include a tangible, non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising: receiving, by the processor and through a first scanner, a plurality of unique identifiers for a plurality of bags; receiving, by the processor through a second scanner, a first unique identifier for a bag; determining, by the processor, a location of the bag in a collection area of a conveyor system associated with the first unique identifier; and commanding, by the processor and through a collection device, transferring of the bag to a second conveyor belt for depositing at a pickup location.