Raise your hand if you hate dealing with airports. As soon as you’re done waiting in line to drop off your luggage, you’re off to a second line to go through the security check and then a third line to wait to board the plane. Add to that restaurant lines and even bathroom lines, and you’re in for an awful experience. Leo the robot might not fix all our problems at the airport, but it might help us avoid at least one of the lines we’ve all grown to hate.
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Created by airport technology company SITA, Leo is already deployed at the Geneva Airport in Switzerland. The robot can check in bags, The Lonely Planet explains, as well as print tags. The robot also carries up to two suitcases that weigh up to 35kg each directly to the luggage handling area at the airport.
Everything is secure, and the only person who will have access to your luggage is the designated baggage operator at the airport. The robot can find its way to the handling area, avoid obstacles and dodge humans.
“After the passengers have scanned their boarding passes, the luggage tags are printed and can be attached to the bag,” SITA explains. “With the bags loaded and tagged, the compartment door closes and Leo displays the boarding gate and departure time. Leo then takes the bag 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.”
A video showing the SITA robot in action follows below.
