Air France tests the world's first self driving luggage carrier to reduce flight delays

Posted 2023-12-12 00:00:00 +0000 UTC

According to foreign media, there are many reasons for the flight delay. However, Air France is working with several companies to test the world's first luggage car, hoping to simplify airport operations and speed up the loading and unloading of luggage. The at135 luggage carrier officially began testing at Toulouse blaniac airport in France on November 15. For the uninformed layman, this kind of vehicle seems to be the same as other vehicles waiting for flights seen on the airport apron, such as taxis equipped with a seat, steering wheel and other controls required by human drivers. However, careful observation will show that this is an autopilot car, the hardware has obviously been upgraded, the roof and bumper are equipped with laser scanning lidar sensors, which complements the visual weaknesses of GPS and front and rear cameras, and can provide a 360 degree view for the baggage van. A large switch can be found in the luggage carrier, which can switch between manual driving mode and automatic driving mode freely. The car is also equipped with a large touch screen that shows a map of the airport and the gate the vehicle needs to serve. Once the vehicle is full of 22 tons of luggage, a ground crew member will input which gate and which plane the luggage needs to go to, and then the vehicle will automatically go to the destination at the speed of 15 mph, at the same time, it will comply with the traffic regulations of the airport and avoid vehicles such as people or aircraft. Once the luggage is unloaded, the car will return along the original route to pick up another batch of luggage for the next flight. Autopilot can liberate humans from driving tasks and improve safety and efficiency, which is essentially the same as the motivation of developing the automatic driving baggage carrier. With the help of GPS, remote sensors and even detailed information of other traffic around the airport, the vehicle can plan the most effective route to reduce aircraft delays and errors. In addition, it frees the ground crew to do other things that are not automated, such as loading luggage into the cargo bay. Moreover, it can improve the safety of the airport, because once all ground staff and service vehicles are automated, it can completely eliminate manpower and reduce the possibility of bad people getting on the plane. Of course, the premise is that such machines are properly protected when they are put into service and are not attacked by hackers.

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