A European airport will let travelers send their baggage to the plane with Leo, SITA’s baggage robot. Leo would bypass all the pedestrian traffic making the airport less congested and its obstacle avoidance system will help it to keep from crashing into anything in the high traffic environment and can carry a weight of 35kg.

The baggage robot was launched by SITA, an airline technology company, which is hoping to automate the entire process of taking a flight. Their plan is for a baggage system that would see bags collected outside the terminal, then get loaded onto the airplane without the luggage ever needing to enter the building, or being handled by anybody other than the passenger.

Curious travellers have been using Leo – named after Leonardo da Vinci –at Geneva simply by touching the bag drop touchscreen and popping their bags inside. SITA explained: “After the passengers have scanned their boarding passes, the luggage tags are printed and can be attached to the bag. 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.”The robot technology could mean fewer bags in future in airport terminals, reducing congestion and making it easier for passengers to get around. You can watch a video of Leo in action at Geneva Airport at SITA’s website. Dave Bakker of the company said: “Leo demonstrates that robotics holds the key to more effective, secure and smarter baggage handling and is a major step towards further automating bag handling in airports.”

Article/Photo via: lonelyplanet.com