SITA Lab has revealed its intelligent check–in kiosk KATE, which autonomously moves to busy or congested areas in an airport as needed.
Unveiled at this year’s Air Transport IT Summit in Brussels, KATE uses existing SITA data systems such as FlightInfo API to identify where additional check-in kiosks are required to reduce passenger queue times.
Multiple robotic kiosks can be automatically or manually deployed simultaneously and in formation, providing airports greater flexibility in managing peaks in passenger flow. The kiosks can also communicate through a Cloud service to ensure that the right number of kiosks are at the right position when needed.
The robotic kiosk makes use of geo-location technology to find its way through the airports, and uses Wi-Fi to connect to vital airline and airport systems. KATE also uses obstacle avoidance technology when moving around terminals. This untethered approach eradicates the need for cabling or other fixed attachments.
Renaud Irminger, director of SITA Lab, said, “The peak and troughs in the flow of passengers presents a challenge to many airlines and airports and we have been approached by many customers requesting a solution. They want kiosks that can be easily deployed when and where they are needed.
“Building on SITA’s successful AirportConnect Open platform, and our previous work with robotics, KATE leverages new technologies to provide operators much more flexibility and efficiency in the way they will use their kiosks in future.”
The autonomous kiosk can be deployed anywhere inside an airport in addition to offsite locations like train stations. When the machines are low on power or need to be resupplied with boarding passes or bag tags, they simply return to their docking stations.