Smart robot automates airport baggage check-in

Leo is an autonomous baggage handling robot that speeds up check-in and helps increase airport security.

Air transport technology company SITA is testing Leo, its autonomous robotic baggage handler, at Geneva airport. Greeting passengers outside the airport terminal, Leo weighs suitcases, prints transport tags, checks bags in and then securely carries them to the baggage handling area. Only members of airport staff are able to open the robot’s doors once a bag has been checked.

Named after Italian inventor Leonardo da Vinci, Leo is a smart robot able to self-navigate, including around passengers. Built by robotics company BlueBotics, SITA believes widespread use of systems such as Leo could vastly speed up check-in, helping to efficiently and effectively handle increasing numbers of travelers. Robotic baggage handlers could also help increase security by reducing the number of bags that enter airport buildings.

With millions of people traveling by plane every day, flight is an industry ripe for innovation. Smart suitcases that self-weigh, and those with electronic tags for bag drop, are some of the ways we’ve seen airport processes improved. Where else could long waits in line be improved by robotics?