Lab 1 – AIR Tracker Product Description – Casper 1
Lab 1 – AIR Tracker Product Description
Ashley Casper
CS 411W
Professor Janet Brunelle
11 February 2009
Lab 1 – AIR Tracker Product Description – Casper 2
Table of Contents
1
INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 3
2
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION .................................................................................. 4
3
2.1
Key Product Features and Capabilities ...................................................... 5
2.2
Major Components (Hardware/Software) .................................................. 7
2.3
Target Market/Customer Base ................................................................... 9
PRODUCT PROTOTYPE DESCRIPTION .......................................................... 9
3.1
Prototype Functional Objectives ................................................................ 9
3.2
Prototype Architecture ............................................................................... 10
3.3
Innovative Features .................................................................................... 12
3.4
Challenges and Risks ................................................................................. 12
GLOSSARY .................................................................................................................. 14
REFERENCES .............................................................................................................. 15
List of Figures
Figure 1. Cart states ....................................................................................................... 5
Figure 2. Gate states ...................................................................................................... 6
Figure 3. AIR Tracker Major Functional Component Diagram .................................... 8
Figure 4. AIR Tracker prototype Major Functional Component Diagram ................... 11
List of Tables
Table 1. RWP versus prototype table ............................................................................ 10
Lab 1 – AIR Tracker Product Description – Casper 3
Lab 1 – AIR Tracker Product Description
1 INTRODUCTION
Air travel around the world is an essential part of connecting businesses, friends, and family,
and many travelers who frequently fly experience a wide array of frustrations throughout the
journey. For those who fly with luggage, air travel can be a nightmare, but the passengers who
travel are not the only ones who deal with the headache of lost or mishandled luggage.
Mishandled luggage annually costs the airline industry $3.8 billion, with the International Air
Transport Association estimating the cost of returning a single bag to its owner at just under $90.
Société Internationale de Télécommunications Aéronautiques (SITA) (2009), which specializes
in communications solutions for the airline industry, estimates a global total of almost 19
mishandled pieces of luggage per thousand passengers. SITA (2009) has stated that “[e]ven
small improvements in the amount of baggage ending up at the right place at the right time could
save the air transport industry hundreds of millions of dollars a year.” The United States
Department of Transportation (USDOT) (2008) even estimates that in domestic airlines alone,
six pieces of luggage per thousand are initially lost before being found and returned to their
owners. Merely reducing the number of mishandled pieces of luggage per thousand by a single
bag has the potential of saving the airline industry tens of millions of dollars.
Automated and Intelligent Reporting (AIR) Tracker, AIR Tracker, Inc.’s proposed product, is
a tool to assist airlines by improving their own baggage-handling process and reducing the total
number of bags that are mishandled. Currently, the airline industry employs many methods
throughout the baggage-handling process in order to track luggage from check-in until the actual
flight upon which it will embark. Check-in counters for luggage issue barcode or RadioFrequency Identification (RFID) tags for each and every piece of luggage that needs to fly.
Lab 1 – AIR Tracker Product Description – Casper 4
These tags are scanned at multiple stops along the tangled route to the final destination, the
airplane. At any point, if a bag is misplaced, it will remain misplaced in the same location until
airline personnel physically see the bag or a passenger reports the bag as missing. Once the bag
is reported as missing, a quick check of the bag’s successful scans may lead to identifying where
the bag was mishandled. If airline personnel physically see the bag as being mishandled, it may
be placed back on the proper route to the airplane if there is time remaining before take-off.
Specifically, there also exist certain types of pushers that are capable of detecting errors in their
own operation, a helpful tool for identifying problem areas in the baggage-handling process.
AIR Tracker seeks to integrate into all systems through a customized installation that will
improve baggage handling no matter the size or scope of the airport or problems within that
airport. With an innovative ground-level routing process (GRP) that tracks the bags from checkin to flight, a cart and gate module that magnifies the attention on the trickiest portion of the
process, and a reporting module that alerts baggage handlers to mishandled bags, AIR Tracker is
the solution to the ever-present problem of mishandled luggage.
2 PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
AIR Tracker’s main goals are to reduce mishandled luggage and to provide reporting and
historical data on the baggage-handling process. Starting with check-in, luggage moving to the
GRP may be mishandled or completely lost at any number of locations. The pusher may route
bags to the wrong flight, or the bags may fall off the pusher. The bags could fall off the cart or
be accidentally left on the cart when they should have been placed onto the belt loader for a
specific flight. AIR Tracker will improve the entire process by checking the bag routes and
accounting for baggage currently in the GRP, alerting baggage handlers when bags are moving
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out of range of the sensor technology, and providing historical summaries of alerts to assist
airports in finding weak areas in the process.
2.1 KEY PRODUCT FEATURES AND CAPABILITIES
AIR Tracker will manage each and every luggage stop from check-in to flight, ensuring that
real-time location of bags are available to baggage handlers in case of a mishandled bag in the
GRP. The system’s unique alert system is the first of its kind, notifying handlers of mishandled
bags using handheld assistants that can help handlers in pinpointing where the bag may have
been left or misrouted. With all data concerning the GRP saved into the AIR Tracker database,
historical summaries generated through the AIR Tracker application will aid the airlines as a
whole in identifying areas for improvement within the baggage-handling process.
Figure 1. Cart states
Unique to the AIR Tracker system are the cart and gate modules, which handle the specific
routing of a piece of luggage in the GRP. Once a bag is introduced into a cart for transfer to its
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final flight, it will fall into the routing code elaborated in Figure 1. The ultimate goal from entry
into the code is the acceptance state of the bag not being on the cart when it should not be, which
would mean that the bag successfully arrived at its flight and is ready to be loaded onto the
airplane. Any delay in routing, such as the bag not being on the cart when it should be, means
that the bag has been mishandled, perhaps having fallen off the cart entirely. Until that bag is
returned to the cart where it should be, an alert will be sent to the baggage handling staff, who
will then have time to recover the bag before the flight’s take-off. Similarly, a bag put on a cart
where it should not be will alert the staff to a problem, most likely a misrouting issue of being
placed on the wrong cart. Until the final acceptance state, the AIR Tracker application will
continue to monitor a bag’s progress through the cart module of the GRP.
Figure 2. Gate states
In the same manner in which the cart module is handled, so will AIR Tracker track the bag’s
progress onto the belt loader and flight. Figure 2 describes a similar process in which the
Lab 1 – AIR Tracker Product Description – Casper 7
ultimate destination is the acceptance state for a bag having traveled through onto the belt loader
and into the plane successfully. The bag starts at the point in which it will arrive at the gate,
having not been at the gate where it should have been. As long as the bag is not at the gate, AIR
Tracker will alert the baggage-handling staff to the issue. If the bag should be at the gate, but it
is not currently ready to load onto the belt loader, it may be an issue of having been left on the
cart mistakenly. Once the bag is recovered and is at the gate where it should be, it will proceed
up the belt loader and onto the flight. If the bag, however, happens to arrive at the incorrect gate,
where it should not be, AIR Tracker will also alert the staff to the issue for quick re-routing.
Finally, all bags should load onto the correct planes and make their flights as scheduled.
These specific modules, both cart and gate, are a powerful aspect of ensuring that AIR
Tracker is capable of alerting staff at the moment of mishandling. Currently, the process of
having to physically see the mishandled bag in order to recover it is costing time in the GRP, if
the recovery happens at all. By utilizing AIR Tracker, airports will quickly identify mishandled
bags as they occur, saving time and ultimately money.
2.2 MAJOR COMPONENTS (HARDWARE/SOFTWARE)
The AIR Tracker system is comprised of both hardware and software, the major functional
components of which are shown in Figure 3. Passive RFID tags, attached to every bag that
enters the GRP, are detected within range of an arbitrary number of RFID readers, known as
antennae or gates. Once detected, the RFID reader then communicates with the application
server, which will contain the AIR Tracker application. The airport database will also be in
communication with the application server, feeding data regarding the luggage route into the
AIR Tracker application in order to track the luggage as it progresses through the GRP.
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Figure 3. AIR Tracker Major Functional Component Diagram
Should a piece of luggage become misplaced throughout the route to its proper flight, the AIR
Tracker software will detect the mishandling and send an alert to a baggage handler’s handheld
device. In addition, the AIR Tracker software will communicate with the AIR Tracker database,
which will store current bags en route to their flights and historical data of generated alerts for
future report summaries. The hardware in the AIR Tracker system is meant to easily integrate
with existing airport systems and can be customized to fit any size or shape in the GRP.
The AIR Tracker system’s software package includes the AIR Tracker database, the AIR
Tracker application, and several interfaces to ensure communication among AIR Tracker
hardware, the existing airport database, and the AIR Tracker software and database. On the
RFID readers themselves, RFID firmware will be pre-loaded on the existing hardware and will
be utilized to send tracking information to the AIR Tracker application. On a smaller scale, the
bag routing algorithms will specifically handle the actual tracking of luggage through the airport
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inside the AIR Tracker application. The interfaces are uniquely important, focusing on the actual
retrieval of data from the existing airport database and the insertion of data into the AIR Tracker
database. Interaction between hardware and software through these interfaces will ensure data
integrity between components and customization within airports.
2.3 TARGET MARKET/CUSTOMER BASE
AIR Tracker’s target market is with airports, and specifically, airport hubs that handle large
amounts of luggage and airports with particularly high rates of mishandled luggage. Airports,
however, are comprised of many airlines, each with different rates of losing bags. Airports and
airlines working together to agree upon the purchase of an AIR Tracker system would be an
essential part of the marketing. Those individuals who will actually use the product will be the
baggage handlers, the airlines, the system administrator, and ultimately, the passengers who will
benefit from a system in which their bags are tracked more efficiently.
3 PRODUCT PROTOTYPE DESCRIPTION
The AIR Tracker prototype will be a mostly-simulated look at the feasibility of creating the
real-world product. Displaying a successful RFID scan is essential, but multiple scans will need
to be simulated to mimic large numbers of bags traveling through the GRP. Similarly, alert
generation will need to be simulated when bags would be mishandled at different stages of the
process. Other prototype demonstrations will include the successful tracking of a piece of
luggage through AIR Tracker routing algorithms and the availability of a test harness for on-thespot testing of various scenarios as determined by the panel of professionals or AIR Tracker, Inc.
3.1 PRODUCT FUNCTIONAL GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
The AIR Tracker prototype’s main goal is to show the product’s ease of use, feasibility, and
scalability. Specifically, showing that RFID scanner input successfully translates into data that is
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maintained in the AIR Tracker database is essential, just as providing a simulated luggage route
and generating alerts when mishandling occurs will prove that AIR Tracker is a functional
concept ready for the next step to real-world production. Table 1 displays the prototype and realworld product comparison, providing a side-by-side look at the features that will drive the
prototype’s creation.
Table 1. RWP versus prototype table
Simulation is the key to showing scalability. While a single RFID scan inserted into the AIR
Tracker application and database proves the hardware, interfaces, and software works
successfully, simulating dozens of bags will be necessary to provide a more realistic look at what
the real-world product will be capable of handling.
3.2 PROTOTYPE ARCHITECTURE (HARDWARE/SOFTWARE)
The AIR Tracker prototype is comprised of both hardware and software, the major functional
components of which are shown in Figure 4. The prototype will utilize RuBee tags and a RuBee
reader, which will be physically linked to a laptop that contains the AIR Tracker software
package and all simulated systems, such as those that will generate alerts when a piece of
luggage or, in this case, a RuBee tag or a simulated tag, is mishandled. The RuBee tag will come
into range of the RuBee reader, which will then feed that tag’s data into the simulated application
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server and the AIR Tracker application. While interacting with the simulated airport database,
the AIR Tracker application will check the route of the tag to ensure it is on its correct route
through the GRP. If the AIR Tracker application calculates that the data from the RuBee reader
does not match the simulated airport database’s data, it will send an alert to a simulated handheld
device. All processing in the AIR Tracker software will be sent to the AIR Tracker database,
which will then be used for generating historical data reports.
Figure 4. AIR Tracker prototype Major Functional Component Diagram
The software utilized by the AIR Tracker prototype will be identical to the real-world
product’s software except in cases in which the code will need to interact with a simulated piece
of hardware or interfaces with simulated hardware and software. The AIR Tracker application
itself will function as the real-world product; however, the application will receive data from a
simulated airport database and, in case of multiple simulated RFID tags, the test harness inside of
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the application code. Simulated handheld assistants will receive the alerts generated by the
application, which will also feed constant tag data into the AIR Tracker database.
3.3 PROTOTYPE FEATURES AND CAPABILITIES
AIR Tracker’s prototype demonstrates a scaled version of the product’s ease of use and
feasibility. Upon successfully demonstrating the tracking of a RuBee tag and its insertion into
the AIR Tracker application and database, the prototype will effectively prove that AIR Tracker
is capable of handling the routing of a piece of luggage from check-in to flight. Utilizing the test
harness and removing bags from the AIR Tracker application will demonstrate the real-world
product’s capability to alert baggage handlers to mishandled baggage. In each case, the
functional capabilities of the prototype handle the GRP in a real-time manner, able to assist
baggage handlers in recovering luggage upon its initial mishandling. Historical data of every
bag that successfully navigates the GRP, every bag that is mishandled but is recovered to
navigate the GRP, and every bag that is mishandled and does not navigate the GRP will be saved
and accessible by reports that will assist airports in addressing what seem to be problem areas in
the baggage-handling process. The successful prototype, when scaled to fit airports, will fulfill
AIR Tracker’s real-world product goal of reducing the number of mishandled bags at airports.
Even reducing the number of mishandled bags by one out of a thousand will save tens of
millions of dollars over a year’s time.
3.4 PROTOTYPE DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGES
AIR Tracker’s prototype will face surmountable challenges in the development process.
Risks are an inevitable part of creating the prototype, but through proper planning, can be
mitigated. A significant risk is that the required hardware needed to accurately create the
successful prototype will be too expensive, but by combining cheaper alternatives and utilizing
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realistic simulations, the workings of the real-world product may still be able to be seen without
the excessive cost in hardware. Another risk is the inaccessibility of real-world processes and
the inability to properly mimic these processes by way of simulation. To mitigate this risk, AIR
Tracker, Inc. will perform in-depth research and analyze every necessary piece of data that is
needed to track a bag from check-in to flight. While the simulated airport database, for example,
may not be completely accurate, the suitable data needed to interact with the AIR Tracker
application can indeed be simulated and proven to work correctly. Risks during the prototype
demonstration include range limitations or tag and scanner failure, but through prior testing and
use of multiple available tags, this risk can be avoided. Overall, the risks are manageable, and
real-world facets, such as wireless communication protocols, are already established and are
trivial for proving the prototype concept.
[This space is intentionally left blank.]
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Glossary
belt loader – the final portion of a checked-in bag’s journey from start to finish. After being
unloaded from the cart, bags will travel up the belt loader and into the airplane, where it will
remain throughout the flight.
cart – the in-between portion of a checked-in bag’s journey from start to finish. After traveling
through the pusher, bags will be loaded onto carts to travel to a proper gate, where they will be
placed on the belt loader for its correct flight.
gate – the location of arriving or departing flights in which loading passengers or baggage
occurs.
ground-level routing process (GRP) – the start of the baggage-handling process until the
moment the bag is placed onto the belt loader. All transfers of baggage through the pusher and
cart portions of the checked-in bag’s journey are included in the GRP.
pusher – the start of a checked-in bag’s journey. Once checked at the airline counter, a bag will
be tagged for transfer to a gate and placed onto the pusher, which consists of any number of
conveyers and directional maze-like routes that “push” the bag toward its correct cart and finally,
correct flight.
Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) reader – a radio wave-receiving device capable of
identifying RFID tags.
Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) tag – a radio wave-transmitting device capable of
being identified by an RFID reader.
RuBee reader – a magnetically-based receiving device capable of identifying RuBee tags.
RuBee tag – a magnetically-based transmitting device capable of being identified by a RuBee
reader.
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References
SITA. (2009). Baggage Report 2008. Retrieved October 25, 2008, from SITA Web site:
http://www.sita.aero/content/baggage-report-2008
U.S. Department of Transportation. (2008, August). Air Travel Consumer Report. Retrieved
September 4, 2008, from U.S. Department of Transportation Web site:
http://airconsumer.dot.gov/reports/2008/august/200808atcr.pdf