Tracking Airline Baggage with RFID Technology

Peter DobbsRon Fresta

Mike JohnsonCraig Zeleznick

Drew Witoslawski

Why Track Baggage?

Baggage is lost in airports on a large scale.– An average of 10,000 bags were lost every day in

2005.

Lost baggage creates large revenue losses:– Airlines can be held accountable for up to $2,500

per piece of lost luggage.– That’s up to $25,000,000 per day!

Or $9,125,000,000 per year!

The Problem Grows

Philadelphia International Airport is the 9th busiest airport in the world.

US Airways and Delta Airlines lost the most baggage individually in 2005.

Customers and airline employees named lost baggage the #1 problem in airlines.

Is There A Solution?

There is! An RFID system can easily solve this

problem.– RFID tracking systems are already being used on

a much larger scale—with great success!– Wal-Mart and the DoD require their suppliers to

use RFID systems to track and locate lost packages.

What Would an RFID System Do?

Integrate seamlessly with and augment the existing baggage system.

Allow instantaneous location of lost baggage. Allow employees to easily determine where a

lost bag belongs.

What Would an RFID System Do?

Function Inputs Outputs Functional Requirements

External Interface

Update customer data Edited data Query to update database; updated data in editable form

Query database and update necessary data

Terminal, scanner, database must be compatible

Associate RFID # in database

Unique RFID tag # Query to update database; updated data in editable form

Query database and update with RFID tag #

Terminal, database must be compatible

Create RFID tag Customer data and RFID tag #

Physical RFID tag attached to physical barcode

Acquire customer database info and transfer to RFID tag; creation program; print out barcode with RFID tag attached

Terminal, database, printer must be compatible

Scan luggage tag Acquire RFID signal Unique data which identifies luggage and its destination

Acquire passive tag signal; receive data from tag; query database with data

Customer database

Update database Update database query Database updated, message in form reader understands

Acquire query; execute query; return whether successful

RFID reader station

Scan RFID tag during sorting

Acquire RFID signal Database query containing customer data

Acquire passive tag signals & associate with database to determine where luggage will be sent

Customer database; Flight database

What Needs To Be Done?

The slides you are about to see display a high-level overview of the project.

Refer to the accompanying project report for a more detailed task analysis.

How Does it Work?

Baggage Association:

Baggage Sorting: Reader determines what terminal to send luggage to

Luggage routed through conveyer

system

Luggage scanned at terminal

Luggage loaded on to cart

Customer initiates check-in

Employee verifies customer information

Chip is created and embedded

Baggage enters system

What Needs To Be Done?

1. Planning Phase

1.1 Initial Research

1.2 Site Specific HW/SW Research

1.3 Process Model

1.4 System Architecture

1.5 Cost-Benefit Analysis

1.6 Revision

2. Contract/Design Phase

2.1 Write Contract

2.2 Blueprint Design

2.3 Diagram Walkthrough/Signatures

2.4 Contract Begins

3. Gathering Materials Phase

3.1 Get materials for database storage system

3.2 Get materials for RFID hardware

3.3 Get materials for computer software

4. Software Development Phase

4.1 Develop user interface

4.2 Develop database

4.3 Integrate interface and database software

What Needs To Be Done?

5. Implementation Phase

5.1 Installing RFID scanners

5.2 Installing new database/computer hardware

5.3 Installation of new software

5.4 Setup of RFID tag organization system

6. Integration Phase

6.1 Integration of databases

6.2 Integrate old software dependencies

6.3 Train employees on use of new system

7. Alpha Testing Phase

7.1 Initial testing

7.2 Secondary testing

7.3 Final testing

7.4 Project completion

PERT CHART

2

51

6

Start

4

3

F

7

Contract Design Phase

PlanningPhase

Gathering Materials

Phase

SoftwareDevelopment

Phase

Implementation Phase

Integration Phase

Alpha Testing Phase

11d, 2hrs

3d, 4h

rs

3wks

7 wks

6 w

ks

8 wks

9 w

ks

0 days

What Needs To Be Done?

Great! How Much Will This Cost?

The total estimated cost for this project is $15.9 million.

The same amount of money could be spent on just 6,400 pieces of lost baggage.

Nearly twice this amount of items are lost every day worldwide.

What About Delays and Problems?

A Risk Mitigation Strategy has already been prepared for this project.

What About Delays and Problems?

RFID tags are damaged, lost, or ripped off– Research ways to improve tag durability in extreme

conditions, such as cold temperatures and low pressure. RFID readers do not work

– Have spare readers on hand to replace broken ones.– Testing can be done to test if placement of the readers on

planes causes trouble. Shipping delays for product delivery

– Order early– Allow plenty of time to allow for possible delays.– Order replacement parts to avoid a second delivery

process.

Recap

Lost baggage is a major problem in airports. Customers overwhelmingly named lost

baggage the #1 problem in airports today. An RFID tracking system is a simple, cost-

effective solution to this issue. Implementing RFID technology will drastically

reduce the amount of time and money lost to baggage mistakes.

That’s All, Folks!

Thank you for your time! Are there any questions?