Changi Airport (CAG) has joined hands with Sarcos Technology and Robotics to develop an autonomous baggage-loading system prototype. This initiative is a part of CAG’s efforts to reduce the risk of on-the-job injuries from baggage handling and to ease the efforts of the ground handling personnel
The initial field demonstrations were held in September 2022 at Changi airport and confirmed the opportunity for robotics to support air traffic recovery as well as meet staffing needs.
Kiva Allgood, president, and CEO of Sarcos, said: “Deploying robotics to improve workplace safety is core to our mission at Sarcos and this system has the potential to transform airports across the globe by making them safer and reducing passenger delays due to weather-related downtime. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with CAG to augment the workforce of the tarmac with robotics.”
Poh Li San, senior vice president of Terminal 5 Planning, CAG, said: “Similar to major airports throughout the world, recruiting enough ground handling personnel to support our growth is a challenge. We have been encouraged by the innovative solution from Sarcos to help address these issues, and we are excited to explore the next steps toward implementation.”
The development and trial of the baggage loading system is partially funded by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore through its Aviation Development Fund. The ADF supports initiatives to improve productivity in the Singapore aviation sector using innovative solutions.