Internet-of-Things-augmented dynamic route planning approach to the airport baggage handling system

This paper proposes a dynamic route planning approach to the airport baggage handling systems. In previous studies, when planning the baggage transmission routes, real-time conditions of the baggage handling system are often neglected. This study incorporates the real-time baggage tracking information and device disruption information into the baggage route planning algorithm based on Internet-of-Things technologies. Taking Hierarchical Cooperative A* algorithm (HCA*) as the basic routing core, we propose a comprehensive algorithmic framework for the dynamic baggage route planning problem, in order to iteratively generate conflict-free baggage transmission routes while adapting to varying system conditions. We propose a unified prioritizing scheme so that baggage can be handled in proper order according to their arrival, departure and waiting time. This solution approach also contains a disruption handling mechanism by which the affected transportation links and baggage can be appropriately handled. A real airport case is used to verify the proposed solution approach. The results show that our proposed method is around 10% more efficient than the decentralized heuristic algorithm. Meanwhile, the average baggage throughput time decreases about 5% when real-time information is included. This paper also shows how to identify susceptible transmission links so specific maintenance plans can be arranged.