KLM recently took great pride in unveiling a new innovation: the Care-E airport robot. This helpful robot will be tested at US airports this summer and will then be introduced at Schiphol, albeit in small numbers.
The robot was developed to make travellers even more comfortable during their time at Schiphol Airport. The Care-E carries bags, takes passengers to the gate, makes sure they get there on time and also communicates any gate or time changes. The airport robot is being tested at San Francisco International Airport and John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York this summer. It is planned that the robot will then also perform its tricks at Schiphol Airport, but when that will happen is still unclear.
This is mainly due to the fact that there is currently only one copy of the robot. "It is still only a concept," the national airline spokesperson stressed to AD.nl. The Care-E looks like a small blue trolley with a reclining section and the front end standing a bit straighter and containing the interface that communicates with passengers.
Innovations
With the airport robot, KLM hopes to demonstrate that it is working hard on innovations specifically designed to increase travellers' travel comfort. As such, it is not the first robot KLM has come up with. The first robot was called Spencer, which was tested in 2016 and co-developed by Professor Vanessa Evers' Human Media Interaction department at the University of Twente. She tells AD.nl: "To this new robot we have added all kinds of new functionalities, for example it can carry your suitcase and scan your ticket." Another difference is that this time the robot was not developed in the Netherlands, but in America. Last but not least, the latest variant is much smaller and has also been given a more modern look.
After the first tests in America, Care-E will tour various airports worldwide. "It will then definitely come to Schiphol too," KLM's spokesperson informs, adding immediately: , "Don't immediately expect a thousand robots to be driving around then. We really only have one of them."
It may be a long time before Care-E drives around airports in large numbers.
By: Kelly Bakker
Source + photo: AD.nl/KLM YouTube
