 Intelligent Check-In Desk (ICD)
MacDonald Humfrey (Automation) Ltd has recently announced the development and introduction of a new innovative product under the name of ICD-Weigh. The ICD-Weigh integrates the weigh scales into the Check In Desk Touch Screen.
The ICD (Intelligent Check in Desk) is believed to be the only European weigh scales that have been approved by the National Weights and Measures Laboratory as an integrated weigh scales for point of sale activity.
The solution not only operates as an integrated point of sale weigh scale at check in desk terminals but via the intelligent touch screen terminal also incorporates a number of unique features that allow check in desk operations to be optimised into a cost effective solution.
The ICD was originally developed by Macdonald Humfrey (Automation) Ltd for the new terminal at Luton Airport.
The original Luton Airport Intelligent check in desk touch screen PC was developed as an alternative to a CUTE system which was to allow any bag to be allocated to any chute.
The Check-In desk touch screen incorporated several other features such as: -
- Flight check in page
- Flight allocation page
- Bag Over-weight interlock alarm
- Fault alarm page
- Maintenance diagnostics page
- Information banner
- Local check in conveyor control pushbuttons
The 60 off check in desks at Luton Airport all communicated over Ethernet. In order to be able to interface to the MIS system and the PLC controller, Macdonald Humfrey (Automation) Ltd developed a MODBUS+ protocol over Ethernet.
Since the success of the Luton Airport Check-In Desk touch screen PC’s, Macdonald Humfrey (Automation) Ltd have progressed the concept further to incorporate full weigh scale technology. This new product effectively takes over from the weigh scale display on the operator side and incorporates the display into the check in desk touch screen display.
The new Intelligent Check-In Desk screen (ICD) also takes control of the passenger facing weight display, which has been changed to a touch screen display. The passenger facing touch screen display now has additional passenger satisfaction features such as foreign language interaction. All passenger baggage weights are completely and dynamically captive and available for immediate upward transmission via Ethernet communications (or other) to the Airlines DCS. These weights and bag units are tallied by bag/customer/family/class/flight.
An additional feature installed as part of the weights and measures approval process is the ability to automatically calculate charges by individual airline tariffs. This approval procedure came under the certification of ‘Point OF Sale Equipment’.
The Touch screen has in built databases configurable relative to any Airline. Therefore a passenger checking in on a BA flight would have their bag weighed and if overweight the ICD would automatically calculate the overweight charge adopting the Airline tariff and display the charge to the passenger on the ICD. This weight charge would be displayed to the operator and to the passenger on the passenger facing display. (In their own language).
One of the main features of the ICD is the de-cluttering of the check in desk of superfluous equipment such as the operator weigh scale displays and controls and also the removal from the desk of the conveyor pushbutton controls.
All of these features now reside within the ICD plus much more functionality.
- Operator Main Screen
- Password Protection to open desk
- Conveyor Inch & Despatch Pushbuttons
- Flight Allocation
- Alarm Page
- Maintenance Page (Password Protected)
- Incorporates weigh scale information
- Individual Airline Tariff Database
- Training Prompt
- Language Information Page
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