Design Objects & Definition
STEP 1
Goal of Design
Which carry ons are probibited? (TSA)
Designing Security Screening Booth for Airport to enbale screening of passengers and their carry ons with minimal intervention.
STEP 2
What is Airport Security Screening? Checking out passengers and their luggages before their boarding to avoid potentail threats. Getting rid of hazardous stuffs from the luggages and find out dangerous person.
STEP 3
Basic research is required ETC. Dry Ice, Gasoline-powered tools, Wet-cell Batteries, Camping equipment with fuel, Radioactive materials, Poisons. Infectious substances, Personal care items containing hazardous materials, Flammable perfume or Aerosols.
How can screeners find out prohibited items or threatening people?
X-ray scanners are usually used to inspect passengers luggages. Giving plane see-through images of luggages, X-ray scanners are substituted by CTX machines recently.
Metal detectors are usually used to screen passengers body and find out metal objects. Using change of magnetic field to find metallic objects.
Current System Analysis
What is Screening Process?
Waiting Line (1 ~ 40 min. waiting) Boarding ticket and passport checking
Placing passengers’ carry ons on x-ray belt. (Seperating passengers and luggages) Walking through Metal dector while passenger’s carry ons are passing through x-ray machine. Reunite all carry ons
Additional Screening mabe be needed some passengers and their carry ons.
Waiting Line.
The amount of waiting time is diverse but it depends on seasons and also time. One of the busiest day is Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day, and passengers had to wait for almost one hour to pas screening booth in 2004. Because of this, it is recommended to come to airport at least one hour earlier before the flight.
Current System Analysis Timeline The history of Airport Screening system The history of airport screening system is not much long. the first EDS(Explosive Dectection System) was developed in 1987 and the first demostration unit was installed in 1998, behind the United Airline ticket counter in the international terminal, at the San Francisco airport. so, It had just 10 yeras old history. Whenever airline terrors or accidents occured airport system had been emphasized. However, it is still simple process and not enough to prevent potantial dangers fully. After the 9.11 tragedy, the airport security industry enterned on new phase. Every steps to pass screening booth is getting more complex and strict than before. So, many passengers feel incovenience when they travel by plane and the new way to reduce interventions and processing time is required.
Now...
1987
1988
1990
1994
Imatron developed EDS using Cat scan technology.
PAN AM Flight 103 Dec. 12 38 mins after taking off London airport, exploded. 250 passengers and 11 people on the ground died.
FAA and NAS decided to use CT technologies for EDS system.
The first CTX was developed.
1995
1996
2001
The first EDS was installed San Francisco Airport.
TWA 800 July 17 A few mintues after taking off New York. 230 passengers died.
9.11 Terror Officially, 3021 people were kill in chained attacks, and WTC building collapsed.
FAA made using CTX and CAPPS on every airport.
Keep emphasizing screening process. Even patting down passenger’s body is allowed to screeners. Trying to legislate the law related to CAPPS II. Testing diverse high technology screening.
Identifying Problems Which elements become problems in current screening system? To reduce interventions during screening process, identiying and analyzing current problems is needed survey and web seaching are sued to find out passengers’ dissatisfactions.
Result of Survey What is your biggest disatisfation against screening process? 1. Time delay 2. Taking off shoes 3. Treating passengers as potentail criminals 4. Quality of screening(useless) -Radiation issue (X-ray machine) -Body touching (extra insfaction) How early do usually go to airport before the flight? 1. Two hours before 2. One and half hour 3. Earlier than two hours 4. etc.
What is the biggest problem?
Most passengers pointed out time delay as a problem. According to TSA’s announcement, the busiest season in US is Thanksgiving break, Christmas. Domestic alirlines’ screening booth usually spend more time than international screening booth. In 2004 on Thanksgiving day, the longest processing time was 45 minutes on domestic line. Therefore this project focuses on reducing processing time.
Assumption Constructions
The time required to pass screening Basically, time required for one man to pass screening booth does not take long (roughly three min.) However, required time increase in geometric progression depending on the number of passengers. It is because bottleneck state of screening booth.
Step A Placing passegners’ carry ons on convayor
Step B Passing through metal detector and X-ray Step C 45 sec.~3 min.
Step C Reunite carry ons.
30 sec.
How many people can take off their stuff in the same time on current system? Just 1~#. Usually when the screening booth is crowded, screeners make almost 3~4 passengers place their carry ons in same time. It helps a little bit to reduce processing time, but there are several problems. Passengers’ belonging can be mixed up easily and it brings chaos on Step C.
Step B 15 sec.~30 sec.
Why are they wasting their time and doing nothing?
Step A 30 sec.~2 min.
What is the Problem?
Because each phase’s speed is so different, bottleneck situation occurs. The time passengers spend to take off their carry ons and reunite is much longer than actual screening time(step B). If we can reduce required time on step A or C. the total required time to pass screening booth will be reducted.
Concept Developing
The First Concept The First concept was focused on making passengers’ luggages as packet on convayor. it pervents mixing passengers’ carry ons and being chaos especially when screening booth is super busy. To identify whose luggages are and make it to packet. usa pallette. However, when extimate minimum length of pallette., it needs at least 2 1/2 feet and it;s too long to use.
Table is basically air floating table, having abundant holes on top and air comes out throught the holes. Air floating table is much helpful to make pasenger push their luggage pallette to convayor easily. Mechanism is almost same as air hockey table. Air floating table can cause of being dusty.
After the screening, gathering all empty pallette and send them back to the front are hard work because size of pallette rae big.
Passengers are divided into two different groups in front of the table, and they place their luggages and carry ons on pallette. After taking off all stuffs they can activate air floating table and puish their luggage pallettes toward canvayor belt.
To identify whos luggage pallette it is, RFID tag can be used in the system. The size of the pallette should be longer than 2 feet to carry all passengers’ carry ons.
Concept Developing
The Second Concept Removing Convayor belt, and place air holed track in the middle. it can give system more flexability and make big pallette move more smoothly. On the bottom, another convayor system moves pallettes forward. However, mechanism of this idea is too complicated, and especially elevation system can be a lttle big danerous to passengers.
After placing their belongings passagers move their pallettes to air holed track.
Small stick push pallettes forward on air floating track
After the screening, pallettes goes down to convayor system. Luaggage pallette is elevlated automatically when the booth is empty
Concept Developing
The Final Concept To aviod complex mechainism, simple and alreadyexisiting tools are considered. In this final concept, using small arts to place passengers’ luggages and belongings on it.
Cart and passenger’s luggages move into CTX machine in entirely. It’s very helpful to prevent mixing luggages. Reducing chaos on booth.
People dont hvae to wates their time in the line. Removing the time delay.
Passengers get one cart per person, and place their stuffs on the cart. Big carry ons can be placed on below and small belongings on the top of the cart. (Automatically making packet.)
After the screening, passengers can keep using their cart in terminal before the flight. Because almost 30 mintues left before the flight, small cart is useful to contain small belongings or can be used as shopping cart.(Duty free shop)