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High-Speed Baggage Handling System Controlled via the Modern KE5 ASi-3 Gateway and with RFID Technology

By replacing the old stainless steel gateways, many IIoT benefits can be taken advantage of. This is an important reason for being awarded this airport project, in which several hundred gateways are in use. Precise positioning and 100 % reliable detection via RFID lay additional foundations for success. The gateway, which is only 38 mm wide, boasts a compact design and cost efficiency with a high-resolution external color display. Bridged spring terminals enable UL-compliant installation, even up to 2 x 8 A on the dual gateway. The highlight, however, is the parallel diagnostics function via the REST API protocol.

The New Terminal 5 at Xi‘an Airport in China

One example of the market success of the KE5 ASi-3 gateways from Pepperl+Fuchs is the new terminal 5 project at the Xi‘an airport in China — comparable to Berlin in terms of population. A conscious decision was made to use the widespread ASi-3 standard, which is especially robust and has been tried and tested. In addition, this enables high savings in combination with functional enhancements. The previously used K20 gateway series lacked a modern web server and no software update was possible on-site. Alongside the improved operating concept, this was also a crucial argument for the customer‘s conversion. Moreover, Pepperl+Fuchs has a local presence and can provide support on-site: thatis a well-thought-out automation solution.

The city of Xianyang is located on the Wei River in the Shaanxi Province of the People‘s Republic of China and has around 5 million inhabitants. The airport is the largest northwest airport in China — located around 1000 km from Beijing. Xianyang is a „high-tech industrial development zone“ of growing importance for rapid economic development.

Increased Throughput and Reliability in Baggage Distribution

When the capacity for passenger processing and baggage handling is no longer sufficient, something has to change. In Xi‘an, the airport has therefore been expanded to include terminal 5. In combination with PROFINET connectivity, ASi-3 was selected as the most suitable communication technology purely for baggage handling and individual baggage transport using high-speed material handling. A total of 11 check-in stations and 33 baggage handling systems with around 15 km of conveyor line were installed in the departures area. The individual baggage handling system behind the scenes has almost the same total length of 14 km and, in addition to the 16 loading stations to the aircraft, also includes buffer storage. In the arrivals area, an additional 9 km of conveyor line was installed, which serves a total of 22 baggage claim conveyors.

The fast baggage handling system on which individual pieces of luggage whiz through the system on trays was the key improvement. To operate this system, numerous motors and switch points must be controlled and the conveyed product must be reliably identified. High-precision detection of the trays takes place via optical sensors, allowing the high-performance RFID readers to be triggered to perform a clear reading. Trays with dropped or defective tags can be detected immediately and reliably. By identifying the tray, the route to the baggage claim conveyor or the departure gate is defined and the switch points can be controlled accordingly. In addition, error-free localization always provides full transparency of the baggage in the system. The reasons for choosing the system were: a continuous baggage process, high availability, extremely high reliability, high-speed transport, pieces of luggage in individual containers, protection against damage to the transported goods, and uninterrupted transport.

Communication via ASi-3

Along the line, powerful motors and frequency inverters are used, which generate interference fields in the MHz range. That is why the proven and robust ASi-3 system with 3 V signal level and 167 kHz carrier frequency was the ideal choice. The interference bands of the frequency inverters are in the MHz range and therefore well above the ASi-3 communication. The ASi-3 communication has been tried and tested and offers unrivaled robustness.

The Heart of the ASi-3 System

The K20 stainless steel gateways had significant supply problems in 2022, some of which still exist. Pepperl+Fuchs has managed to make a significantly improved successor solution available quickly. The KE5 ASi-3 gateway is available immediately from stock with all approvals, such as cULus, PNO, and ODVA.