Problem
Air travel has become more accessible than ever. However, for passengers with restricted mobility, navigating a busy terminal with heavy baggage remains a significant challenge. The physical strain of manoeuvring luggage across long distances, combined with the mental load of coordinating baggage logistics, compounds the fatigue of travel itself. During long layovers or before check-in counters open, these passengers are left with few option, restricting their freedom to move through the terminal and engage with its amenities. Existing porter services are inconsistent, labour-dependent, and difficult to scale.
"How might we design an autonomous baggage concierge that gives passengers with restricted mobility back their independence, from the moment they arrive at the terminal?"
B.HIVE: Baggage Handling Intelligent Vehicle Ecosystem
B.HIVE is an autonomous baggage concierge designed with accessibility as its primary consideration. By collecting and transporting passenger baggage from any convenient point within the terminal to the main baggage handling system, B.HIVE relieves passengers of their luggage entirely, freeing them to move through the terminal, engage with amenities, and travel on their own terms.
Initiated through a simple QR-accessible web application requiring only a booking reference, the handoff process demands minimal interaction from the passenger. For those who arrive before check-in counters open, Trolley Mode allows B.HIVE to accompany them through the terminal via Bluetooth-based following.
Three Demonstrable Outputs
B.HIVE operates across two components: a progressive web app that lets you request assistance and check in your bags from anywhere in the terminal, and an autonomous robot that collects your luggage and delivers it directly to the baggage handling system.
Try out the web application with these login credentials: PNR ABC123 / Last name Ang
Try out the web application with these login credentials: PNR ABC123 / Last name Ang
From arrival to drop-off, the entire journey is handled autonomously.
B.HIVE is demonstrated across two physical prototypes and a web application, each responsible for a different stage of the journey. The Functional Prototype handles the mobile side — navigating to the passenger and following them through the terminal. The Stationary Prototype handles the physical side — weighing baggage and delivering it to the Baggage Handling System. The web application ties both together as the passenger's primary interface, from the initial request to the final confirmation. Together, all three demonstrate the complete B.HIVE experience from arrival to drop-off.
SITA FlexBox
Functional Prototype demonstrates point-to-point autonomous navigation
Stationary Prototype demonstrates weighing capabilities
Start From Anywhere
B.HIVE Comes To You
Leave The Rest To B.HIVE
Scan a QR code at any arrival hall, seating area, or self check-in kiosks like the SITA FlexBox, no download required. Log in to the web application with your booking reference, declare your baggage, and request B.HIVE in just a few taps. Your journey is now in motion.
The Functional Prototype navigates autonomously to wherever you are in the terminal, no fixed counter, no queue. If you've arrived early and check-in isn't open yet, Trolley Mode uses Bluetooth to follow you as you move, so your luggage stays with you without you having to manage it. Explore the terminal freely while B.HIVE keeps up.
When you're ready, hand your bag over to the Stationary Prototype, which weighs it to IATA standards and automatically unloads it directly into the Baggage Handling System. No staff needed, no counter required. A confirmation lands on your phone, and you're done!
User Persona
Not everyone experiences the airport the same way. For passengers like Margaret — a frequent traveller in her late sixties managing her luggage independently after a hip replacement — the physical demands of navigating a busy terminal with heavy baggage aren't just inconvenient. Without assistance that is reliably available, accessible, and easy to use, the airport becomes a place that limits rather than enables independence. Margaret shaped B.HIVE from the beginning. A survey of 78 travellers confirmed she is far from alone: location-flexible check-in was the most wanted feature (32%), real-time tracking the second priority, and Trolley Mode — the feature most critical to passengers like Margaret — emerged directly from open-ended responses asking travellers to reimagine how luggage should be handled. The system was developed and validated in close collaboration with SITA APAC, grounding B.HIVE in real airport infrastructure and passenger handling standards. The video below shows a passenger loading a 20.2kg bag onto the Stationary Prototype from a wheelchair — without staff assistance, and without the ramp system installed. A deliberately honest look at where the project stands, and where it is headed.
PROTOTYPE DEMONSTRATIONS
Playlist
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