FLUGHAFEN STUTTGART (PSIairport)

The airport of Stuttgart accepts more than 8.8 million passengers a year and is one of 10 largest German airports. From January to December, 2004 at the airport of Stuttgart 156885 airplanes, on average 400 in day landed and took off. When in 2002 new terminal 3, Vanderlande Industries company as the general contractor was constructed, charged PSI Logistics companies development of the system of management of baggage.

Range of services

In addition to processing of baggage from front desks of new terminal 3, in Stuttgart the PSI Logistics company integrated also processing of transit baggage. 40 new front desks accept baggage of the taking-off passengers in the hall of a departure 3. By means of four combined sections and inclined conveyors these racks are connected with the big device for transportation and sorting of baggage at intermediate level of the terminal. There complete examination using automatic x-ray devices is made; then the baggage is marked using barcodes, after scanning is automatically sorted and on one of four luggage roundabouts goes for loading. The sorting device distributes up to 3600 units of baggage of passengers per hour. 600 suitcases of transients are added to them. From the next terminal 1 which already available pipeline was connected to the new modern sorter the baggage can also move on processing in this modern device.

Central processing computer

"After the whole year of operation of new complexes in the terminal, we provide high non-failure operation and very reliable and transparent sorting of baggage" - Uwe Kaschdeilewitsch, the chief engineer on the equipment of processing of baggage at the airport of Stuttgart.

Basis of a complex is the central processing computer. It collects information, necessary for sorting of baggage, processes it, transfers to operators and defines necessary data for management of processing of baggage. The managing computer carries out the following tasks:

• processing of the target requests of the equipment of processing of baggage determined by barcodes
• response to signals of fault
• the server for communication with the surrounding systems
• data reception about baggage from computers of the relevant airlines
• data acquisition about the schedule of runs from the central database of the airport
• control of an automatic vyshlyuzovyvvaniye of pieces of baggage
• automatic planning of sorting roundabouts under the set daily conditions. Support of sorting in the absence of notifications from computers of airlines
• maintaining statistics of the processed baggage.

One of the main interfaces is connection of the managing computer to the image identification computer analyzer - to one of tools of the analysis of security. After carrying out the analysis the computer analyzer of image identification reports to the managing computer information on the status of security, and the managing computer uses it for further sorting and management of the transport system. If luggage unit gets access to run, the managing computer receives a command about the placement on the corresponding luggage roundabout, and in need of additional manual control of the suspicious or not exposed to raying baggage – on attendant workstation. When all articles of luggage are prepared for run, on the control panel it is possible to browse statistics about the executed sorting. The set purposes of selection of baggage automatically are closed by the managing computer; a system is ready to accomplishment of the subsequent tasks.

Configuration

The managing sorting computer is executed in the form of two processors with function of the increased non-failure operation. The cluster system consists of two IBM pSeries 630 servers and two external mirror SCSI disks. Both computers work in cluster network, it means that they control and, if necessary, replace each other.