by Donald Wood
Last updated: 11:50 AM ET, Thu July 12, 2018
Dutch national carrier KLM Royal Dutch Airlines announced it is currently testing a self-driving airport travel assistant designed to help passengers carry their luggage at airports around the world.
According to MyFox8.com, the self-driving trolley has been dubbed Care-E, a bright-blue robot that can carry up to 85 pounds of luggage and drive by the side of passengers at three miles per hour, the average human walking pace.
Care-E is currently being tested by the Dutch airline at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, and the plan is for the robot assistant to make its debut at John F. Kennedy International in New York City and San Francisco International airports later in 2018.
The self-driving trolley will use a series of nonverbal sounds to assist travelers in common airport tasks, including scanning boarding passes and carrying bags to the gate. The computer's ability to access real-time data will allow it to take passengers to the proper area, even when airlines make gate changes.
Airlines and airports have worked with artificial intelligence and robots in the past, including LaGuardia Airport in New York instituting robot guides and KLM previously adding an android named Spencer at its home base at Schiphol Airport.
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