#HTE

A Hi-Tech “Polite” Automated Luggage Carousel

It’s admittedly a low form of stress, but we’ve all stood at a crowded luggage carousel and watched in dismay as our bag approached–partially covered by someone else’s bag, like one was trying to pin the other. With people jammed in on either side of you, you’ll have a brief second to try to work your bag free and yank it off of the conveyor.

That’s at JFK, anyway. Around the world, more enlightened airports in London, Munich, Nashville and in this case Singapore, have borrowed a trick from the world of automatic materials handling. There’s no bag-banging in Changi:

Seeing this reminds me that I’d be fine with low-speed all-autonomous city driving in stop-and-go traffic. It’s the high-speed stuff that makes me nervous.