Fin the Flight Attendant Robot

An extra set of helping hands when traveling above the clouds

Welcome!

Flying, and travel in general, is a stressful and time consuming experience. Our goal is to make that experience as best as it possibly can be! Fin the Flight Attendant is the perfect extra set of hands to effortlessly guide passengers to their seats, assist in lifting luggage overhead, and prepare inflight drinks and snacks. Customizable for each airline, Fin can be programed with passenger lists, different languages, drink recipes, and even airline specific uniforms. Not only will passengers’ inflight trip be personalized through machine learning of body language and facial expressions, the additional human flight attendants aboard will have more time to focus on the specific needs of passengers. Taking off the physical stressors, such as pushing the heavy aisle cart, flight attendants will be happier and healthier.

Why

Flight attendants are a vital aspect of air travel - without them we probably would not even be in the air like we are now. Because of their importance, they are in charge of a lot of things during a flight - but they are people too! They need time to sleep, time to eat, and time off to see their family. This is where Fin the Flight Attendant joins the party. Due to their long list of responsibilities, Fin is here as an extra set of hands to take some of the necessary (but more programmed) tasks.

In order to determine what tasks Fin will be in charge of, we conducted an informational interview with a current flight attendant, Amy. Amy has been a flight attendant for 31 years and loves the job. Through our conversation we gained some light on the responsibilities, safety and medical tasks, and social aspects of the job.

Responsibilities include…

on boarding - greeting passengers, make sure no one has more than two carry on items
helping with overhead luggage
seat organization
serving drinks and meals - pushing the 250lb carts down the aisle
dealing with federal air marshals / private security
medical help or emergencies

she mentioned the importance of having to smell : if a diabetic passenger needs care, a fruity smell indicates the need for insulin whereas the smell of nail polis indicates needing sugar

safety help or emergencies

seatbelts, exit row instructions, opening of regular doors

general passenger interaction and conversations

From this we were able to determine that the job is hard, and the help would be accepted.

In our nature, humans can sometimes be unpredictable due to personal problems, illness, or want to pursue new interests. Fin the flight attendant will always be on board (literally and figuratively) and are as reliable as they come! Our conversation allowed us to see how we could help and try to make both the flight attendants’ and passengers’ travel experience as enjoyable as possible.

Users

Flight Attendant

User Physicality of Flight Attendants:

Differences in Physicality Between Human and Robots

Physicality	Human Flight Attendant	Robot Flight Attendant
Vision	Has imperfect vision and memory of what they have seen but will pay attention to the right stimuli	Can record everything with a high quality camera but doesn’t know what it’s looking at or looking for
Smell	Can identify different smells	Can’t differentiate between smells
Hearing	Good at understanding speech regardless of accents but sometimes can’t hear alarms and speech that are too quiet or too high	Good at detecting sounds of different volumes and frequencies but difficulty processing dictation (like Siri) to communicate with passengers
Language	Sounds like a human (can convey warmth or urgency) but limited foreign language skills	Sounds robotic (awkward and little expressive quality) but can communicate in many languages
Strength	Limited strength	Stronger than human but could be too strong when dealing with human passengers
Height	Limited height	Can adjust height
Mobility	Can step around and over obstacles but might not see them and trip	Can accurately detect obstacles but will have difficulty moving past them
Rest	Limited energy; Needs breaks to sleep and eat	Limited charge; needs breaks to be charged
Health	Can get sick	Can get broken or bugs
Age	Aging causes reduced dexterity, strength, eyesight, memory, etc.	Aging leads to outdated software and worn hardware

Examples of Differences in Tasks

Task	Human Flight Attendant	Robot
Serving alcohol	Not always good at identifying minors and detecting fake IDs	With data from airline, will know the exact age of each passenger and serve accordingly
Identifying needs of passengers with disabilities	Good at identifying and accommodating for passengers with disabilities (missing-limbed, deaf, blind, Parkinson’s-affected)	Has to be told if passenger has a disability and will act accordingly but can’t identify on own and disability not always in data given
Lifting luggage to overhead compartment	Not always tall or strong enough (can also get injured) but can problem solve and rearrange luggage to fit everything	Strong, durable and can adjust height but can’t problem solve like humans (but can know which compartments are full or empty)
Passenger has diabetic emergency	Able to smell if passenger needs insulin (has fruity smell) or needs sugar (has nail polish smell)	Can not smell and differentiate between smells

User Psychology of Flight Attendants:

Desires

Nice passengers
Complete job flawlessly

Fears

Dangerous passengers
Terrorist attacks
Plane crashing
Medical emergencies while in flight
Passengers filing complaints

Uncertainties

Serving too much alcohol
Disruptive and disrespectful passengers
Unexpected personal issues or illnesses outside of work

Aspirations

Fun, safe flight

Passenger

Physicality of Passenger:

Limitations:

Limited strength and height

Needed to place luggage in overhead compartment

Limited movement ability to get up out of seat
Disabilities:

User Psychology

https://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/virgin-flight/2863485 - May want to include as an examplke of what Fin is not. Very funny.

Desires

Nice passengers and flight attendants
Get to destination fast and safe
Companionship or to be left alone (depending on passenger)
Fun or funny experience
Help with overhead luggage
Peaceful and relaxing
Good conversation

Fears

Dangerous passengers
Terrorist attacks
Plane crashing
Having a medical emergency while in flight
Won’t get to destination on time
Separation from loved ones
Separation from luggage and belongings

Getting robbed

Flying
Claustrophobia
If ‘right’ food will be available
Need to go to bathroom

Uncertainties

Comfort of seating
Whether can sleep or not
Delays
Temperature or lighting
Invasion of personal space

User Walkthrough

To start, Fin the robotic flight attendant will store the user profile information that each person on the flight had entered when they purchased their ticket. This information will allow Fin to have up to date information on things such as whether or not someone has a disability, if they will require extra assistance, if children are flying alone, where each person is sitting and if there are any empty seats. Fin will be able to aid passengers on tasks such as food and drink orders, placing luggage in overhead bins, answering questions about flight connections, delays or departures and helping the elderly and/or passengers with disabilities get in and out of their seats.

For one example, a snow storm has hit the arrival airport and several people on the plane are concerned about their connection flight. The flight is traveling from Bangkok, Thailand to Boston, USA. There are 5 different languages spoken by passengers on the flight. Each passenger will be able to press the call button to summon Fin and ask questions about their next flight. Fin will be able to process the language they are speaking and respond in the same language with the most up to date information it has received from the airport. Fin’s ability to fluently communicate with passengers in multiple languages will be a complete game changer for airlines.

Future Directions

The future of Fin will look like something out of the film “I, Robot.” The physical features of Fin will become more human like, including biosynthetic skin instead of a metallic, plastic body structure. The biosynthetic skin will allow Fin to provide a realist “human touch” and provide better comfort to flight passengers. Also, as AI and machine learning continues to become more sophisticated, Fin will now only be able to learn from his own interactions but also the interaction’s other Fin robots have. This will allow Fin robots to learn and adapt to a higher volume and wider variety of situations.

Limitations

Fin’s limitations are dependant on the engineers and technology used to build him. Even as AI continues to develop and progress, at the end of the day, robots are not sentient. The more Fin interacts with human flight attendants and passengers, the better he will become at recognizing specific tasks, situations and how to respond. However, even with the most innovative AI, it is does not have emotions and therefore not a true like for like replacement for human interaction. Another limitation for fin is his battery life and technology when it needs repair. If Fins battery dies or the computer begins to malfunction while on a flight, he not only becomes non-functional but may also create extra work for the human flight attendants.

Saturday Night Live (SNL) skit about using bionic flight attendants.

https://www.hypable.com/snl-recap-scarlett-johansson-black-widow/

Solution

Task Analysis

After speaking with our subject matter expert, Amy, we understand that flight attendants do many tasks (e.g. emergency scenarios, lifting luggage, wayfinding, etc.).The following list was created by replacedbyrobot.com:

Collect money for meals and beverages.
Walk aisles of planes to verify that passengers have complied with federal regulations prior to takeoffs and landings.
Assist passengers in placing carry-on luggage in overhead, garment, or under-seat storage.
Announce flight delays and descent preparations.
Check to ensure that food, beverages, blankets, reading material, emergency equipment, and other supplies are aboard and are in adequate supply.
Announce and demonstrate safety and emergency procedures, such as the use of oxygen masks, seat belts, and life jackets.
Assist passengers entering or disembarking the aircraft.
Prepare reports showing places of departure and destination, passenger ticket numbers, meal and beverage inventories, the conditions of cabin equipment, and any problems encountered by passengers.
Greet passengers boarding aircraft and direct them to assigned seats.
Attend preflight briefings concerning weather, altitudes, routes, emergency procedures, crew coordination, lengths of flights, food and beverage services offered, and numbers of passengers.
Direct and assist passengers in emergency procedures, such as evacuating a plane following an emergency landing.
Inspect passenger tickets to verify information and to obtain destination information.
Reassure passengers when situations such as turbulence are encountered.
Inspect and clean cabins, checking for any problems and making sure that cabins are in order.
Sell alcoholic beverages to passengers.
Heat and serve prepared foods.
Determine special assistance needs of passengers such as small children, the elderly, or disabled persons.
Conduct periodic trips through the cabin to ensure passenger comfort and to distribute reading material, headphones, pillows, playing cards, and blankets.
Take inventory of headsets, alcoholic beverages, and money collected.
Administer first aid to passengers in distress.
Answer passengers' questions about flights, aircraft, weather, travel routes and services, arrival times, or schedules.
Verify that first aid kits and other emergency equipment, including fire extinguishers and oxygen bottles, are in working order.
Prepare passengers and aircraft for landing, following procedures.

For this portion of the report, we decided to focus on one of Fin’s main tasks: food/beverage service. After speaking with Amy, we realize that this is a real pain among flight attendants. The cart that they push, sometimes at an incline, is very heavy and the task itself is monotonous. The task is fit for a robot. The task is fairly straightforward, hence the simple task analysis. If the passenger says “orange juice”, then Fin remembers the order and latter dispenses orange juice. In order for Fin to go from essentially a vending machine (input - A3, output - cookies come out) to a truly social robot, there needs to be emotion and human understanding involved. That is why Fin is programmed to evaluate each guest’s body language and facial affect before the interaction, much like a human does unconsciously. Human flight attendants know not to speak loudly if someone in that row is sleeping. Human flight attendants can tell if a worried passenger needs some reassurance. Human flight attendants can tell if someone is upset with something. For Fin to be successful, it needs to not only understand these cues as well if not better than humans, but be able to adapt its behavior accordingly. For example, if a child looks upset, maybe Fin will get down to his/her level and ask if he/she wants anything. The human touch is what will set Fin apart from the vending machines.