UNSEQ, an Eindhoven startup building robots to load and unload baggage inside aircraft holds, will pitch at the Evoluon on 12 November. The job it targets can mean lifting up to 180 bags in a single turnaround.
Credit: this report is based on a story first published by IO+. Read the original at ioplus.nl.
According to IO+, Eindhoven-based UNSEQ is developing robots for one of the hardest jobs in aviation: loading and unloading baggage inside the narrow hold of a passenger aircraft. Co-founder and chief executive Robert de Bruijne set out the company's plans in the eighth instalment of an IO+ series profiling the eight finalists and one wildcard of the AI Pitch Competition.
The problem it targets
In a single turnaround, a ground handler may lift up to 180 bags, some weighing as much as 32 kilograms, IO+ reports. The work is repeated several times a day, in a space where handlers cannot stand upright and air quality is poor.
Airports worldwide face staff shortages and high turnover on the tarmac, according to the report. Conventional factory automation struggles in the hold, because every bag is different and room to manoeuvre is measured in centimetres.
The technology
UNSEQ combines Vision-Language-Action (VLA) models with World Action Models and reinforcement learning. The aim is a robot that recognises a bag, works out how to grip it and plans its movements in the space available.
De Bruijne told IO+ that narrow-body aircraft holds give the company a focused starting point with an international market, since ground handlers around the world face similar problems. Scaling the system will call for manufacturing, maintenance, operator training and reliable support, he said.
The company's intended setup keeps a human operator or supervisor involved outside the aircraft. UNSEQ is also working out how the EU AI Act applies to its product, alongside machinery and product-safety rules.
The funding gap he flags
De Bruijne said national subsidies can help fund AI development, prototypes and testing before a product earns revenue. He also called for more support for the step from prototype to commercial product: patient capital, accessible testing and customers willing to help validate new technology.
He sees physical work as the next wave for the technology. "The AI boom in physical work is still only beginning," he told IO+.
What comes next
UNSEQ will pitch to the jury at the Evoluon in Eindhoven on 12 November, during AI Summit Brainport. The AI Pitch Competition is organised by Erasmus Enterprise, BOM and IO+, with support from the Province of North Brabant.
Original source: IO+, "'A flight should not come at the expense of someone's back'"
