Pittsburgh International Airport partnered with a group of Carnegie Mellon University students to use advanced technology to increase the efficiency of restroom cleaning. As part of the airport’s xBridge innovation center, the latest project’s goal is to calculate real-time, smarter cleaning schedules using artificial intelligence. The AI will take into account when and where flights come in, how many people use a restroom based on a beam that counts people as they approach and, eventually, sensors to alert staff when amenities need to be refilled or garbage emptied.

The students are part of CMU’s Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence and Innovation program. The course contains six different projects, with the airport project the most popular choice. The teams are graded on their projects, and also compete for prize money.

“What’s really interesting is that we’re doing this through leading-edge technology. This is technology not used in U.S. airports today,” said Katherine Karolick, senior vice president of information technology, Pittsburgh International Airport. “We can bring all of these components together for innovation, and that made it very desirable for the students because they know they’re stepping into an environment where they can innovate. We are thrilled to have these young, brilliant students in this program, which is hugely impressive with some of the brightest AI thought leaders out there.”

PIT also announced a partnership with Honeywell to develop a live dashboard measuring air quality, allowing airport staff to identify and correct issues in real time.