PJ.05 W2 Digital technologies for Tower
- Solution PJ.05-W2-35 Multiple Remote Tower and Remote Tower centre.
The solution addresses the remotely provision of Air Traffic Services (ATS) from a Remote Tower Centre (RTC) to a large number of airports. It includes the development of RTC supervisor and support systems and advanced automation functions for a more cost efficient solution. The solution also covers the integration of approach for airports connected to the remote centre and connections between RTCs with systems for flow management and the development of tools and features for a flexible planning of all aerodromes connected to remote tower services.
- Solution PJ.05-W2-97 HMI Interaction modes for Airport Tower.
The solution addresses the development of new human machine interface (HMI) interaction modes and technologies in order to minimise the load and mental strain on the Tower controllers. The SESAR solution shall consider modern design and development approaches and methodologies such as modularity, SoA, adaptive automation, etc. The new HMI interaction modes include the use of in-air gestures, attention control, user profile management systems, tracking labels, virtual and augmented reality, etc.
Some small and remote European cities are highly dependent of local and regional airports for connection purposes, maintaining local business and cargo. Remote Tower Services (RTS) provide an opportunity for continued operation of airports and rural development. The costs for performing Air Traffic Service (ATS) are high and could be reduced, particularly at low to medium density airports, by provision of Air Traffic Services (ATS) from a remote tower specifically through a highly efficient multi remote tower solution. The focus on maintaining situation awareness becomes an increasingly important factor with multiple remote tower operations, therefore additional automation functionalities e.g. voice recognition, conflict detection, and conflict resolution advisories should be developed in order to gradually increase the operating range of the concept. There is a need for effective planning tools in both short term and long term all managed by a supervisor role.
The efficiency of using the CWP HMIs for the airport tower requires improvements by exploiting the latest mature technologies and new interaction modes e.g. touch, gesture, voice, etc..
This project will develop solutions that are expected to provide:
- Improved cost-efficiency with the optimisation of the use of available resources;
- Increased safety with an increased awareness of the traffic situation thanks to the use of digital display information available to the tower controller;
- Increased ATCO efficiency with the use of technologies allowing ATCOs to focus on key tasks.