In earlier research, it has been shown that air traffic controllers can benefit from support tools when performing their conflict detection and resolution task. The support tools used in this research vary from alerting the controller when a conflict is detected to automatically generating a conflict resolution. To take advantage of the controllers' knowledge and experience the support tools should show the solution space rather than only one computed solution. The solution space shows the controller options to create a conflict avoidance maneuver or displays the information the computed solution is based on. A case study has been performed to identify the information currently used to construct an avoidance maneuver. The study showed that controllers determine the avoidance maneuver by estimating the current and future air traffic situation using extrapolated tracks and experience regarding the location of busy areas. Besides future aircraft positions, the solution space comprises all data that has an influence on the avoidance maneuver. Information in the solution space can be based on prediction with an uncertainty distribution. It is important to show the controller the reliability of the predictions and consequently must be included in the solution space. The research described in this paper aims to develop the data structure needed to integrate the different constraints including the uncertainty distribution. Subsequently, the implementation of the concept in a first prototype is discussed.
In the past fifteen years, several research programs have demonstrated potential advantages of synthetic vision technology for manned aviation. More recently, some research programs have focused on integrating synthetic vision technology into control stations for remotely controlled aircraft. The contribution of synthetic vision can be divided into two categories. The depiction of the environment and all relevant constraints contributes to the pilot's situation awareness, while the depiction of the planned path and its constraints allows the pilot to control or monitor the aircraft with high precision. This paper starts with an overview of the potential opportunities provided by synthetic vision technology. A distinction is made between the presentation domain and the function domain. In the presentation domain, the benefits are obtained from making the invisible visible. In the function domain, benefits are obtained from the possibility to integrate data from the synthetic vision system into other functions. The paper continues with a number of examples of situation awareness support concepts which have been explored in the current research. After this, the potential contribution of synthetic vision technology to the manual control task is discussed and it is indicated how these potential advantages will be explored in the next research phase.
Future Air Traffic Management systems may lead to a shift from the state based operation that is used today to a trajectory based operation. As a result, the error between where the aircraft will actually be and is computed to be becomes independent of look-ahead time. This might lead to a situation where the time to conflict is long enough so that the control margin of a speed change will be sufficient to solve the conflict. Solving the conflict by only changing speeds is an advantage in operations where a trajectory change is not desirable. A tool could generate a speed advisory to solve the conflict, however the solution is a balance between the extra separation needed and the available control margin. If the controller has enough insight in the separation and the effect of a speed change, the controller has the final decision in this balance. An experiment showed that without explicit support that provides preview on the impact of speed changes on separation, controllers do not have enough insight in the separation and speed margins to generate a valid solution by only changing speed. To support the air traffic controller a new tool was developed to make the speed margins more explicit.
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