Virtual and Remote Control Tower - Research, Design, Development and Validation

Abstract

The proposed book contains in six separate chapters contributions to the variety of aspects of the interdisciplinary research and development work performed during the recent ten years towards the goal of replacing the conventional airport control tower by a new "Remote Tower" work environment (RTO). As a first step small, low-traffic airports are addressed with the expectation of increasing work efficiency and safety and reducing cost. This revolutionary human-system interface allows for remote aerodrome traffic control without the physical tower building and at the same time enables the establishment of Remote Airport Traffic Control Centers (RTC) where several airports will be controlled from a central location. Following a preface and an introduction into the subject the ca. 23 separate contributions are grouped into six chapters which cover the following topics: Fundamentals (Aerodrome Traffic Control, visual information / visual cues, aircraft detection/SSO-model), Human-in-the-Loop Simulations for Requirements and Design (work analysis, communication issues, RTO /RTC human-in-the-loop simulations, requirements from two-alternative decision experiments), RTO-Design and Engineering (videopanorama design and engineering, automation, movement detection), RTO-/RTC-Validation (operational issues, shadow-mode tests, data analysis and advanced methods), Alternative Approaches and Perspectives (US-FAA Approach, future perspectives: synthetic vision and VR), and Appendix (practical guidelines on structured work analysis, Questionaires, technical design fundamentals, signal detection theory / Bayes inference for data analysis, RTO/RTC simulator environment). A glossary, authors CV’s and index will complete the volume.