278 research outputs found

    A Performance-Based Framework for Guiding Enroute Air Traffic Control Sector Design

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    Sectors are small regions of airspace through which aircraft fly and air traffic controllers are required to manage while considering notions like safety, efficiency, and effectiveness. Interestingly, we do not know how to design, i.e. make considerations surrounding airspace, air traffic, controller, and technology factors, such that sectors generate specific levels of performance. Rather, sectors have always been designed in an artistic fashion where the focus is on human operator workload, which is fairly subjective. This research leverages the fact that many aspects of performance are objective and so are many aspects of design. A framework is proposed such that the sector design problem is abstracted in a generalizable way where performance is the focus. The framework consists of a series of natural questions which aim to set up a decision variable representative of all aspects of underlying performance we choose to care about. The decision variable is a normalized-weighted-summed-modeled-performance-loss function. A specific instance of the performance-based sector design problem was successfully demonstrated in the context of the framework. Results showed that the derived composite performance score was useful for inferring design heuristics and optimally selecting among competing design configurations. Simulation and modeling was key to this work

    DEMAND-RESPONSIVE AIRSPACE SECTORIZATION AND AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER STAFFING

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    This dissertation optimizes the problem of designing sector boundaries and assigning air traffic controllers to sectors while considering demand variation over time. For long-term planning purposes, an optimization problem of clean-sheet sectorization is defined to generate a set of sector boundaries that accommodates traffic variation across the planning horizon while minimizing staffing. The resulting boundaries should best accommodate traffic over space and time and be the most efficient in terms of controller shifts. Two integer program formulations are proposed to address the defined problem, and their equivalency is proven. The performance of both formulations is examined with randomly generated numerical examples. Then, a real-world application confirms that the proposed model can save 10%-16% controller-hours, depending on the degree of demand variation over time, in comparison with the sectorization model with a strategy that does not take demand variation into account. Due to the size of realistic sectorization problems, a heuristic based on mathematical programming is developed for a large-scale neighborhood search and implemented in a parallel computing framework in order to obtain quality solutions within time limits. The impact of neighborhood definition and initial solution on heuristic performance has been examined. Numerical results show that the heuristic and the proposed neighborhood selection schemes can find significant improvements beyond the best solutions that are found exclusively from the Mixed Integer Program solver's global search. For operational purposes, under given sector boundaries, an optimization model is proposed to create an operational plan for dynamically combining or splitting sectors and determining controller staffing. In particular, the relation between traffic condition and the staffing decisions is no longer treated as a deterministic, step-wise function but a probabilistic, nonlinear one. Ordinal regression analysis is applied to estimate a set of sector-specific models for predicting sector staffing decisions. The statistical results are then incorporated into the proposed sector combination model. With realistic traffic and staffing data, the proposed model demonstrates the potential saving in controller staffing achievable by optimizing the combination schemes, depending on how freely sectors can combine and split. To address concerns about workload increases resulting from frequent changes of sector combinations, the proposed model is then expanded to a time-dependent one by including a minimum duration of a sector combination scheme. Numerical examples suggest there is a strong tradeoff between combination stability and controller staffing

    Joint University Program for Air Transportation Research, 1982

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    A summary of the research on air transportation is addressed including navigation; guidance, control and display concepts; and hardware, with special emphasis on applications to general aviation aircraft. Completed works and status reports are presented also included are annotated bibliographies of all published research sponsored on these grants since 1972

    Navigation and guidance requirements for commercial VTOL operations

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    The NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) has undertaken a research program to develop the navigation, guidance, control, and flight management technology base needed by Government and industry in establishing systems design concepts and operating procedures for VTOL short-haul transportation systems in the 1980s time period. The VALT (VTOL Automatic Landing Technology) Program encompasses the investigation of operating systems and piloting techniques associated with VTOL operations under all-weather conditions from downtown vertiports; the definition of terminal air traffic and airspace requirements; and the development of avionics including navigation, guidance, controls, and displays for automated takeoff, cruise, and landing operations. The program includes requirements analyses, design studies, systems development, ground simulation, and flight validation efforts

    NOSTROMO - D5.1 - ATM Performance Metamodels - Preliminary Release

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    This deliverable presents the results obtained with the meta-modelling process presented in D3.1 and D3.2 applied to the two micromodels (or simulators), Mercury and FLITAN, themselves implementing concepts from four SESAR solutions, PJ01.01, PJ07.02, PJ08-01, and PJ02.08. The objective of the meta-modelling process is explained briefly again in the introduction, in particular with respect to performance assessment. The rationale for the selection of the SESAR solutions implemented in the simulators are briefly explained too. The simulators are presented in two distinct chapters. First, a general presentation of each simulator is given, with past challenges and development, before explaining the development steps carried out to implement the concepts from the chosen solutions. Domain research questions that could be answered by these implementations are highlighted along the way. The meta-modelling process is then briefly explained again, followed by the results obtained with the two simulators, in distinct sections. The results highlight the performance of the meta-model with respect to approximating the output of the micromodels, but not the performance of the models themselves with respect to the research questions, which will be explored in WP7 instead. The deliverable closes with some considerations on the meta-modelling performance and next steps for this line of work

    Towards the optimisation of the scheduling of aircraft rotations

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    The aim of this research is to investigate the schedule punctuality and reliability issue regarding the turnaround operations of an aircraft at an airport and further to explore the influence of aircraft turnaround operations on the scheduling of aircraft rotation in a multiple airport environment. An "aircraft rotation model" is developed in this research by using a stochastic approach to consider the uncertainties in flight schedule punctuality in the air and on the ground as well as operational uncertainties in aircraft turnaround operations. The aircraft rotation model is composed of two sub-models, namely the aircraft turnaround model, which represents the operational process of a turnaround aircraft, and the en route model, which describes the en route flight time of an aircraft between two airports. [Continues.

    3D-in-2D Displays for ATC.

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    This paper reports on the efforts and accomplishments of the 3D-in-2D Displays for ATC project at the end of Year 1. We describe the invention of 10 novel 3D/2D visualisations that were mostly implemented in the Augmented Reality ARToolkit. These prototype implementations of visualisation and interaction elements can be viewed on the accompanying video. We have identified six candidate design concepts which we will further research and develop. These designs correspond with the early feasibility studies stage of maturity as defined by the NASA Technology Readiness Level framework. We developed the Combination Display Framework from a review of the literature, and used it for analysing display designs in terms of display technique used and how they are combined. The insights we gained from this framework then guided our inventions and the human-centered innovation process we use to iteratively invent. Our designs are based on an understanding of user work practices. We also developed a simple ATC simulator that we used for rapid experimentation and evaluation of design ideas. We expect that if this project continues, the effort in Year 2 and 3 will be focus on maturing the concepts and employment in a operational laboratory settings

    Functional design to support CDTI/DABS flight experiments

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    The objectives of this project are to: (1) provide a generalized functional design of CDTI avionics using the FAA developd DABS/ATARS ground system as the 'traffic sensor', (2) specify software modifications and/or additions to the existing DABS/ATARS ground system to support CDTI avionics, (3) assess the existing avionics of a NASA research aircraft in terms of CDTI applications, and (4) apply the generalized functional design to provide research flight experiment capability. DABS Data Link Formats are first specified for CDTI flight experiments. The set of CDTI/DABS Format specifications becomes a vehicle to coordinate the CDTI avionics and ground system designs, and hence, to develop overall system requirements. The report is the first iteration of a system design and development effort to support eventual CDTI flight test experiments

    Relations among Enroute Traffic, Controller Staffing and System Performance

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    Relations are estimated among enroute air traffic, controller staffing and performance of controllers and ATC system. Controller staffing is found to increase at least linearly with air traffic in the US National Airspace System. Findings in literature review, FAA controller staffing models, FAA standards, and results of analyses support this finding. Measures of controller performance, controller workload and models are developed to estimate relations between controller performance and air traffic in sectors and centers of the NAS. It is found that controller performance is not affected by air traffic congestion within sectors and centers. The estimated relations may be biased by factors such as spatial and temporal propagation of delays in the NAS, ATC procedures used to delay flights away from the source of airspace congestion, strategic and tactical planning performed by ATC system and different traffic management processes and programs implemented for traffic flow management in the NAS. There is a need to evaluate the performance of ATC system in managing air traffic and minimizing delays in the entire NAS. It is found that a hyperbolic function is applicable for relating delays and enroute traffic volumes in the NAS. Monthly models estimated using monthly measures of delays and enroute traffic volumes perform better than daily models. Monthly models estimated for same calendar month of successive years show the best statistical fit. It appears that the enroute operational capacity of NAS can differ considerably for different months. Ground delays, taxi out delays, gate departure delays and airport departure delays used to reduce air delays due to enroute congestion are identified using the monthly and month-specific models
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