PROJECT ID

AUDIO

PROJECT TYPE

Large scale demonstrations

FLAGSHIP

Not applicable

STATUS

Completed

SESAR PROGRAMME

SESAR 2020

PROJECT DURATION

2019-05-01 > 2021-10-31

TOTAL COST

1 064 625

EU CONTR.

888 062.50

GRANT ID

783161

PARTICIPANTS

Lufthansa, Sintef, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, ARTTIC

A novel mapping tool in the crew's electronic flight bag enhances situational awareness

Improving the situational awareness of flight crews regarding conditions on the ground can have a significant impact on safety, efficiency and the environment. The so-called electronic flight bags have become quite common since the widespread commercialisation of tablets and other smart devices. They can replace many paper-based procedures and forms and can also display a variety of data or perform calculations related to aircraft performance or ground operations. The EU-funded AUDIO project integrated a 'Connected Moving Map' application showing the traffic situation at the airport and providing a visual of taxi routing information. The technology should help the flight crew better predict departure sequence, enhance awareness of potential safety issues during taxi phase, keep pilots in synch with controllers for smoother collaboration and enhance the efficiency of surface routing to reduce fuel consumption and emissions.

The AUDIO project aims to demonstrate Air Traffic Management solutions developed in SESAR 1 in an operational environment in order to show their effectiveness and facilitate their industrial deployment.

With the implementation of SESAR 1 solutions available to controllers, airports will be capable of providing local data such as the traffic situation and taxi routings. Sharing this information with pilots in the cockpit is expected to generate even more benefits for airport operations.

AUDIO will demonstrate the use of a Connected Moving Map application onboard Lufthansa aircraft taxiing at Hamburg Airport. This advanced application shows the traffic situation and additional taxi routing information to the flight crew.

The implementation of the SESAR solutions will assist controllers in their duty to safely guide aircraft at the airport while also supporting flight crews in navigating safely on the ground by providing visualized taxi route and surrounding traffic information.
 

Media and latest news

December 2019: AUDIO brochure

19 September 2019: Press release

Demonstration

Approach

The demonstration will combine ground-based airport systems and on-board EFB applications by sharing data between them. Locally available airport data are transferred to the cockpit to support surface operations by the flight crew. With this approach, the airspace user can also benefit from the solutions, originally developed to support ground controllers, in operating aircraft movements on the airport surface.

The demonstration will take place at Hamburg Airport. Traffic information and planned routes for aircraft will be calculated using real operational data from the Hamburg Airport Research and Innovation Facility (ARIF), which is connected to the Advanced Surface Movement Guidance and Control Systems (A-SMGCS) and flight plan systems at Hamburg Airport. This platform is operated by DLR, Hamburg Airport, and the German Air Navigation Service Provider (ANSP) DFS.

ARIF also provides flight information with a direct interface to the Airport Database including A-CDM (Airport Collaborative Decision Making) information. Based on this information, the SINTEF Optimization Service automatically generates and maintains a current, optimized, ground-based routing plan, with detailed taxi routing and timing information, for all arriving and departing aircraft at the airport.

With these functionalities already in place thanks to the demonstrations in project PJ28 IAO, AUDIO will reuse the demonstration set-up and add the connection to the on-board EFB to share the local airport information with the flight crew.

With a secured network connection, the traffic situation and the planned route will be shared with Lufthansa central Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) server systems and distributed to the EFB of the related aircraft using wireless technologies. Lufthansa aircraft are equipped with an EFB moving map application which is already used during normal day-to-day operations. An advanced version of this application, including these additional functions, will be integrated into one or several aircraft of the Lufthansa fleet.

Flight crews will evaluate the functionalities while operating at Hamburg Airport in day-to-day operations. Route planning and departure sequencing will be demonstrated in passive shadow mode to not interfere with real airport operations.

The transmission of these dynamic data (like a taxi route) provides improved common situational awareness for the pilots during taxiing, thus contributing to the effectiveness of the overall airport safety net.

Scope

The demonstration will cover the following main aspects:

  • Technical and operational feasibility of sharing locally available airport data with a centralized EFB distribution system
  • Implementation of a secure data connection approach between decentralized safety critical systems to avoid cyber security attacks and hazardous situations
  • Providing evidence that functionalities are ready to be implemented and used in day to day live operations and enhance trust in results by demonstration of pre-operational products
  • The human-machine interface (HMI) and data quality can be certified against applicable certification standards
  • The protocol for ground/air data communication uses open standards and is defined in a way which allows re-use with other airports/ground infrastructure
  • The airport layout data are based on a standardised format and can be updated quickly when changes occur

Expected impact

AUDIO demonstrates the extension of support systems originally designed for controllers. Available local airport data will be shared and connected to onboard systems. In the case of a successful demonstration, the new functionalities are ready to be implemented in new EFB applications used in Lufthansa aircraft or other airlines, thus providing significant benefits at airports providing local data.

  • The demonstration is expected to show the benefit of providing local airport data to the flight crew. By providing the planned taxi route and time calculated by the A-SMGCS routing function to the cockpit, benefits are expected in terms of safety and predictability, as well as an increase in situational awareness. The safety and predictability gain is clearly relevant for passengers. For the public at large, environmental benefits are also expected. The optimised surface routing means optimised aircraft movements on the ground, with reduced fuel burn (fewer carbon emissions, less noise and less cost).
  • As Airspace Users will be aware of the route planning, the departure sequencing should be more stable. In providing the planned information to the cockpit, flight crews are aware of the planned trajectory and can adjust operations, which will lead to a stable sequence and more reliable meeting the TTOT.  Equipped with this additional information, on-board operations are expected to run smoother as crews are aware of the planned ground trajectory and the surrounding complex environment. This also allows them to react more easily to last-minute re-planning of routes. The results: safer ground movements, more reliable targeted take-off time and sequences, less complexity for the crew, more efficient taxiing, and fewer emissions due to lower fuel consumption.
  • Exchanging ground traffic information results in common situational awareness between all stakeholders. The overall safety guaranteed by Air Traffic Controllers is enhanced by pilots’ better awareness. Consequently, the number of conflicting situations during airport surface operations is expected to be reduced. Visualization of the taxi route will improve operations (reduced route deviations, enhanced predictability, reduction of potential conflicts) for Airport Operators.
European Union
Airspace User supporting Demonstrations of Integrated Airport Operations- AUDIO Electronic Flight Bag