Steps Towards the Virtual Tower: Remote Airport Traffic Control Center (RAiCe)

In this paper research is described which aims at the long term goal of a Virtual Airport Tower without the need of a real tower building, however with improved functionality. Specifically we address the intermediate step of a Remote Airport Tower Center (RTC) for remote surveillance and control of small airports. Because previous work and task analyses indicated the importance of the visual information for present days controller's work procedures, an experimental high resolution video panorama system was developed as main HMI. Field tests of the reconstructed far view yield the effective visual resolution of a 180°-video panorama in agreement with the theoretical predictions. The digital video panorama provides the framework for video-see-through augmented vision by integration of additional information like weather and transponder data, and it allows for panorama replay. An integrated zoom function provides a "foveal" component by means of a remotely controlled pan-tilt zoom camera, including object tracking options, with a high resolution exceeding the human eye within an observation angle < 15°. Simulation environments are under development, based on a two-airport tower-simulator and a Petri-net based computer simulation using a simplified airport microworld. They support design of the new work environment and safety analysis.