Software Supports Pilot Safety
wo new software packages
that enable pilots to use laptops to avoid hazardous terrain and find
their place on maps are the latest success stories of a NASA program bringing
together entrepreneurs and space engineers. Pilots of small planes, for
whom such tools have been largely unavailable until now because of cost
and the sheer size of bulky hardware, may soon be able to carry aboard
the personal computer equivalent of collision-avoidance systems now used
by the military and commercial airlines.
"TerrAvoid" and "Position Integrity" combine global positioning system (GPS) data with high-resolution maps of Earth's topography. Dubbs and Severino, Inc., based in Irvine, California, has developed software that allows the system to be run on a battery-powered laptop in the cockpit.
"TerrAvoid" is a terrain avoidance system that graphically shows pilots whether they are flying dangerously close to mountains. Safe sections can be seen in green, while hazardous sections show up in red, with those proportions changing in real time as the pilot moves through hilly terrain. "Position Integrity," which also co-registers real-time GPS data with local maps on CD–ROM, is a moving map detailing the exact position of the pilot.
The packages, designed primarily for military sponsors and now positioned to hit the consumer market in the coming months, came about as the result of the Technology Affiliates Program at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California. Intended to give American industry assistance from NASA experts and to facilitate business use of intellectual property developed for the space program, the Technology Affiliates Program introduced the start-up company of Dubbs and Severino to JPL's Dr. Nevin Bryant four years ago.
Dubbs and Severino had an idea for mapping software to help private airplane pilots, inspired in part by the fatal crash of a pilot friend of company president Bob Severino. The twist? The package was to be completely software driven, instead of requiring expensive hardware, as was the norm up to that time.
Bryant's Cartographic Applications Group at JPL had developed GeoTIFF, an architecture standard providing geo-location tools for mapping applications. GeoTIFF proved to be the crucial key that the start-up company needed to bring the idea to fruition, allowing the firm to develop low-cost software packages.
GeoTIFF is now in the public domain, and its use for commercial product development has evolved into an industry standard over the last year. Through the Technology Affiliates Program, Dubbs and Severino obtained JPL's assistance early on and thus gained a jump-start in adapting the architecture for their products' specific needs. "JPL gave us a demonstration and opened up the red carpet," Severino said. "It was a match made in heaven."
For more information, contact John Watson at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Call (818) 354-5011, Fax: (818) 354-5357, E-mail: john.g.watson@jpl.nasa.gov
Please mention you read about it in Innovation.
Collision-avoidance systems, such
as those used commercially and in the military, are becoming affordable
for small plane pilots.
| Airline
Travel Cheaper and Improving
"There are well over 1,000 daily departures from Atlanta Hartsfield. That's at least 1,000 minutes a day saved, or at least $40,000 to $50,000 a day saved in airline direct operating costs," NASA Project Manager Brian Glass said. "That's an annual savings at Hartsfield of $16 to $20 million in direct operating costs, and could potentially translate into cheaper air fares for travelers." The Surface Movement Advisor is primarily a set of computers and software that electronically connects operating information from three airport entities—the local airport authority managing the airport's ramp areas, the airlines managing the gates and the FAA's air traffic controllers. Before the Surface Movement Advisor system, all three operating units constantly, but separately, gathered information that was not easily accessible. This is the first automated system that distributes each group's information to the others. It was designed by engineers at NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, California, in collaboration with FAA engineers, air traffic controllers and airline and airport management staffs. Atlanta Hartsfield, the nation's second largest airport in total passengers, was selected as the field test site in 1995, and several airlines began using the system daily in 1996. For more information,
contact Dr. Brian Glass at Ames Research Center. Call (650) 604-3512,
Fax: (650) 604-3594, E-mail: bglass@mail.arc.nasa.gov |
ir
travelers industry-wide could see cheaper air fares, less missed
flights, less waiting time and improved overall customer service
from an airline information gathering system currently being tested
at Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport by NASA and the Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA). Since the system testing has been
in use, ground operations bottlenecks have been reduced, allowing
planes to be serviced and dispatched more quickly and reducing airline
taxi departure times by more than a minute per flight.
