Digital tower simulator

EUROCONTROL Experimental Centre’s digital tower simulator is a flexible prototyping and validation platform covering a majority of airport configurations.

It allows air navigation service providers (ANSPs), airports, industry and research institutes to perform efficient demonstration and validation of new systems, specify implementation requirements, test new configurations and safety tools, conduct training and validate industrial prototypes.

It can adapt to different airports’ needs and allows implementation of industrial prototypes such as guidance, routing, and airport safety nets. The simulator can be configured to include a large number of controller positions as well as pseudo-pilot positions that manage aircraft and vehicle movements.

Contrary to a traditional control tower working environment which frequently consists of an assembly of individual systems, each with an independent interface and with no common information management, our digital tower simulator proposes an integrated approach to controller working position design and operations through its integrated tower working position (ITWP).

ITWP includes all tower control positions (runway control, ground movement control and clearance delivery) and integrates current and new air traffic control (ATC) systems into a configurable working position supported by associated operational procedures. It has an advanced human-machine interface (HMI) presented on a large touch screen for each controller’s working position improving situational awareness, human performance and safety. In simulation mode, it is supported by an “out of the window view”.

Our digital tower simulator has been used to validate multiple SESAR concepts and includes the following functions:

• A-SMGCS Airport Safety Nets for Controllers;
• A-SMGCS Routing function;
• A-SMGCS Guidance function: such as Airfield Lighting and Automated “Follow the greens”;
• RECAT and Time Based Separation
• GBAS enabled concepts such as Adaptive Threshold and Glide Slope

The platform is has been developed by EUROCONTROL and it is provided free of charge to its member states.

Our digital tower simulator can be used stand-alone or connected to our ESCAPE ATC and cockpit simulators sharing the same data preparation tool.

While the simulator offers generic airport environments covering major and regional European airports, new environments can be easily configured.

All the simulations are recorded so the users can take home the simulated exercises and rerun them for further analysis.

We are working on further development of the digital tower simulator and its modular architecture will allow us to integrate future functionalities such as guidance augmented reality and voice recognition technologies which should help controllers to handle more capacity and assist them in challenging situations including drone incursions.