The Airspace Technology Demonstrations (ATD) Project is comprised of technology development and demonstration activities geared toward delivery of near-term benefits to air transportation systems. Arrival, departure and surface activity including terminal sequencing and spacing and air traffic flow management are several of the projects NASA is working on to make air travel safer and more reliable.
On May 22-25, 2018, the Airspace Technology Demonstration 2 (ATD-2) Human Factors and Experiments Team successfully performed a Human-in-the-Loop (HITL) shakedown simulation of the ATD-2 system at the FutureFlight Central (FFC) tower simulator at NASA Ames Research Center. The objectives of the Assessment of Ramp Times (ART) HITL simulation is to evaluate different aspects of the integration of the tactical and strategic scheduling components, specifically exploring the ideal Target Movement Area Times (TMAT) compliance window, and whether instructing Ramp personnel to focus on compliance of Target Off Block Times (TOBT) with and without TMAT will result in more optimal surface operations. The ART HITL will also be used to test new capabilities of the ATD-2 system before field deployment.
The traffic scenario is based on analyzing traffic from Bank 2 at Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT), and is composed of nearly 200 flights, including arrivals and departures, as well as additional overhead traffic to Washington Center (ZDC). The simulation environment at the FFC includes a 360-degree tower cab to simulate airline ramp operations, and a 270-degree out-the-window view to simulate the Air Traffic Control Tower (ATCT). Learn more about FFC: FutureFlight Central simulation facility at NASA Ames Research Center.
The HITL shakedown involved ten former air traffic controllers and managers from various Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) facilities, including CLT ATCT and the American Airlines (AAL) Ramp Tower. The former CLT and AALTower controllers managed surface traffic in the HITL simulation using the Ramp Tower Console (RTC), Ramp Manager Tower Console (RMTC), and the Surface Trajectory Based Operations (STBO) user interface to schedule departures into the ZDCoverhead stream. This shakedown prepares for the formal data collection, scheduled June 26-28, 2018 with FAA and air carrier participants, where the results will be used to refine the ATD-2 system for the Phase 2 Field Demonstration. (POC: Lindsay Stevens)