Controllers get taste of reality, virtually

AeroThai’s engineering team has developed the 3-D Air-Traffic Control AerodromeSim.

Be it managing air traffic in adverse geographic or weather conditions, flight schedules or emergency-like situations, air-traffic controllers at the Aeronautical Radio of Thailand (AeroThai) will get a piece of real-life action, virtually.

A training room has been set up at AeroThai with three-dimensional software, 3-D Air-Traffic Control AerodromeSim, which can simulate an airport and allows instructors to design training sessions with situations that air-traffic controllers will be called on to tackle while on duty.

To make the training as close to real life as possible, the team developed 3-D animations to simulate the airport and weather conditions, Kanapas Siriram, engineering manager, Air Traffic Services Engineering Research and Develop-ment Department, said.

The training room has 11 high resolution projectors that simulate a 360-degree view of an airport on a screen.

When the system is turned on, a computer generates three-dimensional images of aircraft from different airlines on the screen and they move at rates which vary depending on the type of aircraft. The software has been developed by a team of engineers at AeroThai for trainees, especially those who operate control towers.

"Till now, air-traffic controllers have been trained by the table-top method, where small models of an airport aircraft are placed on a table to represent different situations," AeroThai International Business Services Department engineering manager Santi Wongpitak said.

The new system could help improve training efficiency at about 20 per cent compared to the traditional table-top method, Santi said.

The system also cuts down training time from 100 to 80 days.

The new system will allow trainees to hone their air-traffic controlling skills, even for situations that are otherwise difficult to incorporate in the course of normal training.

At present, the system is being used to train AeroThai's air-traffic controllers to operate the control tower at Suvarnabhumi Airport.

The software has also been sold to Tribhuvan International Airport Nepal for training air-traffic controllers and Thailand's Civil Aviation Training Centre.

AeroThai is also looking to sell the system to oversees airports.

It is in talks with the Philippines for training air-traffic controllers.

      At a glance

n The software can simulate an airport and allows instructors to design training sessions with situations that air-traffic controllers will be called on to tackle while on duty.

n To make the training as close to real life as possible, the team developed 3-D animations to simulate the airport and weather conditions.

n The system is being used to train AeroThai's air-traffic controllers to operate the control tower at Suvarnabhumi Airport.

n The software has been sold to Tribhuvan International Airport Nepal and Thailand's Civil Aviation Training Centre.