NASA's FutureFlight Central, the world's first full-scale virtual airport control tower, has "opened for business" and is preparing to host a variety of customers ranging from airport and certification authorities to manufacturers.
Formally opened last month, the $10 million site was jointly funded by NASA's Advanced Air Transportation Technologies Office and the US Federal Aviation Administration. Although the site is expected to cater principally for commercial uses, the first customer will be Boeing, which plans to use it in March to develop ground control procedures for the unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) under contract to the US Air Force.
FutureFlight Central manager Nancy Dorighi says there "was a lot of interest generated by the opening". The fully customisable simulator has a 360°, three-dimensional view of the airport projected on 12 screens. A bank of operators, each "flying" up to 12 simulated aircraft, will represent real time traffic.
The site will have three main functions, all tied to improving safety, increasing capacity and boosting efficiency. It will model new construction projects to measure their effect on capacity. "It will measure how much benefit they bring before you start to build, and will check if the infrastructure can handle it," she adds.
Secondly, it will model planned procedural changes to check for similar effects. "We have just modelled San Francisco, which is in the process of adding two new piers to the international terminal and creating 26 new gates," says Dorighi.
Thirdly, it will test a host of new technology, software and hardware which is aimed at improving safety and capacity. This could include advanced systems to prevent runway incursions, says Dorighi.
Source: Flight International