1. M I T I n t e r n a t i o n a l C e n t e r f o r A i r T r a n s p o r t a t i o n Interactive Electronic Flight Strips Nathan A. Doble R. John Hansman JUP Quarterly Review April 4, 2002

2. Motivation  Controller interface needed for MIT departure planner  System architecture and design driven by requirements analysis  Functional (controller input-output)  Human factors

3. DP Interface Functional Requirements  Controller Input  Aircraft “ready to push” time  Aircraft push time  Aircraft taxi start time  Aircraft takeoff time  Aircraft gate location  Current runway configuration  Downstream constraints  Controller Output  Suggested runway configuration changes (configuration manager)  Pushback queue and initial runway assignments (gate manager)  Virtual runway queue and takeoff times (virtual queue and mix managers)  All other DP input from static databases (e.g., airport layout) or other sources (e.g., weather forecasts, airline schedules)

4. DP Interface Human Factors Requirements  Head-up operation  Mobility within tower cab

5. Observations  Some DP inputs already written on paper flight strips  “Ready to push” time  Actual push time  Takeoff time  Some aircraft-specific DP inputs would be easy to add to a flight strip  Taxi start time  Gate location  Other DP inputs and outputs better suited to centralized interface  Current runway configuration  Suggested runway configuration changes  Downstream restrictions  Runway, Taxi, and Push queues

6. System Architecture Conclusions  To satisfy all interface functional requirements  Electronic flight strip system  Central management interface  To satisfy human factors requirements of tower environment  An electronic analogue of the individual paper flight progress strip, not just an electronic analogue of the strip rack  Solution: PDA-based electronic flight strips communicating over wireless LAN with desktop-based central management interface

7. System Architecture Electronic Flight Strip Management Interface Host FAST ETMS Weather

8. Design Considerations  Electronic flight strip must preserve functionality present in current paper departure flight strips (source: BOS Tower SOP)  Changing aircraft type, altitude, route, etc.  Recording initial heading  Recording ready to push and departure times  Recording in-trail restrictions  Recording nonstandard taxi paths  Indicating wake turbulence waiver  Indicating ATIS received by aircraft  Indicating position and hold clearance issued  Writing any other nonstandard instructions  Other aspects of paper flight strips and strip rack that should be preserved  Natural input method (handwriting)  Handoffs completed by physically transferring strip from controller to controller  Ability to sort flights in strip rack

9. Design Considerations (2)  Although not required by DP or current flight strip procedures, electronic interface would allow additional features  Customized views for each controller position  Airport surface map  Aircraft positions  Taxi clearances  Runway assignments  Runway incursion alerting  Weather information  Performance metrics  Trial planning for virtual runway queue

10. Management Interface: General Layout Taxi Clearance Timeline Push Timeline Menu Buttons Runway Queue Timelines Forecasted Arr/Dep Load Graphs Airport Surface Map

11. Management Interface TAXIPUSH DEP 4L ARRDEP 4R ARR DEP 9 ARR 08:42Weather Config Restrictions 05 00 55 50 45 05 00 55 50 45 05 00 55 50 45 05 00 55 50 45 05 00 55 50 45 NWA196 COA34 AAL4812 DAL654 UAL32 NWA20 AAL195 AAL224 DAL654 UAL421 NWA196 COA82 NWA481 DAL654 UAL431 AAL202 COA195 AAL4812 DAL214 AAL195 AAL224 DAL654 UAL421 NWA196 COA34 AAL4812 DAL654 NWA20 4R 4L 9 4L NWA196 COA34 AAL4812 DAL654 4R 4L 9 4L 45 00 15 30 50 40 30 20 10 DEP / hrARR / hr 45 00 15 30 50 40 30 20 10

12. Flight Strip: General Layout Identification Position And Trajectory Scratch Pad Map Timeline and Restrictions Misc Buttons

13. Flight Strip: Clearance Delivery NWA196 T/A320/G 1234 GateRunway E-24L Route BOS MHT CAM J547 BUF YQO DTW Alt 350 Restrictions MHT: 10 MIT Menu Undo Redo 08:42 15 10 05 00 55 50 45 09:12 (30) 09:04 (22) 09:02 (20) 08:58 (16)

14. Flight Strip: Push / Ramp Control NWA196 A320 GateRunway E-24L Restrictions MHT: 10 MIT Menu Undo Redo 08:57 25 20 15 10 05 00 55 09:12 (15) 09:04 (7) 09:02 (5) 08:56(-1)

15. Flight Strip: Ground Control NWA196 A320 Restrictions MHT: 10 MIT Menu Undo Redo 09:02 35 30 25 20 15 10 05 09:12 (10) 09:04 (2) Gate E-2 AtisTaxiRunway Std4L Route BOS MHT…DTW

16. Flight Strip: Local Control NWA196 T/A320/G 1234 Restrictions MHT: 10 MIT Menu Undo Redo 09:07 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 09:12 (5) Runway 4L Route BOS MHT CAM J547 BUF YQO DTW AltHdg 350090 APREQ

17. Issues  Absolute vs. differential time  Color conventions  If runway incursion information included, possible conflicts between standard aviation display color coding and paper flight strip coloring, timeline color-coding  Flight strip position determination  In order to perform automated handoffs or automated sorting with the strip rack, some position information must be known  Instrumenting the strip vs. instrumenting the strip rack  Prigge & How: Dipole magnetic fields to track (x,y,z) position of flight strip, centimeter accuracy shown  Mackay: Resistors on flight strips to determine position on strip rack

18. Current Progress  PDA and wireless LAN hardware purchased  Test application running on PDAs  Runs full-screen  Basic line drawing and text printing (portrait only) functions  Accepts stylus input  Controls hardware buttons  Sends and receives messages via wireless LAN  Handwriting recognition not yet enabled

19. Future Work  Finish coding initial design of flight strips and management interface  Solicit input on interface from Boston Logan controllers  Revise design based on controller input  Evaluate controller performance with electronic flight strips