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New GPS Research in Airplane Landing Technology

January 16th, 2013

In larger airports with longer runways, the pilots use precision approaches to land the bigger aircraft. However, researchers hope to also improve landing techniques for smaller airplanes in smaller airports using the same GPS guided technology. At Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, a team of researchers has received a generous sum of money from the Federal Aviation Administration and the MITRE Corporation for a new project regarding GPS-guided technology. They plan to use over $340, 000 dollars for this new project in order to test a new GPS system that will assist the pilot in landing the plane. Specifically, the researchers are focusing on using the GPS technology in smaller aircraft landing at smaller airports.

The researchers from Embry-Riddle expect to begin the trial runs and testing in the summer of 2013. Through this project, the team hopes to assess the different conditions of a smaller airport to determine if it is feasible to allow a global positioning system to guide the small planes. After testing and many trial runs and the team has determined that the new technology is safe, then the hope is that this GPS device will aid in guiding small planes to lower altitudes in conditions of poor visibility.

The team of researchers plans to test the new technology by running various types of simulations using a Level 6 Cessna flight simulator. This flight simulator has the ability to replicate low-visibility conditions that hinders a pilot’s ability to land airplanes safely. Pilots that are instrument-rated from central Florida will help to conduct the project at Embry-Riddle’s campus in Daytona Beach. By running these various simulations it is the hope of all the researchers involved that the GPS-guided precision approaches that are normally used to land large planes on long runways can be adapted to be used on shorter and narrower runways.

GPS Aids Flight Simulation for Small Planes

January 7th, 2013

Large airports with long runways have a variety of methods to land planes with non-precision or precision GPS instruments. Because each aircraft landing is different, these techniques provide pilots with a large safety margin in whatever conditions they face upon runway approach.

Why is GPS assessment for small planes needed?

Sometimes the pilot is forced to approach too low or high—or too quickly—and by using GPS can estimate the safest possible solution(s) to ground contact. Add in more dangerous factors like unclear visibility and inclement weather, and the situation becomes significantly riskier.

In early 2013, a research team of pilots hosted by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University will test these conditions via simulation machine—the gathered data for which will be used by small aircraft at airports where landing on the short runways, typical of small airports in such situations, is much more difficult and life-threatening (as in the case of emergency). The researchers will be using the same methods currently employed on long runways but adapted to now work on the shorter ones with the help of GPS technology. It’ll be particularly helpful for small planes when fast or low landings may be necessary or if the runways are not well-illuminated by landing lights—for both of which GPS navigation and instrumentation are used for large planes.

How will the simulator replicate these conditions?

Planned for testing in Florida, the equipment the pilots will use is a Level 6 Cessna flight simulator. The particular experiments will focus on the pilots acting as virtual navigators of small aircraft but primarily under guidance of GPS instrumentation, common to large planes, in different conditions and with various parameters (every possible combination of low visibility and runway lighting down to the absolute base level approach as the plane is grounded).

In conjunction with MITRE Corporation, the Federal Aviation Association, the financial supporter of the experiment, hopes to use the data gathered to determine if the same GPS assistance can be used safely in landing small planes at small airports at extreme precision approaches. Though the names of the pilots have yet to be announced, the leaders of the project hope for it to be underway by next spring.

Tracking Cargo on Airplanes with GPS

December 18th, 2012

United States’ GTX Corp, a two-way GPS solutions provider, announced that its GPS tracking device was approved for use on AirNet and Cargolux airlines.

The GPS device, which is customized for use on an airplane, will be offered as an add-on service for customers of MNX only. MNX is a leading global provider of “expedited transportation and logistics services.” The use of these GPS tracking devices will give MNX’s customers the ultimate control and visibility for the most precious of cargo, whether it’s a shipment with a high value or a time-sensitive shipment.

“We have been working diligently with AirNet and Cargolux to gain the necessary approvals to bring this one-of-a-kind offering to market. We are very pleased to see this day finally come to fruition,” said GTX Corp Chariman and CEO Patrick Bertagna. “Over the next few weeks we will work closely with the MNX team to formulate a domestic and international deployment strategy to introduce this offering to MNX customers around the world.”

GTX confirmed the GPS device was designed with a specific customer in mind, a customer that often ships high value, time- or temperature- sensitive cargo. Customers that ship cargo such as this are typically in the life sciences industry.

GTX said their GPS solution will give shippers peace of mind by making the most sensitive shipments, such as blood, organs, medications, tissue, clinical trial samples, and medical devices, more secure. This GPS tracking device transmits the speed, bearing, latitude and longitude, and temperature of the plane the shipment is being transported by.

Users of these tracking devices are treated to an easy-to-use customer interface that provides live shipment tracking and geo-fencing capabilities. This mean customers can rest easy as they will know the precise moment their precious shipment leaves the airport as well as when it lands.

Scott Cannon, MNX CEO, said, “The GTX Corp tracking platform gives us the ability to better identify and resolve any unforseen challenges throughout the entire transport and gives our customers added confidence and peace of mind that their shipment is secure at every step. By providing our clients with real-time tracking of their shipments, MNX will offer an unmatched layer of service, security, temperature integrity and reliability.

Make a Legal U-Turn and Return to the Airfield

December 5th, 2012

Air traffic controllers in some parts of Florida, Atlanta, Southern California, and Washington, D.C. will soon be able to take advantage of NextGen’s new technology to allow towers to track airplanes through GPS, instead of using radar. The state is phasing in use of the new technology over the next three to five years that will allow more Florida airports to become more efficient and precise in tracking the flights going to and from the airports.

How it works

Radar systems have been around for decades, but are now becoming obsolete in the air traffic control field. There is a six second delay in monitoring what flights are doing, and that six seconds can make a big difference when you are dealing with tons of metal flying at high rates of speed. The new GPS technology from NextGen will allow air traffic controllers real time access to see what flights are doing and where they are heading. While flying is already very safe, the precision of the GPS tracking of flights will make it even more so, in addition to allowing for savings of fuel costs and preventing delays.

What price convenience?

The implementation of the system will not be cheap, but the initial outlay of funding should be paid back in fewer delays and savings on fuel. The pending “fiscal cliff” budget cuts have the potential to delay this project, as it would cut funding. However, in Florida alone, the NextGen technology can result in savings of over $20 million each year in fuel costs, not to mention reducing the amount of fuel needed by airlines. The system is being tested in smaller markets before being tried out in places like New York.

Frequent flier convenience

While this system is obviously a boost to airports and airlines, fliers will also benefit. With the new efficient GPS technology, fliers will experience fewer delays and potentially lower airfares as less fuel will be used per flight. With the tourist industry being so important to Florida, it makes a lot of sense that they are eager to save tourists time and money at the airports. The less time a tourist spends on a plane in a holding pattern or delayed in another major city, the more time that tourist will have to enjoy the benefits Florida has to offer to its tourists. That news is good for fliers, airlines, and the economy.

GPS-Guided Landings

November 11th, 2012

Almost every week, there are news stories about an airplane crash somewhere in the country, airplanes crashing into mountains, missing runways, or landing on highways. Most are reported as pilot error, and many involve poor weather conditions, including strong winds and poor visibility. Although such occurrences are rare among large commercial airlines, the statistics are drastically higher among smaller aircraft. Now, researchers plan to launch a test study in the summer of 2013 to ascertain whether GPS technology would be beneficial for planes using smaller airports and shorter runways.

All Systems Go

The Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, recently received funding by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to assess the use of GPS-guided instruments in approaching and landing small aircraft during conditions of poor visibility. The research team is also sponsored by the MITRE Corporation, a not-for-profit organization that helps manage projects funded by the federal government and, in their own words, applies “systems engineering and advanced technology to critical national problems.” Their oversight extends from defense and intelligence issues to homeland security as well as the development of aviation systems to improve safety and efficiency. Such collaboration bodes well for the research team.

Ready for Take-off

The project will take place in Florida, and it plans to use pilots who have already received their instrument rating. Using Level 6 Cessna flight simulators, pilots will be taken through various approach and landing exercises on runways of different lengths and with different lighting configurations under low visibility conditions. GPS-enabled navigation tools will be used in place of traditional instruments to assess a pilot’s ability to safely land his aircraft using GPS technology from descending to the lowest allowable altitude to making the final approach on a shortened, dimly lit runway. If successful, pilots of small aircraft will soon have another tool to help them navigate fog, clouds, and other weather factors, even without a manned air-traffic control tower to guide them in.

Commercial airlines have long recognized the benefits of global positioning systems data for air traffic safety, and the team at Embry-Riddle under the direction of Dr. Michael Wiggins hopes to demonstrate the same benefits for small aircraft. With such technology onboard, the incidents of small airplane crashes will diminish and lives will be saved.

NextGen: Vulnerable to Hackers?

October 1st, 2012

The FAA is currently upgrading the air traffic control system, opting to move from radar to GPS device. It is called the Next Generation Air Transportation System, a.k.a NextGen, and it is supposed to make things easier for air traffic controllers across the country, allowing more helicopters, planes, and one day drones to exist in the sky at the same time. However, there are some security experts that believe the system is highly insecure, vulnerable to malicious hackers.

Radar

The current system relies on radar communications, where air traffic controllers ping a plane causing a transponder built into the plane to respond, giving controllers the location and identifying information on that specific plane. If the skies are full of aircrafts, some will be denied access into certain airspace by controllers, forcing them to reroute mid-flight.

This has been the system relied upon for decades, but it can be inaccurate and slow. Add to that the fact radar ground stations take up a lot of real estate, that they can cost a fortune to maintain, and that pilots have the option to turn off the transponders installed in their planes, and you can see why they are making the move to GPS device. It is faster, more accurate, and solves crowded air space issues.

The GPS Solution

ADS-B, or automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast, is at the heart of the new system. Aircrafts will have a GPS device installed onboard, which will transmit signals identifying to controllers who they are along with their location.

NextGen will be phased in over an eight year period, and by 2020, each and every plane will be required to use ADS-B to access historically crowded areas of airspace here in the US. Unfortunately, the system is hackable, proven by Canadian hacker Brad Haines.

‘Chaos’

Haines, known online as RenderMan, was not doing anything malicious when he discovered the system was hackable. “All this research was to try to prove to myself that air travel was still safe…I basically failed at that.” He explains that ADS-B signals have an appearance similar to bits of computer code, which are unencrypted and unauthenticated. When Haines realized this, he knew signals could be spoofed in order to create “ghost planes” in airspace.

“The threats can be things like, if I can inject 50 extra flights onto an air traffic controller’s screen, they are not going to know what is going on,” he said. This won’t cause planes to plummet to earth, but it is still very dangerous. A real pilot could swerve to avoid a fake plane, or a host of these fake planes could shut down airspace around a busy airport completely. “If you could introduce enough chaos into the system – for even an hour – that hour will ripple through the entire world’s air traffic control,” he said. Other hackers, from France to Canada, have successfully hacked the system.

FAA Response

Up until now, there hasn’t been a response from the FAA. They have conducted their own security test, of which the results have not been released. They haven’t responded to the numerous successful hacks, nor have they responded to an Air Force paper by Maj. Donald L. McCallie, stating the system might put us “on a collision course with history.”

Initially, they released one paragraph in response, stating “An FAA ADS-B security action plan identified and mitigated risks and monitors the progress of corrective action. These risks are security sensitive and not publicly available.” However, they recently said that as they are slowly phasing in the NextGen system, there has never been a recorded instance of a ghost plane. They also said that the systems they have implemented would catch the spoofed plane, letting controllers know it is a fake signal before it can cause confusion. They would do this by authenticating that ADS-B receivers are receiving ADS-B messages, as well as using multilateration, where they track the location each ADS-B message is received, making sure the signal is authentic.

Haines’ hacking partner, Nick Foster, said “If the FAA is really using multilateration, that’s a great sign. But I still wonder if it would be possible to fool the system on the edges. I think the FAA should open it up and let us test it.” Experts agree, knowing this is crucial to assuring safety in the skies. Watch for a paper to be published by Capt. Domenic Magazu of the Air Force Institute of Technology in the Journal of Aviation and Aeropace Perspectives addressing this very issue.

In Flight with GPS

August 10th, 2012

Flying can be a fun and fast way to get from one destination to another, but outdated navigation equipment and the high cost of fuel have halted aviation traffic for the past several years. Times are changing, however, and advances in satellite navigation are getting planes off the ground once again. Global positioning system technology is becoming more and more a crucial part of aviation as more uses are discovered to help increase efficiency and safety while at the same reducing time and cost.

Out with the Old
Flight routes in the past have been based on ground stations, also known as Navaids. Planes had to fly routes that kept them in range of the infrastructure on the ground, which proved inefficient and even dangerous when flying over terrain that did not allow for a radio signal on the ground, such as oceans, mountains, and deserts. For example, in the past, planes had to fly over the mountains of Alaska to reach the airport in Juneau. This meant low visibility due to cloud cover and dangerous updrafts and wind currents surrounding the mountain. Though many older aircraft not equipped with GPS tracking devices still need the ground station support, the trend is to get aviation modernized and outfitted with satellite navigational aids.

In with the New
GPS technology has proven effective for all aspects of a flight, including takeoff, flight, and landing by providing three-dimensional location date, real-time weather conditions, and vertical guidance, which is crucial when poor visibility is a factor. It allows for more efficient routes preferred by pilots from waypoint to waypoint without the need for ground station support. With greater advances in satellite navigation, more routes are being discovered all the time. And with better routes, there are greater savings in time, money, and fuel. Both military and civilian aviation programs have come to rely on the data gathered from this modern information system.

The precision offered by GPS navigation creates a less crowded and safer airspace. Air traffic controllers once had to maintain large distances between aircraft over open spaces with few ground stations because signals were lost or just not obtainable. Now, there is less confusion and more control both on the ground and in the air.

5th GPS IFF Satellite Completed by Boeing for U.S. Air Force

June 30th, 2012

Technology is improving at a consistently rapid pace. As the GPS devices and receivers on Earth become more powerful, the satellites that make it possible for those devices to function need to be improved to keep up. A new and improved constellation of GPS IFF satellites is working its way into orbit. Boeing, the world’s largest military aircraft manufacturer, recently completed the 5th of 12 GPS IIF satellites contracted by the U.S. Air Force. The newest satellite was completed at Boeing’s Satellite Development Center in El Segundo, California.

“Boeing, in close partnership with the U.S. Air Force, is focused on execution and mission assurance — we are committed to sustaining the GPS constellation with GPS IIF,” said Boeing’s vice president and general manager of Space & Intelligence Systems, Craig Cooning. “The GPS IIF spacecraft features more capability and improved mission performance for the warfighters and civilians who depend on this critical system.” 2 of the 5 completed GPS IIF satellites are currently in orbit with the existing 31-satellite constellation. The next satellite will launch and begin transmitting signals to GPS devices around the world sometime in the 4th quarter of 2012.

The GPS IIF satellites were designed to transmit enhanced signals to GPS devices for the military, emergency response teams, and other critical services. They were developed with improved jamming resistance for military signals, a protected civilian L5 signal to assist emergency and aviation applications. The improved satellites also implement atomic clock technology, providing greater accuracy of location data. The 5th GPS IIF satellite is just the latest milestone in Boeing’s ongoing efforts toward improving and expanding GPS capabilities. The St. Louis-based company has been the prime contractor for the GPS Operational Control Segment since 2007.

India: GPS-Aided Geo Augmented Navigation Systems In All Airports By Next Year

June 13th, 2012

A senior official with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) said that GPS-aided Geo Augmented Naviation system (Gagan) would be implemented in all airports across India by June 2013, a satellite-based facility whose goal it is to make air travel safer and more efficient.

The GPS-aided Gagan is said to improve the management of air traffic “through timely information on aircraft movement, integration of Met data and aeronautical information,” said Air Navigation Services member V. Somasundaram.

After the Gagan is implemented, India would become the fourth country in the world to use a satellite-based navigation system following the US, Japan, and European Consortium respectively. Gagan signals will be available to all airports to aid in not only navigation, but take off and landing as well. Routes become more efficient, safety is increased, and the cost for navigation services drops.

“By virtue of this system, human intervention will be minimized or eliminated for navigational leading both at air-traffic control room and aircraft cockpit,” said Somasundaram. Safety and efficiency would be improved thanks to better resources, including safety alerts and tools, for the air traffic controllers.

The Indian Space Research Organization and AAI installed stations in 15 locations spread across the country, and all airports will be networked through these locations. Headquarters, or the National Gagan Centre, is slated to be in Bangalore.

The Gagan will not only be useful in air navigation applications, but also to the Indian Railways, Geological Survey of India, Survey of India, and Archaeological Survey of India, as well as other agencies. It is thought that the Gagan could also be useful for the Navy and Indian Coast Guard. The Gagan project is part of a world-wide push towards space-based navigation.

Nonfunctional Airport GPS Systems Issue Went Unaddressed for Years

May 3rd, 2012

To the Chicago Department of Aviation, GPS tracking on cell phones was a spectacular waste of money—to the tune of over $170,000. While the situation raises interesting questions regarding the effectiveness of cell phone GPS tracking vs. dedicated GPS devices, and poses an interesting problem for future GPS designers and implementers to resolve, the primary conclusion, according to officials, is that the program was a symbol of corporate waste.

An Airport Terminal Paved with Good Intentions

On paper, everyone would agree it was a great idea: give the Chicago Department of Aviation 155 cell phones with GPS trackers in order to monitor the effectiveness of employees. In addition, GPS tracking devices were equipped on over fifty Chicago Department of Aviation vehicles. The growing use of GPS devices, especially in the transportation sector, indicated that the implementation of these devices might bode well for the efficiency and functionality of the department.

Problem One: Great Swing, Terrible Follow-Through

The primary issue with the implementation of GPS tracking at the Chicago Department of Aviation was follow-through. According to inspectors, those that pushed the program through did not have an adequate plan for using GPS tracking as a tool. Instead, as soon as the first wave of technical issues hit, they went unresolved and unmonitored for four years—the length of many college educations.

Problem Two: No Signal

The second glaring issue with the plan was revealed almost immediately upon implementation of GPS use: as many airports contain large swaths of property which are underground, the GPS functionality would cease. This issue alone rendered the entire program almost completely nonfunctional. Some additionally criticized the Chicago Department of Aviation for allegedly not monitoring the GPS devices once they were implemented.

How Can GPS Tracking Be Made Effective at Airports?

The key to getting cell phone based GPS tracking to work throughout airport facilities exemplifies a problem we all have with our cell phones at one time or another: there’s no signal. How can you effectively implement GPS-style tracking underground? The easy answer is WiFi and Super WiFi. Many proposed technologies promise to integrate tracking across both GPS satellites and through Internet-based connections. This technology, much in demand by consumers as well as businesses, may make GPS tracking underground completely viable.