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Automated Scheduling for Aircraft Arrival at Airports

This workshop focuses on the arrival scheduling problem at airports, where aircraft need to be sequenced for landing. Attendees will learn about the current manual solution, the opportunity for automation, and the Center/TRACON Automation System (CTAS) developed by NASA. The workshop will cover the technical innovations and tools provided by CTAS, including Traffic Management Advisor (TMA), Final Approach Spacing Tool (FAST), and Collaborative Arrival Planning (CAP). The goal is to improve airport throughput, minimize delays, and reduce controller workload.

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Automated Scheduling for Aircraft Arrival at Airports

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  1. 6894 · workshop in software designlecture 2 · september 14, 1998 · CTAS

  2. the arrival scheduling problem • a resource allocation problem • aircraft arriving at an airport need to be sequenced for landing • can’t let them land in same order as they arrive in terminal area • runway may not be available when they get there • faster aircraft would overtake slower ones • current manual solution • aircraft pass through ‘meter gates’ on border of terminal area • arrivals at meter gate are delayed, and aircraft may be reordered • currently, controllers use judgment & experience to make these decisions • an opportunity for automation • better scheduling can increase airport throughput and minimize delays • (but cannot be optimal because of unpredictable weather, etc) • reduce controller workload, and thus improve safety

  3. what is CTAS? • basics • Center/TRACON Automation System • set of tools to help controllers manage air traffic flow at large airports • developed at NASA by Erzberger and colleagues • chosen in 1991 by FAA as future automation system for terminal area • technical innovations • algorithms for trajectory synthesis and runway allocation • user interface: “human-centered automation” • a suite of tools • TMA (Traffic Management Advisor) • provides advisories on sequencing incoming aircraft to controllers in Center • FAST (Final Approach Spacing Tool) • provides advisories on sequencing for landing to controllers in TRACON • DA (Descent Advisor), EDP (Expedite Departure Path), UPR (User Preferred Routing) • exploit CTAS’s trajectory info for analyzing arrival/departure paths • CAP (Collaborative Arrival Planning) • pass scheduling info to airlines to optimize planning at hubs

  4. what TMA does (roughly) • from • rapidly changing info (seconds) • radar information giving aircraft positions and velocities • flight plan info received from host computers and entered by controllers • availability of runways • slowly changing info (hours) • weather data • very slowly changing info (weeks) • map of airspace • static info • characteristics of different kinds of aircraft • computes • suggested arrival times at meter gates for incoming aircraft • so • CTAS’s function is to provide advisories • not safety-critical in a narrow technical sense • but obviously reliability is of paramount concern • CTAS especially useful during ‘rushes’

  5. organization of TMA software INPUTSOURCEMANAGER COMMUNICATIONSMANAGER USERINTERFACE(TGUI, PGUI) ROUTEANALYZER DYNAMICPLANNER

  6. our project • what Erzberger told me (June 98) • algorithmic components (eg, DP, RA/TS) • well understood • mostly reliable • concerned about two areas of software • TGUI, PGUI code • CM (communications manager) • CM a much harder problem because we’d need to learn domain • why i chose CM • a more interesting problem • large-scale engineering issues • more about software design, less about algorithms, GUIs, etc • CM is a vital component of TMA and FAST • CM shapes the entire CTAS system

  7. CM (Communication Manager) • main functions • maintains ‘aircraft tree’ (database of aircraft states) • calls algorithmic components periodically to process entire tree • maintains GUIs, handles user requests • basic stats • all in C • connected only by sockets to other processes; no shared memory • about 70kloc (including headers) • but only about 20kloc of essential stuff • history of development • algorithmic components are focus of NASA research, startingin 1980’s • dynamic planner was designed with OMT, an OO method • route analyzer translated from Fortran • CM was first written in 1991; most of current code from 1997-98

  8. basic control loop of CM cm_motif.cmain_loop(every 300ms) cm_sock_util.cselect_active_sockets ism_socket.cism_socket_read cm_read.cread_ra update_aircraft.cism_socket.c:ism_socket_checkhandle_weather_updatefind_and_send_fps (1)request_etas_for_new_fps (2)distribute_ac.c: distribute_aircaft_to_ras (3)update_active_aircraft update_aircraft.cupdate_aircraft cm_send.c(1) forward_flight_plan_add(2) send_request_for_flight_plan(3) handoff_aircraft_to_ra

  9. project goals & structure • experiment with new technology • design notions & tools • evaluate: pitfalls & successes • invent refinements, new approaches • improve CTAS • help NASA/CSC improve design of CM • explain existing problems and propose solutions • uncover problems • a research project • be willing to adjust plans as we learn more • lots of cooperation, between teams too • can change goals to more exciting ones

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