Peter Stassen (left) and Jason Giovannelli of CAASD act as terminal controllers during a simulation.

Air traffic controllers watch as a long stream of planes heads toward one of the nation's busiest airports. They are thinking about what could be achieved—significant savings in time, higher airport arrival rates, and a reduction in delays—if visual approach operations could be maintained in weather conditions that currently require instrument approaches. But what would the risks be?

Controllers can't use real planes and passengers to experiment with new approaches. However, in a laboratory environment that can simulate a real-life situation right down to the haze in the sky, aviation experts can try experimental solutions to aviation problems. MITRE's Air Traffic Management (ATM) Laboratory was designed to do just that.

The ATM Lab's cockpit simulator allows users to see how concepts developed in the lab may work in the air.

The ATM Laboratory—created and operated by MITRE's Center for Advanced Aviation System Development (CAASD)—is used by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and other organizations to address aviation issues, such as how to better use the nation's airspace and make room for increased demand. MITRE's expertise in aviation, cutting-edge technology, and simulations is evident in the high-tech lab. It contains a cockpit simulator and a bank of controller display suites, which enable users to simulate the actual air traffic control process.

MITRE employees with backgrounds in both aviation and computer software have worked to create a simulation environment that closely resembles that which pilots and controllers work with every day. Using simulations is a good way to determine if new concepts can be implemented without compromising safety. When pilots and controllers participate in the simulations together, the puzzle often comes together faster.

It's the capability for building consensus that gives the ATM Lab much of its value. "From a controller's perspective, it's just like controlling real traffic," says Oscar Olmos, a project team manager in CAASD. "There are several aircraft represented with pilots talking to several controllers, as in a real-life situation. There are not a lot of facilities that can do this type of end-to-end simulation. A lot of times, you'll see a controller station or a cockpit station, but not both of them where people can work a problem at the same time."

In the lab environment, pilots, controllers, federal regulators, labor union representatives, and others can work and view the simulations together. They can also brainstorm as a group. With the integrated tools and capabilities the lab offers, MITRE is able to test new tools and concepts simultaneously with all those whose jobs will be affected by them. They can also get input and consensus from these stakeholders on what works and what doesn't. Input which might normally take months to gather can sometimes be provided within hours, simply by virtue of having would-be users together in one facility.

Any time saved on the road to implementation is crucial. The FAA has asked for MITRE's help on a growing number of fronts, including enhancing safety, making the best use of airspace and airport capacity, and managing air traffic in severe weather. Guidelines supported by the National Air Traffic Controllers Association prohibit the use of experimental prototypes in actual work environments under all but the most pressing circumstances, making the ATM Lab one of the few places where aviation representatives can experiment, comment, and work out the issues together.

"Our lab is the initial and critical first step before you even think about going to the field," says David Winokur, a MITRE engineer. "We need to first validate the concept of use. We use the lab to refine the capability, to mature it enough so that we're ready to actually go to the field and do some evaluations with active controllers."

Arriving Ahead of Schedule

When simulation, input, and feedback occur concurrently, the process of getting new procedures and concepts to the field is expedited. For example, a team led by Olmos is working on developing runway surface markings that might help prevent runway incursions by providing pilots enhanced "stop short" markings that they must stay outside to avoid other planes. Olmos' team spent much of last year conducting simulations and workshops with representatives of the FAA, the airline industry, and unions representing pilots and controllers.

Working together in the lab, all sides could see the same thing at the same time, talk about their concerns, and come to agreements quickly. Modifications were made, and new airport markings will be ready for airport field testing this year. The next step would be nationwide implementation. That could be a major step toward solving a problem that has vexed the aviation industry for a long time and has resulted in some major accidents. (In 1977, two Boeing 747s collided on a runway in the Canary Islands, killing 863 people.)

"It takes a lot of time to get a new procedure into the field, and we did it in about a year," Olmos says. "Some programs take three years, some programs take 20. It depends on how complex the approach is. The hardest part is getting all the people to agree. Any one of many organizations can kill a project at any time. That's why this project—and this lab—is so unique. If someone says, 'I don't like that color, I don't like the way that looks, can you do this?' a lot of times we're able to make the change that day. So they go to lunch, and they come back, and we can say, 'Here's what you were talking about; what do you think?'"

A key to bringing about consensus is making sure the lab is realistic and thus useful to customers—a major challenge, even for people familiar with the ever-changing world of aviation. But MITRE, working closely with government officials and industry representatives, strives to keep current—and to exert leadership in looking toward the future.

MITRE's staff—including not only pilots, but controllers, human factor engineers, and software and simulation developers—combine their expertise to keep simulations realistic and up-to-date. Their knowledge of both aviation and technology serves them well as they develop concepts, tools, and procedures, determine the issues to investigate through demonstration or evaluation, and devise simulations for testing those concepts.

"You can't anticipate everything," says Carrie Bodoh, manager of the software used in the ATM Lab's cockpit and terminal areas. "But we look at the trends, see where they're going, and talk to people in the field."

ATM Lab staff members explore these concepts with the help of simulations that emulate the fundamental and critical capabilities of the cockpit and the air traffic control system. As important as the simulations themselves, however, is their availability in a single facility. That helps customers see how a concept would work as an integrated whole—not just from one segment or perspective of the nation's airspace—and provides the flexibility for those involved in the evaluations to suggest and implement changes.

CAASD's Chris DeSenti (left) discusses future enroute controller concepts with a group of visitors.

"The key is that MITRE/CAASD and the FAA, at least from my perspective, are able to work very well together, and if we need to do course changes, we can do that," says John Marksteiner, terminal applications manager for the FAA's Safe Flight 21 program. "Other organizations are very capable, too, but it's harder to effect changes in research. I think MITRE's a critical resource. It provides a highly talented pool of folks that can address problems very quickly. You don't have to wait a year or two to try to even begin to do something."

User Friendly and Adaptable

Aside from data collection, some of the most valuable input to the ATM Lab's simulations comes from the users themselves—and MITRE's managers and engineers listen. Last September, for example, representatives from seven of the 20 Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCC) in the United States were in the lab for high-altitude airspace redesign work using a navigational grid system. Representatives from the Seattle center worked the system and came up with a number of proposed design changes.

"When they gave us their proposed design changes, we were able to very rapidly install them into the system here," says Chris DeSenti, project leader for the enroute airspace simulation program. "And they came back 45 days later to do a second test. And that way, they were able to come to closure on that next set of questions. There's a lot of value in that sort of rapid turnaround."

The lab gives users a big-picture view of potential solutions to their problems—a view they might not have otherwise.

"The ATM Lab provides the FAA with a valuable resource to develop concepts and procedures that cannot be done elsewhere," says Urmila Hiremath, associate program manager of ATM Infrastructure. "We have both the simulation environment, with its flexibility and extensiveness, and the talent—staff who are able to bring concepts to fruition. This combination has made the ATM Lab a world-class environment."

—by W. Russell Woolard

Related Information

Websites

• MITRE's Center for Advanced Aviation System Development (CAASD)
• Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)

Page last updated: February 19, 2004 | Top of page