Photo courtesy of NATS
NATS has completed designing a new human machine interface (HMI) for air traffic controllers, working toward Single European Sky ATM Research (SESAR) deployment, NATS said. The interface could help implement new airspace management concepts, which aids in delivering the additional capacity required by SESAR.
“The new HMI is one of a number of projects being co-funded by [the Innovation and Networks Executive Agency], which will help revolutionize air traffic management in the U.K. This particular project is an integral part of NATS’ planning for the future,” said Paul Haskins, NATS director of service, strategy and transformation. “Its main objective is to deliver key elements of the HMI design work for air traffic controllers and operational support staff for the new systems. This will ensure commonality and interoperability between U.K. civil and military en route air traffic controllers and enable us to deliver SESAR in U.K. airspace.”
The design was funded in part by the European Commission’s Connecting Europe Facility and the Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA). The solution is to be used to display information produced throughout the iTEC Flight Data Processing System, which is set to become operational throughout the U.K. “in the coming years,” according to NATS. Air traffic controllers would use the interface to access data, including the location and future intention of aircraft.