ADS-B driven implementation of an Airport Control Tower Augmented Reality platform

The aim of this thesis work is to transfer to a real airport environment the solutions developed for the SESAR DTT Solution 97.1-EXE-002 project, which validated in a simulated airport environment the use of a head-mounted display for Augmented Reality to visualize the information the airport control tower operators usually employ in a head-up position rather than on terminals, while improving low-visibility operations. In fact, over the years, an increasing number of instruments installed at the controller’s workstation have improved airport operations safety, yet making the controller spend less time looking directly at the air traffic outside the tower. The controller is thus continuously shifting between a head-down and head-up position, with an increase in workload and a reduction of its situational awareness. Following the results from previous works, this thesis proposes to design and validate an Augmented Reality platform for the real-time visualization of aircraft in the airport traffic zone, while integrating airport surveillance systems and task-related adaptivity. Following the user-centred design, joining outcomes of previous projects with the specific requirements of a real-world augmented reality platform, a design concept has been defined, with an ADS-B data stream used to send position information to a HoloLens device, which visualizes the aircraft with holographic Tracking Labels in correspondence to their positions in the physical world. This paper describes the passages leading to the final design, namely the ADS-B data decoding and transfer to the HoloLens, the registration process of the device with the real world and the implementation of the real-time tracking system. The implementation of a real weather interface and runway overlay completed the application. A first technical check was done with the help of an ATC operator, and a technical validation followed ensuring the repeatability and reproducibility of the application configuration.