SBIR-STTR Award

We are proposing to design and develop ACTER Air traffic Cloud-based TrainER, in collaboration with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU). ERAU researchers have developed a web-based ATC Scenario Training Technology (ASTT) application, simulating the FAAs ERAM system. ASTT was developed under a funded research with FAAs Center of Excellence for Technical Training and Human Performance to investigate potentials of online and home-based training requirements for FAA Academy. ERAU will provide the source code and documentation of ASTT, as well as ATC training course material and expertise to Concepts beyond (CB) to collaboratively build a cloud-based gaming system on top of ERAUs ASTT simulation engine. Our proposed game will utilize ASTTs web-based architecture, flight simulation engine, radar and radar associated automation, with many add on features such as 3D Tower view, Electronic Flight Strip, and optional voice and virtual reality rendering. The players advance in a progression system where they start from a Ground Controller rank with defined rank badge color, operations, growing number of traffic, and event as they progress through the rank. Once the player unlocks all events and capabilities in their rank, they are promoted to the next rank. The events and capability milestones will be built by our ATC instructors based on FAA and ERAU course syllabus. Scenarios will be generated based on historical data of real-live operations or instructor generated, where the scenario generation engine verifies and adapts the scenario events and player activity requirements to the players rank. A feedback loop in the game will suggest scenarios to the player based on their past performance. We will design modes of play on top of ASTTs single player mode, where student players can play online scenarios alone or together, despite their rank and level of expertise, at the comfort of their home and personal internet devices. In multiple player mode, players will control Ground, Tower, Radar and Radar Associate Approach positions in the same scenario, where same aircraft flight plan and surveillance data are routed to their displays based on the predicted trajectories and sector boundary crossing prediction. Based on our research and experience, there are a few online ATC related games that are low fidelity games that are not intended for training purposes and are mostly developed for amusement. On the contrary our innovation will be online, browser based, no software or hardware needed, plays on any internet capable device. It can play a single scenario on multiple devices, and have students collaborate on single scenario, with multiple ATC sectors such as approach and tower, and allows for instructors to have live access to the games being played to mentor students.

Benefit:
CB and ERAU are looking at three avenues of future joint commercialization of this innovation: 1. Deploy the end product on a secure cloud (possibly Gov-Cloud) host, with Navy specific operational scenarios, to be used by Navy and potentially with changes in the scenarios to other Federal entities such as FAA and Air Force. 2. Deploy a generic purpose version of the product with general ATC scenarios on a cloud environment for use by all Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs) around the world. This separate website will require paid subscription by the organizations or individual users, providing them access to various generic scenarios. ANSP organizations will have the option to generate their own scenarios suitable to their operation and geographical airspace, depending on their subscription. 3. Provide a rapid and affordable R&D environment for experimenting next generation ATC and ATM concepts, proposed by FAA, ICAO and other organizations. This business model looks at providing a paid service to R&D organizations to test new concepts such as 4-Dimensional Trajectory Concepts, Flight and Flow for Collaborative Decision Making (FF-ICE) messages, controller-pilot datalink communication (CPDLC), Flight, Flow, and Aeronautical data exchange models (i.e., FIXM, FLXM, AIXM) etc. 4. Provide as a realistic game for entertainment or avid ATC / aviation enthusiasts, or for amusement parks.

Keywords:
ATC Scenario Training Technology (ASTT), ATC Scenario Training Technology (ASTT), Air traffic Cloud-based TrainER, Game, Air traffic control training, Simulation

We are proposing to design and develop ACTER Air traffic Cloud-based TrainER, in collaboration with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU). Our proposed game will be a tablet-based casual gaming platform with multiple mini games designed to provide Sailors with the means to practice skills they would find in a professional environment, with cloud-integrated features to allow use from anywhere in the world. Our team of researchers will develop the Assisted Guidance Engine, a machine learning-based algorithm used for generating missions utilized by ACTERs various mini games. These missions will be tuned to the Sailors individual learning progress in the respective task-based mini game to maximize their education. Our proposed game will be in the form of a casual gaming platform consisting of multiple mini games. Each mini game is directly tied to an Air Traffic Control (ATC) specific activity to provide targeted practice in both the fundamentals as well as outlier scenarios such as animals on the runway. These will include Flight Data/Clearance Delivery, Ground Control, Local Control, ASR Final Control, PAR Final Control, and Arrival Control. Players will advance in a progression system where they start from a Ground Controller rank with defined rank badge color, operations, growing number of traffic, and event as they progress through the rank. Once the player unlocks all events and capabilities in their rank, they are promoted to the next rank. The events and capability milestones will be built by our ATC instructors based on the Navys curriculum and syllabus. Missions will be generated based on historical data of real-life operations or instructor generated, where the Assisted Guidance Engine verifies and adapts the scenario events and player activity requirements to the players rank. A feedback loop in the game will suggest missions to the player based on their past performance. The game platform will be single-player with the ability to compare personal statistics against fellow classmates. Each mini game will provide respective metrics to both the Sailor and instructors. Instructors will be able to review metrics for individual Sailors as well as aggregated metrics for the class and each mini game on a tailored website. Instructors will also have the ability on the website to override the Assisted Guidance Engine and assign manually-defined missions to the Sailors, both on an individual or class scale. Based on our research and experience, there are a few online ATC related games that are low fidelity games that are not intended for training purposes and are mostly developed for amusement. In contrast, our application will be able to be played on any current Android or iPad tablet. It will aid the Sailors learning progress using generated missions tailored to their strengths and weaknesses. The platform will also provide detailed metrics on global and individual levels to inform the instructors on their class performance.

Benefit:
CB (Concepts Beyond) and ERAU are looking at three avenues of future joint commercialization of this innovation: Deploy the product on a secure cloud (possibly Gov-Cloud) host, with Navy specific operational scenarios, to be used by Navy and potentially with changes in the scenarios to other Federal entities such as FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) and Air Force. Deploy a generic purpose version of the product with general ATC scenarios on a cloud environment for use by all Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs). This separate website will require a paid subscription by the organizations or individual users, providing them access to various generic scenarios. ANSP organizations will have the option to generate their own scenarios suitable to their operation and geographical airspace, depending on their subscription. Provide a rapid and affordable R&D environment for experimenting next generation ATC and ATM (Air Traffic Management) concepts, proposed by FAA, ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) and other organizations. This business model looks at providing a paid service to R&D organizations to test new concepts such as 4-Dimensional Trajectory Concepts, Flight and Flow for Collaborative Decision Making (FF-ICE) messages, controller-pilot datalink communication (CPDLC), Flight, Flow, and Aeronautical data exchange models (i.e., FIXM, FLXM, AIXM) etc. Provide as a realistic game for entertainment or avid ATC / aviation enthusiasts, or for public environments such as amusement parks.

Keywords:
Simulation, Air traffic control training, Air traffic Cloud-based TrainER, Game, ATC Scenario Training Technology (ASTT)