HD Cameras To Control Air Traffic In London City Airport

Air traffic has always been controlled by air traffic controllers for safe and secure flow. This has been going on since civil aviation started. Now things are changing as technology is advancing. Live streams of high-definition video would be used in London to monitor air traffic the arrival and departure of flights from miles away.

Human is being replaced by machines in many fields and same is the case now in London city airport. A control tower which is almost 50 meter long is being constructed. Cameras would be used to remotely monitor air traffic. It is an achievement as it becomes the first city to come up with this advancement.

14 cameras would be used to keep track of flights. These cameras would be situated in east London, 80 miles away from the airport. It is expected that this project would start operating from 2019.

It is expected that the efficiency would be double once the tower is built and these cameras start working. In the 225 degree arc the whole 360 degree view is compressed. So if humans have two eyes, these cameras would have four eyes. Two at the back of the head as well. This way nothing would be missed from the camera’s eye and each and every minute detail would be captured. In the control room the controllers can zoom, span, and get a more detailed overview, as per their requirement. As the controller would look at the departure or arrival of a plane he can also see all identifying flights and radar info.

Augmented reality has made this possible that we can look at anything in airspace, the unclear image becomes crystal clear so it enable us to make better and appropriate decisions as per Alison FitzGerald, chief operations officer at London City.

Also read: Facebook’s virtual reality business led by Hugo Barra

Visibility would be improved in low light using graphics. Camera would be able to automatically detect any hanky-panky in air traffic. Moreover the sounds are also played of the airport, so that this augmented reality has a real feel to it.

Security can be better managed through this new system because humans can make mistakes but a machine rarely does.

Image via: IBTimes UK