Laboratory scope of work
Laboratory for Air Traffic Control is located at the Department of Aeronautics. It is used for scientific research, teaching undergraduate and graduate students at the Department of Aeronautics and for training in courses provided by the Croatian Air Traffic Control Training Centre. In addition to enhancing competencies in software tools such as MicroNav BEST Radar Simulator, Eurocontrol ESCAPE, Network Strategic Tool (NEST) and Radar Skills Trainer (RST), students are also given a chance to obtain a certificate of completion of basic air traffic controller training. In order to obtain a certificate, it is necessary to successfully complete all the courses at the BEST simulator.
In addition to teaching, software packages are used for professional and scientific research in the field of air traffic management. Currently, the laboratory is being used for ATCOSIMA Erasmus+ project experiments, training of pseudo-pilots on H2020 PJ.01 and PJ.24 projects, study on Erasmus+ KAAT project, professional studies for SESAR PJ.24 – Network Collaborative Management – Sector Complexity Study, for the preparation of several doctoral dissertations etc.
MicroNav BEST Radar Simulator which is a part of the Laboratory for Air Traffic Control is certified by the Croatian Civil Aviation Agency through the plans and programs of basic air traffic controller training (Certificate of the Croatian Civil Aviation Agency No. HR.ATCOTO.01). The certificate was issued in accordance with Commission Regulation (EU) 2015/340.
Software packages
Name of specialized software package: | MICRONAV BEST RADAR SIMULATOR |
| Manufacturer: | Micro Nav Ltd., Bournemouth, UK |
| Year of production: | N/A |
| Type and number of licence: | 1 educational and 2 commercial |
| Licence price: | One-time license fee, paid in 2013 |
| Licence end date: | N/A |
| Software purpose: | BEST radar simulator is a PC-based simulator. It is used for simulation of air traffic control service. It contains: 2 air traffic controller (ATCO) working positions (2 PCs with ancillary equipment), 2 pseudo-pilot working positions (2 PCs with ancillary equipment) and licensed application. One of these positions is used as system manager working position. Best simulator also gains 1 spare working position (1 PCs with ancillary equipment). BEST simulator is used for air traffic controller training and for scientific research. Simulator is used within the program of undergraduate study of aeronautics, module air traffic control (ATC) and within the modular basic ATC training courses. It enables creation of airspace, exercises of area and approach control services and meteorological data. ATC students are authorized to provide air traffic services (ATS) within the airspace of its jurisdiction. They use specially designed electronic flight strips to note all clearances and instructions given to aircraft. Pseudo-pilots simulate movement of aircraft in the air. Air traffic controllers and pseudo-pilots communicate via radiotelephony communication. Communication system is a part of the simulator. Exercises are conducted under the supervision of certified air traffic control instructors. Scientific research is provided within the field of air traffic controller training (determination and analysis of air traffic controller tasks and workload, analysis of errors occurrence in radio-telephony communication, contingency analysis etc.). Simulator is also used for analysis and implementation of new technological solution within the fields of air traffic management (ATM) and air traffic control (ATS route design and implementation, airspace reorganization, sectorization analysis, safety studies etc.). Software is licensed according to the agreement with Micronav ltd. Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences owns permanent license for BEST simulator. |
Name of specialized software package: | Radar Skills Trainer (RST) |
| Manufacturer: | EUROCONTROL, IANS, Luxembourg |
| Year of production: | N/A |
| Type and number of licence: | 1 educational |
| Licence price: | N/A |
| Licence end date: | N/A |
| Software purpose: | RST is a PC-based simulator. Simulator is used within the program of undergraduate study of aeronautics, module ATC and within the modular basic ATCO training courses. It enables creation of airspace, exercises of area and approach control services. It is used for practicing basic radar vectoring and basic radar functions for both area and approach control. It cannot simulate complete air traffic control service since it doesn’t involve simulation of radiotelephony communication between pseudo-pilots and controllers. Students perform exercises under the supervision of certified tutors. Note: requires a LAN network and server when using more demanding modes (Distributed stand-alone and Full CMS). |
Name of specialized software package: | Program for airspace and air traffic flows simulation and modelling (NEST – Network Strategic Tool) |
| Manufacturer: | EUROCONTROL, Brussels, Belgium |
| Year of production: | N/A |
| Type and number of licence: | 1 educational |
| Licence price: | N/A |
| Licence end date: | N/A |
| Software purpose: | Program is used within the program of graduate and undergraduate study of aeronautics, module ATC and within the modular basic ATCO training courses. It enables research and analysis of traffic load on ATS routes, route segments, significant points, aerodromes and airspace structure with different scenarios creations. Visual presentation and animations of 3D traffic through certain airspace can be provided. It allows filtering of traffic according to the conditions set by the query function. It is used to compare ATS route distances, shortest route calculation in nautical miles, savings on fuel and environmental pollution. It enables simulations of different scenarios with different airspace and network settings. Upgrading the program and input data are taken from the EUROCONTROL server (Demand Data Repository – DDR2). |
Name of specialized software package: | EUROCONTROL’s Real-Time ATC for Academia (ESCAPE-Light) |
| Manufacturer: | EUROCONTROL Experimental Centre, Brétigny, France |
| Year of production: | N/A |
| Type and number of licence: | 1 educational |
| Licence price: | free |
| Licence end date: | N/A |
| Software purpose: | ESCAPE is real-time ATM simulation platform that supports small and large-scale simulations in the areas: airspace design for en-route and TMA, evaluation of new operational concepts and controller tools, pre-operational validation, controller training and research and development. ESCAPE provides set of capabilities such as ground capabilities (SYSCO, AMAN, MTCD, MONA, TBS, RTA, STCA, APW, MTAPW, TCT), air capabilities (high fidelity aircraft performance, RTA, CDA, ASAS, Datalink), a very powerful HMI tool kit (ECHOES) which allows the rapid development of specific and elaborated controller HMI(s), interface with industrial tool: AMAN (Thales Maestro, Harris OSYRIS), Thales TBS, interoperability with ATM system using SVS or Pitch. ESCAPE features full recording of all controller and pseudo-pilot input, all trajectories flown, all R/T and telephone communications, self-assessment indicators, etc. |
