AeroTech Research (ATR) presented and showcased their technologies at the 8th Navy Opportunity Forum sponsored by the Navy Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program Office. The Forum was held at the Hyatt Regency in Crystal City, VA.

In opening remarks NextGEN : Integrating Weather, Airports, and Air Navigation Services Conference, Nick Sabatini spoke on the integration of weather information and various technologies (including TAPS) into the Next Generation Air Transportation System.

To read full text, please go to http://test.jpdo.gov/library/weather/NS-Weather-02-12-08.pdf

AeroTech Research (ATR) announces the award of two Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I contracts from NASA. One of the contracts is to develop and integrate a Turbulence Impact Module into Air Traffic Management (ATM) Simulations. This module would enable researchers and planners to identify and assess the impact of actual turbulence to the National Air Space (NAS) and examine performance capability of new ATM methods with turbulence present. The second contract is to develop a 3-D Wind and Turbulence Measurement System for UAV's that will measure and resolve science quality wind vector and turbulence information throughout the UAV's flight envelope.

Click to download 2007 SBIR/STTR Phase I Press Release

Mr. Steve Velotas, Vice President of Operations for AeroTech Research (ATR), presented a brief on Turbulence Detection and Avoidance Systems (TDAS).

Click to download Turbulence Detection and Avoidance Systems.pdf

Mr. Steve Velotas, Vice President of Operations for AeroTech Research (ATR), presented a brief on ATR's Turbulence Detection and Awareness Technologies during the Progress in Turbulence Information Segment.

Click to download Turbulence Detection and Awareness Technologies.pdf

Dr. Paul Robinson, President of AeroTech Research (ATR), presented a brief on ATR's Turbulence Awareness and Avoidance Technologies to the AAPA Flight Operations working group in Hong Kong.

Click to download Turbulence Awareness and Avoidance Technologies.pdf

AeroTech Research (ATR)'s TAPS and E-Turb Radar technologies are the subject of a just released National Geographic article entitled "Airline Passengers, Relax: Turbulence Detectors Are on the Way." The article describes the technologies and mentions the evaluations conducted with Delta under the NASA program. For more information on TAPS and E-Turb click these links.

AeroTech Research (ATR) announces the award of a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II contract from NASA to develop A Real-Time Quantitative Condition Alerting and Analysis Support (QCAAS) System for Aircraft Maintenance.

Many of the specific conditions and events of interest to airline maintenance are not being monitored by automatic systems, and some events are being identified through a subjective determination by the aircrew. This subjective determination can result in both maintenance being performed unnecessarily and maintenance not being performed when needed.

During this Phase II contract, ATR will develop a multi-tier, Quantitative Condition Alerting and Analysis Support system for aircraft that will in real-time, automatically downlink to maintenance personnel, reports on the occurrence of specific conditions and events. The reports will be displayed on a web based, ground station network. The system will also track individual aircraft's exposure to particular in-flight conditions allowing airline personnel to tailor maintenance programs to individual aircraft. By providing quantifiable data in real-time, operational decisions can be made to minimize the impact and maximize the benefits of on-condition maintenance.

Mr. Steve Velotas, Vice President of Operations for AeroTech Research (ATR), presented a brief on ATR's Turbulence Detection and Awareness Technologies during the Progress in Turbulence Information Segment.

Click to download Turbulence Detection and Awareness Technologies.pdf

"Turbulence, wind shear, and fatigue topped the agenda at the agency's international air safety seminar, held in Paris in October" (Aviation International News - AIN Online). Dr. Paul Robinson presented a brief entitled "Advances in Turbulence Detection and Avoidance for Commercial Aviation" on the need for improved turbulence detection at the Flight Safety Foundation Annual International Air Safety Seminar in Paris. The brief discussed how the Enhanced Turbulence Radar and the Turbulence Auto-PIREP System (TAPS) could fill many of the user needs regarding improved turbulence information/awareness.

Click to download Conference White Paper

Click to download Conference Presentation

Spinoff, a product of NASA’s Innovative Partnerships Program, is a publication designed to highlight the advances that come out of the Agency’s pioneering work in space exploration, scientific discovery, and aeronautics research. This year's publication contains an article entitled "Steering Aircraft Clear of Choppy Air" that describes the development and advantages of ATR's Enhanced Turbulence Radar algorithms and Turbulence Auto-PIREP System (TAPS).

NASA recently announced the selection of five prime contractors for a major NASA contract in support of aircraft flight critical systems research (FCSR). ATR is pleased to announce that it is a member of both the ARINC Engineering Services, LLC FCSR team and the Rannoch Corporation team. The flight critical systems research work is in four major areas: flight dynamics guidance and control; crew systems and aviation operations; reliable and robust avionics systems; and flight critical systems analysis and integration. The five NASA selected prime contractor teams will compete for task orders under the indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity award that has a potential value of $35 million.

AeroTech Research (ATR) announces the award of a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I contract from NASA to develop a turbulence hazard decision support tool (TurbDST) that will enhance controllers’ and dispatchers’ situational awareness of the location and severity of turbulence; by providing real-time quantitative turbulence information down-linked from aircraft. Every day, turbulence has an adverse effect on aircraft operations and capacity of the NAS, costing the airline industry at least $150 million annually in operational inefficiencies, unscheduled maintenance, and injuries. A contributor to these costs is that controllers’ and dispatchers’ current tactical knowledge of turbulence hazards relies heavily on verbal pilot reports of turbulence, which are often inconsistent, late, and subjective. During this Phase I contract, ATR will determine the feasibility of integrating, displaying, and using various turbulence information (including, but not limited to, Enhanced Turbulence Radar information and Turbulence Auto-PIREP System reports) on a ground station system to both increase the turbulence hazard situational awareness of controllers, traffic managers, and dispatchers, and enhance their decision making with regards to the safe and efficient routing of aircraft in and around regions of turbulence.

AeroTech Research (ATR) announces the award of a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I contract from NASA to develop a multi-tier, Quantitative Condition Alerting and Analysis Support (Q-CAAS) system for aircraft that will in real-time, automatically downlink to maintenance personnel, reports on the occurrence of specific conditions and events (e.g. loads exceedance).

Financial constraints and the need for improved operational efficiency are requiring airlines to emphasize “on-condition” maintenance over scheduled maintenance where possible. The problem is that many of the specific conditions and events of interest to airline maintenance are not being monitored by automatic systems. In fact, for some of these events, such as the occurrence of severe loads and hard landings, the current method of detection is through a subjective determination by the aircrew. This subjective determination can result in both maintenance being performed unnecessarily and maintenance not being performed when needed.

During this Phase I contract, ATR will, with assistance from Delta Air Lines Technical Operations, determine the feasibility of developing algorithms to detect the occurrence of specific maintenance conditions and events, many of which are currently reported based on subjective analysis. Phase I will also look at the ability to gather and process flight parameters required for analysis of each event/condition occurrence, to create a maintenance report, and to deliver it to a ground station network to assist maintenance personnel in maximizing on-condition maintenance and minimizing the impact on flight operations.

The December Flight International article entitled "MultiScan will help Airbus pilots avoid weather hazards" discusses the recent certification of Rockwell Collins' hazard weather detection system on the A320, A330 and A340. This now enables Rockwell Collins to install the advanced Multiscan functions on single- and twin- aisle Airbus aircraft. The article also discusses that ATR's Enhanced Turbulence Detection Algorithms are being evaluated as a 2007-8 upgrade to the WXR-2100 Multiscan Radar. The Enhanced Turbulence Detection Algorithms will increase Pilots' situational awareness of the turbulence hazards to their aircraft.

AeroTech Research (ATR) announces the award of a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II contract from NASA to develop an integrated turbulence hazard decision aid for cockpits. Aircraft encounters with turbulence are the leading cause of injuries in the airline industry and result in significant human, operational, and maintenance costs to the airline community each year. During this Phase II contract, ATR will develop a prototype of the integrated, graphical turbulence hazard decision aid and evaluate it in both a PC simulation and a flight simulator using commercial airline pilots. With better knowledge of the turbulence hazards' severity and location, pilots will be able to either avoid turbulence encounters or prepare for them by having all occupants seated with seatbelts on, thereby avoiding injuries.

The recently released FAA Advisory Circular AC 120-88 entitled "Preventing Injuries Caused By Turbulence" clearly recognizes the value of real-time turbulence information to airlines' efforts to avoid turbulence and prevent cabin injuries. The Advisory Circular goes on to state that an automated turbulence reporting system is a promising way to capture and convey this real-time turbulence information. The Advisory Circular recommends that air carriers “commit to the installation of the Turbulence Auto-PIREP System (TAPS)” and that air carriers should support implementation of emerging technologies by retrofitting “current predictive wind shear equipped aircraft with enhanced turbulence detection radar” and by considering “graphical onboard turbulence display systems”. ATR’s Enhanced Turbulence Radar algorithms and TAPS are ready to provide pilots, dispatchers, and other flight operations personnel the real-time turbulence information they need to make decisions regarding turbulence avoidance and to assist in the prevention of cabin injuries.

ATR's TAPS and Enhanced Turbulence (E-Turb) radar technologies are the subject of a just released Flight International article entitled "How real-time weather data can help." The article describes the technologies, the current evaluation with Delta Air Lines, and the future dates when the TAPS and E-Turb products will be available. For more information on TAPS and E-Turb click these links.

As part of the TAPS evaluation under the NASA Turbulence Prediction and Warning System (TPAWS) program, the Turbulence Auto-PIREP System (TAPS) algorithms have now been installed on over 100 Delta Air Lines aircraft. This includes 71 B-737-800s, 20 B-767-300s, and 14 B-767-400s. TAPS reports are being transmitted by these aircraft and are being graphically displayed on an evaluation ground station. For more information on TAPS, click here or contact ATR at (757) 723-1300.

NASA Langley Research Center has issued News Release 05-190 on the development of the Turbulence Auto PIREP System (TAPS) by ATR under the NASA Turbulence Prediction and Warning Systems (TPAWS) element of the Aviation Safety and Security Program (AvSSP). The article provides a brief description of the problem, of how TAPS works to improve pilots awareness of turbulence, and of the testing being done on over 80 Delta Air Lines aircraft. It also contains some testimonials on the benfits of TAPS for the airlines and aviation. For more information on TAPS, click here.

AeroTech Research (ATR) announces the award of a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I contract from NASA to develop a real-time turbulence hazard cockpit display. Aircraft encounters with turbulence are the leading cause of injuries in the airline industry and result in significant human, operational, and maintenance costs to the airline community each year. During this Phase I contract, ATR will investigate the feasibility of developing an integrated, graphical cockpit display of turbulence hazard information scaled to the specific aircraft. With better knowledge of the turbulence hazards' severity and location, pilots will be able to either avoid turbulence encounters or prepare for them by having all occupants seated with seatbelts on, thereby avoiding injuries.

ATR is an acknowledged leader in the field of turbulence detection for airliners. ATR is currently evaluating its turbulence detection technologies on Delta Air Lines aircraft with ARINC, Rockwell Collins and NASA.

The Internet Science and Technology Fair (ISTF), part of the University of Central Florida, challenges students to use information technology tools to discover and explore the future of science and engineering; provides science, math and computer teachers with a means to integrate the Internet and research methods into their curriculum; and offers scientists and engineers working within corporations, federal/state agencies and academic research centers an opportunity to invest their time on-line as technical advisors who become "digital mentors."

AeroTech Research (ATR) was selected by Team 901 from Lakewood High School in St. Petersburg, Florida, to participate as their Technical Mentor for their project entitled "Have a Coke Your Whole Flight ...". The Team's approach will focus on turbulence prediction and control for commercial flights, a National Critical Technology previously identified by the White House Office of Science and Technology. Team 901, with ATR's guidance, will work on developing ways to avoid turbulence encounters and/or mitigate them to create a smoother flight for the flight crew, passengers, and cargo.

NASA Langley Research Center has issued News Release 04-035 announcing the upcoming operational evaluation of the Enhanced Turbulence Mode Radar on a Delta B737-800 aircraft. The article provides a brief look into the Enhanced Turbulence Mode Radar project and its operational evaluation under the NASA Turbulence Prediction and Warning Systems (TPAWS) program. The online news release also has some background on the early development of the system and a nice Quicktime movie showing early flights of the system on the NASA B757-200 ARIES Research aircraft. For more information on the Enhanced Turbulence Mode Radar project, click here.

On May 1, ATR officially opened the doors at its new office at 11836 Fishing Point Drive, Newport News, Virginia. The office located in the Oyster Point section of Newport News offers ATR a greater expansion capability and places it in the heart of the Newport News business district.

ATR, under the NASA Turbulence Prediction and Warning Systems (TPAWS) program, has been funded to evaluate their Turbulence Auto-PIREP System (TAPS) on commercial aircraft. Delta Air Lines has agreed to provide the aircraft for the evaluation. Over the next year, the TAPS system will be installed and evaluated on seventy-one (71) B-737-800 Delta aircraft.

ATR, under the NASA Turbulence Prediction and Warning Systems (TPAWS) program, has formed a government/industry team to develop and evaluate an enhanced turbulence radar. Rockwell Collins has agreed to integrate ATR's turbulence hazard algorithms into one of their Multiscan® radars and Delta Air Lines has agreed to install the enhanced radar on one of their B-737-800s. The enhanced turbulence radar will be used and evaluated in revenue service for 9-12 months. To learn more about the project, click here.

"Tracking Down Turbulence" - discusses the efforts of the NASA Turbulence Prediction and Warning System (TPAWS) team, of which ATR is a key member, to develop and test an enhanced turbulence detection radar for commercial aircraft that is capable of detecting "severe storm-related and clear-air turbulence 30 seconds to two minutes before an encounter."

Working with a team of experts, ATR's engineers developed turbulence detection technologies that will significantly improve aviation safety, and reduce the turbulence accident rate. These technologies were based on radar and in situ measurements.