[389JM]

I have followed with interest the different 'personal' tracking devices or technologies such as APRS or the SPOT device in 'tracking' mode. The fact that these devices enable one to monitor the progress of a flight goes a long way toward added safety.

However, it seems that the current state of these systems requires an individual to be actively monitoring the progress of the flight to know if the flight is progressing safely and in particular, if the flight arrived safely at its destination.

It seems to me that another layer of intelligence may add a key piece to the safety aspect of these flights. First let me introduce myself... my name is Jim Haran. My company is DataSoft Inc. and we are located in Oregon. We design, develop, deploy and maintain enterprise level database and software systems for a military branch of the US government. We have been in business doing this for 10+ years.

My idea for the additional layer of intelligence is this. Would it be feasible, or even a good idea, to create a system that automatically tracked an APRS or SPOT flight and if the system noticed that the flight concluded at a location other than the destination airport to notify contact personnel immediately?

Does this system already exist? If not, maybe we can create it. This thought has been kicking around in my head for a little while now and every time I read about a fellow aviator gone missing I wonder if something like what I am proposing could make a difference.

Also, my idea of this system is that it should exist as a product from a non-profit entity. If this is a good idea and we, as a community, can develop this, I do not want to make a dime from it nor should anyone else. Ideally, I see the use of this system as a free product to our fellow aviators.

Please let me know your thoughts and/or ideas. I look forward to reading them.

Jim

 

[PaigeHoffart]

Interesting Idea

So I see this working in one of two ways:

1) You file a flight plan with your system. It needs to know what the destination is and what the ETA is, so it can make notifications.

2) Your system has an airport database in it, and it's smart enough to track you and note if you've made a landing at an airport.

The first system would probably be the easiest to implement, but would require people to go online and "file" for it to work. The second system would be neat, but might be prone to false alarm due to areas of bad coverage (i.e. you fly through western Nebraska, and lose track for 30 min)

With either system unless you figure out how to accurately map out coverage, you'll have to put a time delay in to prevent false alarms, so I don't think an "immediate" notification would be possible. Although, a notification could certainly be made within an hour based on what we've seen for coverage. Another issue with the immediate notification would be that a simple blown fuse or other electrical issue could set it off. I'd hate to get everyone spun up just because my tracker quit working or my GPS lost lock. This might be a reason to put some sort of tracker status indication in the cockpit.

If you go with system #1, I would suggest an interface for mobile devices to make it easy to file. An option to close a flight plan via the mobile device (cell phone, PDA, etc) would also be good just in case you didn't have coverage at your intended destination. Essentially this would just be an electronic "call home" system.

Another function that you might consider adding is looking for a string in the beacon text, or looking for an emergency beacon to make notifications. We could use the secondary configuration and a switch in an emergency.

Just a plain old "approaching arrival" text message would be useful for most people.

Finally, how are you going to make the notifications? Email? Text Message? Phone call?

Thanks,
Paige

 

[389JM]

Paige,

Thanks for taking the time to respond. Your response is exactly what I was hoping to receive. First let me explain my approach to this from a system design/capability standpoint. First, the important point I am attempting to determine is whether or not a system like this can be helpful. Second, design the system to operate as well as possible given the limitations of the APRS and SPOT devices and supporting structure. This is where I was hoping some people knowledgeable in these areas would offer information.

That being said, I envision an initial system that is a combination of your #1 and #2. Ideally we would have the locations of all airports stored in the system as well as areas of coverage issues, etc.

One of my design philosophies is 'Keep it simple as possible', especially from a user interface standpoint. So, maybe the system could be designed such that the user would simply enter a departure airport, a destination airport, and approximate time of departure.

At this point our system would be 'looking' for the aircraft to depart and track and store its progress on the flight. If the system noticed that the last transmission data indicated that the flight 'stopped' at coordinates that correspond to the coordinates of an airport, the system would assume an unplanned stop but all is ok. If the track of the flight was going to go through an area of known coverage problems, we could design the system to suspend tracking but to look for the arrival at the destination airport assuming coverage is good there.

As far as interface and notification devices are concerned, anything a body of code can talk to is what I had in mind. Mobile devices, email, text, etc. is all good.

Now, let me say the term 'immediate' in my initial post is a relative term with respect to this subject. We should think of this in terms of 'as soon as possible or practical'.

Again, let me stress that this is simply an idea that I am throwing out there to ascertain the feasibility of developing something like this. I want to focus on the issues that could be identified as 'Show stoppers'. For example, if coverage is so poor in certain areas as to constantly trigger false alarms, well, what do we do? Exclude this area from service? Is the coverage area of these systems so limited as to render this idea a non-starter?

Again, thanks for your response. Hopefully others will chime in.

 

[RV8RIVETER]

Sounds like a good and very helpful idea.

Given the TT4 capability of Byonics next product, being able to enter text or stored messages, that may be another good way to trigger a system alert by looking for a prearranged (distress) message.

Set triggers for rapid loss of altitude follwed by no signal.

Since APRS is a volunteer system I can't see not having some blackout areas somewhere, plus what if the transmitter crashes. As long as there is some system of registered contact number, nearest airfield correlation fix, and time buffer, you would think false alarms could be kept to a small number.

Set-up some policy for repeat false alarm offenders.

 

[tc1234c]

I would feel hesitate to rely on APRS for reliable tracking and sending out alarms. As said by others already, APRS is based on a volunteer system of ground receivers. Anybody can setup a receiver (digi/i-gate) any time and take it off line any time. It is impossible to keep track of which area have or not have service at any giving time. When there is packet (report) on the page, we know with confidence that the tracker is working and the airplane is at that location. However, when there is no packet, we can not say anything about the status of the airplane. Just my 2 cents.