World AirNews June 2018

NEWS DIGITAL
NEWS DIGITAL
“on its own,
there is
nothing
extrAordinAry
ABout it, But As
A BAckup, it will
sAve lives,”
romBouts
stAted
lower altitude to help the pilot regain consciousness, taking the
terrain below into consideration. At the same time, with the GPS
tracking of local towers and radios, a series of distress messages
will be sent out on the radio waves, so that neighbouring pilots and
air traffic control are aware of the situation.
“This technology has been around for a long time and is used by
commercial airliners,” he explains. “The trouble though, for the
general aviation market, is it is not affordable. It was then that we
decided to research the night vision systems utilised by top automobile
brands around the world and found that AutoLiv was the
manufacturer of these systems. It sent us a sample of the system
and we are currently developing software for aircraft night vision.”
Rombouts also stressed that while night vision was extremely
important, what they would additionally be adding to the system
was obstacle recognition for the runway, taking the centre line into
consideration.
Current GPS systems in general aviation aircraft will take you to
a runway, within about two metres. However, these systems do
not give accurate height readings in poor weather conditions. The
height of an aircraft is measured by a barometer and the readings
given by the older technology in sports aircraft and private
planes, do not always accurately measure the current atmospheric
pressure. “This sounds minor, but small differences can result in a
massive differentiation,” Rombouts pointed out. “You may think
you are 30 metres above the ground based on the readings you are
given, but could be a few centimetres from the ground and crash.”
HOW IT WORKS
In an effort to increase safety on such aircraft, they are developing
a small radar that from 40 metres above the ground, can measure
precisely to 1 centimetre of an aircraft’s position. This is an
important safety addition for landing in bad weather or at night, as
the radar will pinpoint exactly where the plane is in relation to the
ground.
Rombouts explained that these were systems already in existence
for commercial aviation, but due to the exorbitant costs of
attaining them, very few aircraft in the general aviation sector have
them.
“We have now made it affordable and accessible and you’re looking
at a lifesaving piece of equipment that will cost private pilots
around $500,” he added.
AUTOMATED PRE-FLIGHT CHECKLIST
Every pilot usually works with a pre-flight checklist. In a
commercial plane, the co-pilot assists the pilot through the list,
while in general aviation, there is no co-pilot. So, the moment the
pilot is reading through his checklist, he is not flying or looking at
his instruments.
No trouble for the students at Belgium Campus. Their ingenious
minds created a mobile app whereby the pilot connects his phone
to the audio panel and the pre-flight inspection is read out loud as
he checks off each item on his yoke. The list can be modified to the
pilot’s needs as each aircraft is different.
“This is a simple piece of technology that doesn’t exist in general
aviation today, but something that can reduce the workload of the
pilot and in turn increase safety,” Rombouts highlights.
The app has additional benefits when it comes to fuel mismanagement,
one of the top four causes of aircraft engine failures.
Most aircraft carry fuel in their wings, with valves to switch off flow
of fuel in each wing to balance the plane. Theoretically, you have to
switch your fuel flow from left to right or right to left, every twenty
minutes. If the pilot is distracted by bad weather or simply forgets
to switch between the two, the typical aircraft provides minimal
warning of impending fuel exhaustion and it only takes a moment
for the engine to stall when one tank has run empty.
This is a typical accident cause because by the time the pilot
switches tanks after the stall, and gets the motor back up and
running, the plane cannot recover at a low altitude and crashes.
On the app and software developed by his students, you can place
sequences inside to remind the pilot through the audio panel of
something as simple as switching fuel tanks.
FULL DIGITAL AND BACKUP THROTTLE
In the majority of aircraft, the engine is in the front of the plane,
and from the cockpit to the throttle, you have a short cable.
In planes with engines in the back, you have a long line of cable
that weaves through the aircraft mainframe, bending and curving
until it reaches the cockpit. When these cables snap, jam and
break, they leave the pilot with a dramatic loss of control of the
aircraft.
While they were developing a digital throttle to improve on the
safety of a cabled throttle, the students realised there were other
factors at play that could decrease safety, namely, a short circuit in
the server or if the battery ran out of power. They went back to the
proverbial drawing board and developed a backup throttle system
that runs off a completely different server and power source.
The result is a throttle with a back-up that is activated by an actuator
when one system fails.
“On its own, there is nothing extraordinary about it, but as a
backup, it will save lives,” Rombouts stated. Q
MOVING INTO A BRIGHTER FUTURE
The team at Belgium Campus believe that if the future belongs
to scientists, technicians and engineers, our educational system
needs to reflect that reality.
STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) is the buzzword
in the education system of late and as educators they believe
that if there was a move toward adding more practical elements
into universities and even high schools, something that is oftentimes
obscure like geometry, for instance, can be real and exciting.
“All too often higher education focuses on practical components
that students have completed year after year, the same thing.
We believe in using this energy to foster innovation,” Rombouts
continued, “You can teach a student through a theoretical base,
but we found over the years that all companies would then need to
send their new employees on a practical training course and this is
why we implement a practical component to every course. As soon
as students are involved in a tangible project where they can add
value, the interest is there and they perform better.
“At Belgium Campus, we maintain that one of the most important
lessons we can take from the internet age is that we can’t
anticipate what will happen when we give young people an exciting
new platform, along with the freedom to innovate on top of it.”
VELOCITY PROJECT
Rombouts and the team did research and found a Swedish
company, AutoLiv, which developed a state-of-the-art driver
monitoring system (DMS). He and the team then set about to
develop software to supplement this system, which was specific to
pilots. He showed me a series of small cameras inside and outside
the aircraft, part of a pilot monitoring system they developed in
two short weeks. The system, he explains, can detect a distracted,
drowsy or non-responsive pilot by accurately measuring eye and
head position.
When there is no response from the pilot within a few seconds,
an alarm is sounded and the pilot is given a few more seconds to
respond. Should he be busy with a map for instance, he will switch
it off, and in the event he has lost consciousness, a sequence of
activities begins.
First, the auto-pilot will engage and try bringing the plane to a
World Airnews | June Extra 2018
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World Airnews | June Extra 2018
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