HandsOn is very pleased to form part of SATMET project. SATMET (Situation Awareness and Traffic Management for Engineless Taxiing) aims at improving the way airports operate.

 

The project targets aircraft taxiing between the terminal gate and the runway whereby currently aeroplanes use their main engines to carry out this. This is very energy inefficient and costly apart from creating a lot of noise and air pollution.

 

SATMET focuses on achieving engineless taxiing. This is achieved through autonomous tow trucks (tugs) which tow aircraft between the terminal gates and the runway. Through the use of multiple sensors like GPS, cameras and LIDAR technology tugs can automatically detect the best and safest route for each aircraft that requires towing.

 

HandsOn focused on the HMI aspect of the project and developed the necessary user interface that manages and controls the fleet of tow-trucks.

 

The project has been funded by the MCST Fusion Technology Development Programme.