Fiona Galea Debono
University invention makes airports safer
‘Massive interest had already been shown in the technology’
An invention by the University of Malta could lead to safer aircraft movements at airports if the technology developed by its Department of Electronic Systems Engineering takes off.
An instrument it designed, which resolves runway conflicts, has also secured the first international patent by the UK’s Intellectual Property Office for the University, putting Malta on the map where research in aeronautics is concerned.
The invention is the work of engineers David Zammit-Mangion, Andrew Sammut and Brian Zammit and is the result of about seven years of research and development with the aerospace industry.
“It has been a challenging task because it involved designing applications for situations where the lives of those on board are at stake,” said Dr Zammit-Mangion, the department head.
“Fatal runway collisions during landing and take-off may not happen that often. But incursions – entering the runway when the aircraft is not supposed to – occur on average once a day in the US alone and are considered a serious and dangerous problem, which could turn into an accident just with the flip of circumstance,” Dr Zammit-Mangion explained. The effective mitigation of runway collisions has, for many years, been high on the wish list of the aviation industry and the US National Transportation Safety Board has long been pushing to develop technologies to reduce the risk.
But it had to be the University of Malta to succeed, where attempts by Boeing and Nasa, among others, have failed. Other universities and institutions have gone for “non-optimal” solutions.
While traffic collision avoidance technology for aircraft in flight was available it did not yet exist for the airfield because it was more of a challenge, Dr Zammit-Mangion said.
“The crews need to focus more when they are landing and taking off and it is dangerous to alert pilots unnecessarily. So the technology is hard to develop...
“Our approach is that the only way to resolve the issue is to tell the pilots either to stop or continue. They need to be alerted about what to do because they are blind if they are taking off in zero visibility,” he explained.
“But we took on the challenge to decide that was the way it had to be done and developed the technology to support this method of alerting the crew in the cockpit.
“Flight trials have demonstrated it is significantly more effective to alert crews this way,” Dr Zammit-Mangion said.
The system monitors the traffic in the vicinity and when a risk of collision is detected it determines what to do to resolve it, defining the aircraft’s path to ensure it is averted and alerting the pilots to take appropriate action. The technology takes into account the dynamics of the conflict but also human reaction time and the possibility of making the wrong decision.
It may be a computer that is deciding on the action in such a touch-and-go situation but for Dr Zammit-Mangion it is much better than a human brain. “When you are scared, you take the wrong decisions. A computer always makes the same assessment, irrespective of whether the situation is stressful to the human being, or not.”
Dr Zammit-Mangion’s department has been working with several industrial partners to design airborne avionic equipment and has carried out other world-class research in aeronautics, winning a number of international contracts to the tune of €2.4 million.
It is also working on how to taxi a plane in complete blindness so that it can move on the runway autonomously and avoid delays due to fog.
The idea is to have the runway collision technology mandated on every plane, Dr Zammit-Mangion said.
“We would love to sell it but that is no mean feat due to the politics, liability and certification issues involved. Eventually, however, the technology will definitely find its way onto aircraft.”
The invention has already been disseminated widely through several forums and has been presented to RTCA, which designs standards in aviation and brings together the key players, including Airbus, Boeing and the certification bodies, among others.
“Massive interest” in the technology has already been shown, including from Boeing. Dr Zammit-Mangion will again meet representatives from Boeing in August.
If the University manages to exploit the patent, it stands to earn big money: the technology costs about $100,000 per plane, which is substantial, considering 20,000 aircraft are in operation and about 1,000 are built every year.
However, Dr Zammit Mangion is keeping his feet on the ground and statistics in mind: “It is only one in 10 patents that actually makes money!”
The importance of the patent lies not only in the protection of intellectual property but also in the fact that it tells the industry “we are capable of developing technologies that are worthy of attention”.
Factbox
The worst runway collision ever was in Tenerife in 1977 when a KLM Boeing 747 crashed into a Pan-Am jumbo jet as it attempted to take off in fog, with 586 fatalities.
The latest major runway incursion happened in Milan Linate International Airport in 2001.
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Mr William Micallef
Jun 27th 2011, 21:35
Hopefully the University took into account recent EU developments and factored in the research undertaken by the Galileo Space Program. The new EGNOS Safety-of-Life service that is freely available already provides aircraft with better approaches, flying-blind possibilities and more cost-effective ways to land.
http://www.egnos-portal.eu
if they did not take this into consideration, it may be a waste of time. Bad luck chaps!
Josephine Borg
Jun 27th 2011, 20:09
I only know Professor Zammit Mangion from his many grateful students, but as a Maltese I am really thrilled to learn of his achievements. No doubt he has more projects in hand which will further enhance his reputation both as a first class researcher and as a consummate diplomat. I would also augur him equal success in his abilty to teach and lead his students by example. It appears that he is a very good lecturer and his classes are always very popular. It is inevitable that we shall be hearing more about him and his attainments. Such a figure should be nurtured and hopefully given promotion. Why is he not a Pro-Rector already may I humbly ask?
Good luck Professor and may you arrive where you deserve!
Nathalie Cauchi
Jun 27th 2011, 20:04
Well Done!! Prositt!!
David Borg Bartolo
Jun 27th 2011, 20:00
Well done Dr. Zammit Mangion!!! Maltese engineers are truely at the forefront of engineering research. I recall the short tutorial you gave me and my family on that flight simulator at Cranfield after graduation last year!
All the best!
D Bonnici
Jun 27th 2011, 14:56
For us fellow engineers...do you have a link where we can see a synopsis of the overall idea?
Mr Carmel Ellul
Jun 27th 2011, 14:01
Good show by Maltese Engineers solving what others gave up on.
The patent registration proves it all.
Now sell it to , MIA , Air Bus , Boeing , Nasa , Aeroflot , etc.
Ing. Carm Ellul.
Mr Carmel Pule'
Jun 27th 2011, 13:39
David, as a member of your department I have already congratulated you and the team that came up with this new idea. It is encouraging that Electronics Hardware through the ages formed computer hardware with such powerful processing ability which through a new tool called software, engineers can now apply electronics in diverse fields all through the Universe, for now we have gone into space with electronic hardware and software and a few other technologies working together including a radio link to connect large distances without wires!.
I am of a ripe age now, and I promised to help all the Engineering faculty for after all I saw all the faculty departments grow to what they are now. I just wish they would collaborate more harmoniously.
Anyway, I promised to build that fullsize Cockpit for you, in which you will include all the scenario and the corrections of images presented to the pilots. If my health lasts, I can even build a dynamic cockpit on hydraullic legs to make sure that the full cockpit will give a better feeling to the pilots who use it. The application of Electronic Department is so vast, when one considers the harware and the software it supports in the modern world.
Well, as far as I am concerned all I need is an easier process how to buy material quicker to get things done faster. I shall go for that autonomous aircraft I promised you , but meanwhile I would like to control ELECTRONICALLY that Solar Catamaran which the Power and Utilization Department is now exhibiting at the MFCC tradefair. I suggest the Faculty od Engineering would display all thier projects at every trade fair so that we become closer tot he public. I spoke to the Lady secretay of the MFCC and she said she would be delighted to give a stand at the trade fair so that the pubic become closer to t he activity of a University. I suppose we do no harm if we sell our products to the public like any other industry. Sometimes our products are misunderstood by the public and also by qualified personel as to under which area the Electronics Department must fall. Well now that is a predicament for All the deparments, all the offices , alll the homes , and all industry , all hospitals , and all communications all transportation , all robotics and so on , have at their soul, harware electronics, working in conjunction with software packages to achieve a function. In my estimation, in Malta, Electronics, software and mathematics should become the greatest and most popular subjects in our Education.
I advice all readers to go to the trade fair and have a look at the University Solar Catamaran being exhibited at the Crosscraft section, Robert of Crosscraft helps the university by sponsoring solar panels. Well, the Electronics department would soon have that electronically controlled to start at the Grand harbour and make its way to Mgarr Gozo on its own. Well David you may consider to apply your new anti collission invention to the seacraft as in Malta we are a little careless at the manner we navigate our coast. Again congratulations to David, Andrew and Brian, and please apply the anticollission results to seacraft, it would be easier with one less dimension to worry about. Prosit.
Christopher Debattista
Jun 27th 2011, 13:25
This is some really awesome news - Well done to all three researchers :)
Jesmond Micallef
Jun 27th 2011, 12:13
Very interesting news. Congratulations to Dr. David Zammit-Mangion and his team at the UOM and thier industrial collaborators on this achievement. This technology will further enhance aviation safety most specially when airport visibility conditions are poor. Very well done.
With sincere best wishes.
Mrs mary s
Jun 27th 2011, 12:13
Near misses happen so often, and sometimes it ends in tragedy. This is the most wonderful news. A wonderful achievement for these young engineers, a fantastic achievement for Malta. Good luck for the future, well done.
Mr TONY FORMOSA
Jun 27th 2011, 11:03
BRILLIANT. YOU MADE US EVER SO PROUD.
KINDLY ALLOW ME TO ADD MY CONGRATS TO MARCO CREMONA FOR PREVIOUS GREAT FEATS.
TONY FORMOSA
TONY FORMOSA
Kevin Farrugia
Jun 27th 2011, 10:41
Read this
http://www-scf.usc.edu/~csci477/FAA/csrp14.pdf (note the date 2001)
http://shemesh.larc.nasa.gov/fm/papers/Timmermann-RIPS.pdf (note the date 2001 / NASA)
http://i-cns.org/media/icns/2001/CNS01_Session_B5-Rankin.pdf (note the date 2001 /NASA)
Joe Vella
Jun 28th 2011, 00:41
But do you actually believe, that these researchers have not read these articles? Do you have any idea what a painstaking job it is to publish a paper... let alone, get it recognised by the industry. they chech each and every sentence for plagiarism, and originality. surely you do not know what it means to be a researcher. it's a painstaking job, which MALTESE people are very very good at. In engineering we are brought up in a culture, where self correction is a must, self dicipline is a way of life, and brilliant work is the standard.
M Cauchi
Jun 27th 2011, 10:33
Great to hear!!!!
IVAN GRIXTI
Jun 27th 2011, 10:09
Well done David and your colleagues....Keep it up! This is the new era our University has to engage with teaching and research not just teaching!
Mr Marco Cremona
Jun 27th 2011, 10:00
People like David and his team make us proud. Good that the media gives prominence to these achievements.
Mr Joseph Grima
Jun 27th 2011, 09:54
Well done and keep up the good work.
Mr Oswald Tanti
Jun 27th 2011, 09:30
What a nice relief to read something so positive about our tiny Island which should make all of us so proud of our talented Maltese Engineers. Well done and good luck for the future introduction by the Authorities concerned of your hard earned seven year long research for this discovery.
Mr Joseph Brincat
Jun 27th 2011, 09:01
PEOPLE LIKE YOU MAKE ME PROUD
AND MALTA TOO !!!!!!