Tracking Light Aircraft with Smartphones at Low Altitudes
Most aircraft in the world are tracked by various surveillance radar systems. Currently there is no legal requirement for light aircraft to be fitted with a transponder; however, this does not mean light aircraft should not be tracked. By adding a cheap, live tracking solution for light aircraft, th...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2021-03-01
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| Series: | Information |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2078-2489/12/3/105 |
| _version_ | 1797415754221486080 |
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| author | Benjamin Lilly Deniz Cetinkaya Umut Durak |
| author_facet | Benjamin Lilly Deniz Cetinkaya Umut Durak |
| author_sort | Benjamin Lilly |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Most aircraft in the world are tracked by various surveillance radar systems. Currently there is no legal requirement for light aircraft to be fitted with a transponder; however, this does not mean light aircraft should not be tracked. By adding a cheap, live tracking solution for light aircraft, the safety of low-flying aircraft pilots can be greatly increased. The radio operators who coordinate the aircraft can have an improved understanding of the air traffic and in the event of an emergency, the position of the aircraft can be relayed to emergency services. This paper proposes an approach to use a smartphone as an aircraft transponder to improve the radar tracking capabilities of low-flying aircraft. This study presents a practical and effective approach as well as a prototype implementation. The study includes the development of the three main components: (1) A mobile application that transforms a smartphone into an aircraft transponder; exploiting the GPS functionalities, (2) a desktop application that visualizes the aircraft data in real time on a map, and (3) a backend that bridges the mobile and the desktop application. To evaluate the study, flight tests were performed in a real aircraft over the Isle of Wight in the UK. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T05:54:09Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-42792016299040409adeea8e93a78aa3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2078-2489 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T05:54:09Z |
| publishDate | 2021-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Information |
| spelling | doaj.art-42792016299040409adeea8e93a78aa32023-12-03T12:14:46ZengMDPI AGInformation2078-24892021-03-0112310510.3390/info12030105Tracking Light Aircraft with Smartphones at Low AltitudesBenjamin Lilly0Deniz Cetinkaya1Umut Durak2Department of Computing and Informatics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Bournemouth University, Poole BH12 5BB, UKDepartment of Computing and Informatics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Bournemouth University, Poole BH12 5BB, UKInstitute of Flight Systems, German Aerospace Center (DLR), 38108 Braunschweig, GermanyMost aircraft in the world are tracked by various surveillance radar systems. Currently there is no legal requirement for light aircraft to be fitted with a transponder; however, this does not mean light aircraft should not be tracked. By adding a cheap, live tracking solution for light aircraft, the safety of low-flying aircraft pilots can be greatly increased. The radio operators who coordinate the aircraft can have an improved understanding of the air traffic and in the event of an emergency, the position of the aircraft can be relayed to emergency services. This paper proposes an approach to use a smartphone as an aircraft transponder to improve the radar tracking capabilities of low-flying aircraft. This study presents a practical and effective approach as well as a prototype implementation. The study includes the development of the three main components: (1) A mobile application that transforms a smartphone into an aircraft transponder; exploiting the GPS functionalities, (2) a desktop application that visualizes the aircraft data in real time on a map, and (3) a backend that bridges the mobile and the desktop application. To evaluate the study, flight tests were performed in a real aircraft over the Isle of Wight in the UK.https://www.mdpi.com/2078-2489/12/3/105aircraft tracking applicationsystem modelingmobile application for aircraftlow-flying aircraft tracking system |
| spellingShingle | Benjamin Lilly Deniz Cetinkaya Umut Durak Tracking Light Aircraft with Smartphones at Low Altitudes Information aircraft tracking application system modeling mobile application for aircraft low-flying aircraft tracking system |
| title | Tracking Light Aircraft with Smartphones at Low Altitudes |
| title_full | Tracking Light Aircraft with Smartphones at Low Altitudes |
| title_fullStr | Tracking Light Aircraft with Smartphones at Low Altitudes |
| title_full_unstemmed | Tracking Light Aircraft with Smartphones at Low Altitudes |
| title_short | Tracking Light Aircraft with Smartphones at Low Altitudes |
| title_sort | tracking light aircraft with smartphones at low altitudes |
| topic | aircraft tracking application system modeling mobile application for aircraft low-flying aircraft tracking system |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2078-2489/12/3/105 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT benjaminlilly trackinglightaircraftwithsmartphonesatlowaltitudes AT denizcetinkaya trackinglightaircraftwithsmartphonesatlowaltitudes AT umutdurak trackinglightaircraftwithsmartphonesatlowaltitudes |