Sky Light Aircraft System

Managing airport operations is usually very challenging. When an aircraft arrives at the airport, a coordinated approach is needed to accomplish all the necessary tasks, such as guiding the aircraft towards the parking stand assigned to it, refuelling, luggage handling and so on, until the aircraft leaves the airport to its new destinations.

The effectiveness of these operations is strongly dependent on the amount of data available to the airport management system.

One of the biggest challenges to face is that airports don’t have automatic systems to detect the exact in-block and off-block time of aircraft assigned to remote stands.

Sky Light Aircraft System monitors parking stands continuously and it can register the exact time when an aircraft arrives and leaves a parking stand.

Thanks to Sky Light Sensor, data are collected in real-time and sent to a server automatically. This information can be processed and integrated into the Airport Operational Database.

Wireless sensors are installed in the pavement according to a studied layout to obtain extreme accuracy in detecting the arrival and departure of each aircraft, also having different sizes. The sensors send data to a repeater called Sky Light Repeater using an 868 MHz frequency radio protocol.

The repeater sends data to a board called Sky Light Hub which is integrated inside the Access Point. This device is able to pack data and send it to the server. Then data are elaborated and organised with any software applications directly on the server, e.g. AODB systems.

Sky Light Aircraft System is available both with a proprietary radio communication protocol and LoRaWANTM radio communication, which is one of the most recent and acknowledged standards to build IoT sensor networks.

LoRaWANTM system does not require the installation of specific devices as repeater, hub and Access Point, because the sensors send data to the server through LoRaWANTM network created by gateways in the area.

COMPONENTS

SKY LIGHT SENSOR

It’s a solid, accurate wireless sensor. It is designed to resist the stress of heavy traffic on the roads and of weather conditions.
Sky Light Sensor works with a combination of three detection technologies, coming from a patented ambient light sensor, an infrared sensor and a magnetic sensor. A strong algorithm guarantees extreme accuracy and eliminates possible errors.
Wireless communication offers a great flexibility in choice of location and layout.
Maintenance and installation operations will be quick and easy, using common construction tools. Interrupting the traffic flow completely is not necessary. This is thanks to an additional external case where the sensor is placed.
Sky Light Sensor is powered by a long life battery. If it starts to run out after several years of intense use, Nabla Quadro offers a battery replacement service to guarantee the longest product life.

SKY LIGHT REPEATER

This repeater is a device that collects data from the sensors and forwards them to the Sky Light Hub.
Sky Light Repeater is able to handle up to 50 sensors.
The maximum recommended distance between a sensor and its repeater is 100 m. The maximum recommended distance between a repeater and a Sky Light Hub is 500 m.
Sky Light Repeater is typically installed on a lamppost near the parking spaces at a height of 3 m.
Sky Light Repeater is powered by long life batteries and is placed in a waterproof box, since it is installed outdoor.

SKY LIGHT HUB

Sky Light Hub is a radio receiver and coordinator to acquire data from repeaters.
It is a very small component (39mm x 29mm) and it is able to handle up to 20 repeaters.
Information about the time when a vehicle parks and leaves is available through a UART serial port.
In the configuration proposed, Sky Light Hub is integrated inside the Access Point, so to send parking data to a server directly. But, it is possible to use different devices to acquire data from the hub. This enables the creation of a very flexible system where integrators and users can decide to use their preferred devices.
Integrating our system with components from other providers is extremely simple, thanks to transmission and decryption protocols available to users.

ACCESS POINT

It’s a device to gather data in real time, create packages and send them to a server at specific time intervals. It works with ETHERNET or GPRS network.
In this system configuration we propose Raptech GWi EVO datalogger for real-time data acquisition.
This product is perfect for DIN rail mounting, which is very important when installing the datalogger inside a weatherproof box.
The Access Point can be powered in different ways. It can be connected to the electricity grid (220 V) using a specific power supply (12VDC). It can also be powered by a small photovoltaic panel (20 W).
The Access Point comes with a lithium battery inside to send alarms in case of power failures and to shut itself down safely, in order not to lose or corrupt data.

PROJECTS

Aircraft stand monitoring in Milano Malpensa Airport
Aircraft parking monitoring

Sky Light Aircraft System was born in July 2015…

Gate access control
Taxi access at MXP Airport

A test to integrate sensors into the access management system …