New release of Orion Driving Simulator for Keflavik Airport

Tern Systems recently deployed a new version of the Orion Driving Simulator to Isavia, the operator of Keflavik Airport. The latest release adds a Supervisor mode, new driving lanes that are currently under construction at the airport and a range of graphical improvements.

A highly-accurate simulation of the airport environment allows Keflavik Airport staff to familiarise and practice driving new road layouts safely and effectively. The newly-added driving lanes include high-speed roads for Keflavik airport's fire department.

A part of Isavia's airport training program

As Covid-19 recovery efforts continue, passenger numbers at Keflavik Airport are again increasing and Airport Operations Managers are onboarding new employees. New staff are trained so that they may safely work on the aprons in various roles supporting essential airport operations such as Baggage Handling, Airport Security, Passenger Transport and Emergency Responders. Isavia's training department at Keflavik Airport uses the Orion Driving Simulator as a part of the training program for new employees at the airport.

Effective and affordable training solution

Orion Driver is ultra-high definition airport driving simulator which uses Unreal Engine 4™ to provide an affordable training solution with unrivalled support and development potential. The users are allowed to drive in various types of scenarios at the airport, which is usually not possible during real world training. With more familiarisation to different circumstances, the number of airside driving accidents caused by inexperienced personnel can be reduced. The simulator can easily be implemented into training programs for airports and is a complete product that is ready to use with simple installations. It may completely replace airside driving during Airport Driving Permit training courses in the future.

More about the Orion Simulator Suite

Want more information? Send us an email and we will get right back to you!

Email: info@tern.is

Check out the video below about our Orion Driving Simulator

Tern Systems receive marketing grant from Rannís

In March this year Tern Systems applied for a marketing grant at Rannís, which manages international cooperation programs and national funds in the field of research and innovation. The grant application was aimed at the Aries Weather and Lighting product for marketing research and activities in the European market. We are happy to announce that Rannís accepted our application in June. This is a great honor for Tern Systems and

strongly indicates that our Aries Weather and Lighting software has great potential to be a successful product in the European market. This grant is a major milestone in that exciting journey.

Aries is the culmination of our decades-long support

of airport tower operations. The Aries suite provides cost-effective solutions for small-to-medium volume airport towers. The Aries Weather solution is currently used in 12 airports in Iceland and will be fully operational in 11 airports in Greenland in the coming months.

Drone Tracking - a Tern Systems project in collaboration with HungaroControl

The explosive popularity of drones and associated technology advances has transformed the once-specialist equipment into devices which can be operated by novices.

Drones can now be bought cheaply by users of all ages and flown without training. In Iceland we have seen some breathtaking videos of the recent volcanic activity taken by amateur drone operators, these videos would have been impossible to capture with traditional means.

Beyond the benefits of drone technology, their operation can cause concern for aviation authorities. Potentially dangerous situations can arise when aircraft and drones share the same airspace.

As a result of this concern, discussion around the reasonable regulation of the use of drones and unmanned aerial vehicles is ongoing around the world. A good example of such discussion is this blog by our partners HungaroControl.

They have increasingly put drone research and development into focus and have engaged Tern Systems to begin the planning and development of solutions for the safe management of drone traffic.

Will be able to track and display the movement of drones

“The aim of the project is to develop a software system that is capable of tracking and displaying the movement of drones” says Guðný Árnadóttir, Software Engineer at Tern Systems. “We have a collaborative research team with members from Tern Systems and HungaroControl working together on this research Project".

Guðný, a Mechatronics Engineer who recently joined Tern Systems, explains that the purpose of this research is to study and develop a suitable tracking algorithm for drones since drones follow different kinematics than conventional aircraft. “The user interface of the system will display the drone tracking information and safety net warnings on the Controller Working Position. The logic and graphical parameters of the user interface will be designed in collaboration with HungaroControl”.

Provides numerous possibilities

According to this development agreement between Tern Systems and HungaroControl, a layered display will be created, with the possibility to select information according to submitted and approved drone zones, drone detection system classification and altitude data. “For example, the system will be able to alert the operator if a drone exits its approved airspace” Guðný explains.

The project is divided into phases and the aim is to deliver the final phase to HungaroControl in November 2022. Guðný closed our brief interview by summarising the enthusiastic mood of the drone team, “We're very excited about this project and look forward to further great collaboration with HungaroControl”.