WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Researchers in the Purdue Polytechnic Institute have developed a patent-pending, economically viable, simplified light system to automatically indicate an airport runway's status to pilots, pedestrians and vehicle operators.

The solar-powered system is called Simple, Affordable, Flexible and Expandable Runway Status Lights, or SAFE-RWSL. It uses automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) data and computer vision to activate runway lights in real-time, Steve Martin writes for Purdue. Continue reading original article.

The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:

17 December 2024 - Purdue's Martin writes that radar-based detection systems are the current standard to prevent runway incursions, and that cost usually limits their use to larger airports; the current baseline system costs tens of millions of dollars.

"Small airports generally rely on simple 'see-and-avoid' procedures or, in limited cases, air traffic controllers to prevent these incursions," Mott said. "Without a comprehensive approach that incorporates technology, however, even the most vigilant pilots and air traffic controllers, if available, can't prevent all potential accidents resulting from encroachments on an active runway by pedestrians, ground vehicles or other aircraft."

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