A Technology Partnership for the New Millennium

Future Flight Image in a Diamond Shape

2.2 Advanced Taxiway Guidance System (ATGS)

 The FAA has designed, installed, and evaluated a prototype Advanced Taxiway Guidance System (ATGS) at its FAA William J. Hughes Technical Center. This system automatically guides aircraft to and from the runway and ramp areas during nighttime and/or low visibility weather conditions. ATGS incorporates state-of-the-art technologies that uniquely identify aircraft and automatically control taxiway lights without input from any radar devices. The main benefits of this system are as follows:

  • The system will automatically illuminate a specific taxiway route for each arrival and departure thus lessening the chance of pilot route deviations and runway incursions.
  • The system will potentially allow for more economical operation of taxiway lighting during low traffic periods, since the appropriate taxiway routes will be illuminated only when needed to guide arriving or departing aircraft to their destination on the airport surface.

ATGS Taxiway configuration
ATGS Taxiway configuration

Configuration of the ATGS Taxiway test bed at the Atlantic City International Airport.

The prototype system was installed and evaluated on a runway/taxiway/ramp complex at the Atlantic City International Airport (ACY). The results of this evaluation indicate that the subject pilots thought that it was an excellent system/concept. More specifically, they stated that implementation of an ATGS would help to improve airport/aircraft safety by reducing the chances of incorrect turns and runway incursions, particularly during night and/or low-visibility operations.

FAA POC:
Eric S. Katz, AAR-411
609-485-5768
Eric.katz@tc.faa.gov

 
NASA Logo NASA Headquarters Responsible Official: Code R
Curator: SAIC Information Services
http://www.aerospace.nasa.gov