ATC Airport Builder-A shapefile tool for simulation purposes

Abstract: Saab supplies the global market with products, services and solutions ranging from military defense to civil security. One of their many offices is located in Helsingborg where a new product for training air traffic controllers (Saab ATC training solution) is developed. This product offers air traffic control students a realistic 3d environment where they may go through a variety of supervised air traffic control scenarios. In order to stay ahead of competitors, Saab strives to continuously improve their products. Today, it is possible to add airports to the Saab ATC training solution; however, this is a tedious process. Another area of improvement is the way in which map information is utilised in the simulator. Currently, the simulator knows very little about airport environments. By utilising existing map data, the simulator can make more intelligent decisions inside airport areas. This thesis describes how map information in existing shapefiles can be used to enhance airport simulation. In addition, this thesis, describe how the existing 3d engine can benefit from shapefile data. A prototype, ATC AirportBuilder, has been created to prepare map information for further use by the Saab ATC training solution. ATC AirportBuilder imports shape file data, adapts and exports it to a database. An analysis has also been conducted where several integration possibilities with the simulator and the 3d engine have been evaluated.