An AI-based speech recognition technology developed within the context of SESAR will soon be available on the market for air traffic control at airports, following the licensing of the product by SESAR JU member, the German Aerospace Center (DLR). The technology is set to bring environmental and efficiency benefits, in addition to enhancing the safety of air traffic management.
Pilots and air traffic controllers (ATCOs) rely on voice communications to exchange critical messages affecting flight safety, such as altitude and speed. In current operations, this important information has to be entered manually into the digital assistant tools, which takes time and represents additional workload for the already busy controllers. AI-derived systems that automatically analyse radio communication with the controller's instructions and the pilot's confirmations can provide effective support for air traffic controllers.
Within the framework of SESAR, the DLR Institute of Flight Guidance in Braunschweig led the MALORCA and HAAWAII exploratory research projects to develop a system capable of analysing the words of the radio communication traffic and then understanding the semantic content. This work led to the development of two technology solutions on automatic speech recognition and understanding and improving controller productivity, as part of two SESAR industrial projects, Digital Technologies for Tower and PROSA.
Simulation studies using both laboratory and real data demonstrated that these systems could reduce the number of manual inputs required by controllers by a factor of 30. This improvement applies to several air traffic control environments, including en-route flights, approach and departure control, and the management of aircraft taxiing. The result is a reduced controller workload and increased situational awareness. The research also showed that this reduction in workload enables more efficient traffic management, achieving savings of up to 60 litres of aviation fuel per approach in airport vicinities.
"Our speech understanding system can reduce the workload of air traffic controllers," says Hartmut Helmke, the DLR scientist in the field of speech understanding in air traffic control who led the SESAR projects. "In times of a skilled-labour shortage and increasing traffic demand, the relief provided by speech understanding can contribute to more efficient flight guidance and more environmentally sustainable air traffic."
“SESAR and our long-term involvement in this ambitious programme have been instrumental in bringing our speech understanding to maturity. To see this technology turned into a product which soon may become operational is an exciting development for us,” says Dirk Kügler, Director of the DLR Institute of Flight Guidance.
EML Speech Technology GmbH, an IT product and service provider in Heidelberg, is now taking over this innovative technology under licence from DLR, with a first planned application for the technology for Frankfurt apron controllers.
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About the SESAR Solutions:
Improving controller productivity by ASR at the TWR CWP
About the projects:
Digital Technologies for Tower
