Modeling airport ground operations using Discrete Event Simulation (DES) and X3D visualization

Abstract

Almost all flight simulators are centered on the problems that can occur during flight, whereas airport ground traffic problems are seldom addressed and are growing considerably. A number of precautions have been directed by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to overcome these challenges, such as pilot training and adding taxiway indicator signals to help pilots follow specific paths when taxiing. Further work is needed. This thesis simulates the problem of Ground Traffic incursions. Discrete Event Simulation (DES) and the Viskit tool are used to build two scenarios describing the takeoff and the landing maneuvers including potential ground incidents. It also presents the different techniques used to build 3D graphics models for the airplanes and the airport environment using Extensible 3D (X3D) graphics. After running the simulation a number of times with different parameters, collected data support basic analysis and potential conclusions. This approach demonstrates a proof-of-concept capability worthy of future work.