A methodology : automation vs non-automation aid in dealing with conflict management

Industry 4.0 is the talk of the town. Aviation is no doubt one of the industry to be included in the trend of higher level automation, digitization and data exchange. In the recent years, leveraged on technologies has improved Air Traffic Management automation tools. However, even as automation tools are being introduced, the impacts of the different automation tools on ATCOs were not well investigated. This new age of technology requires a transformation in safety improvements, especially in the industry of high safety levels. Therefore, this calls for a need to engage new methods in determining the safety impacts of new entrants to the industry. This paper will discuss on a methodology to examine the effects of automation tools on ATCOs, in dealing with conflict management. The experiments include finding the threshold level (number of traffic) an ATCO can handle within an operational period in both situation (without and with automation) and examining the impacts on conflict management. Conflict management will be further defined into 2 categories – Spotting conflict and manage conflict. Experiments will be conducted first without aid, and another with aid, to examine the effects of automation aids on ATCOs. This methodology aims to understand how an automation tool may affect ATCOs as well as to find the level of benefits or detriment it can contribute to various aptitude of an ATCO in different levels of traffic condition. Methodology was validated with existing automation tool used by worldwide Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs). The methodology observed 3 major factors – Vision tunnelling, radar cluttering and endurance resulting in decreased situation awareness. These factors are visible in medium and high traffic conditions, with radar cluttering ranked first, followed by vision tunnelling and endurance. With automation tool, radar cluttering and endurance effect were decreased to minimal. The overall results have concluded the automation tool used in this study is beneficial.Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical Engineering