Air Traffic Control Simulator "airpalette® 3D Simulator" is introduced to Tajikistan

In December 2016, NTT DATA Corporation（hereinafter NTT DATA）received an order from the Japan International Cooperation Agency （hereinafter JICA） for an air traffic controller training simulator for use in the "Project for Improvement of Air Navigation Services in Tajikistan" of JICA. The operation of this product is scheduled to be launched in Tajikistan at the end of September 2017.

The "airpalette^® 3D Simulator" is an air traffic control simulation product developed by TechnoBrain CO., LTD.（hereinafter TechnoBrain). Overseas, NTT DATA is offering sales and other types of support at the time of introduction and thereafter. By means of high precision graphics and "AISHIP," which is an AI technology that can automatically reproduce the behavior of multiple aircraft, this product reduces the labor required for training and enables efficient air traffic control training.

This product will be used in the training of air traffic controllers of Tajikistan, which is part of a scheme for developing human resources for constructing the country's aviation infrastructure. Also, this product visualizes a near real environment and expedites the handling of manpower required for training, thereby contributing to the development and enhancement of the skills of Tajikistan's air traffic controllers.

NTT DATA will provide support for the implementation of this product and other types of support in Tajikistan and seek introduction of this product by air traffic control agencies of other countries.

Today, Tajikistan is experiencing an increase in the demand for aviation as an important transportation means for supporting social and economic activities, not only due to the recent economic growth, but also because Tajikistan is a landlocked country, most of whose land is mountainous^{（note 1）}. Tajikistan is confronting the challenge of building an aviation infrastructure as well as constructing a system for safe and reliable air traffic control and strengthening the ability to exercise such control.

To meet this challenge, Tajikistan in 2014 obligated all air traffic controllers to receive retraining of the operational procedure and started to provide training within the country and overseas and improve the training center using Tajikaeronavigation（TAN), which is a state-run company under the Ministry of Transport. Since 2016, JICA's "Project for Improvement of Air Navigation Services in Tajikistan" have dispatched specialists from Japan to assist enhancement of the air traffic control ability. It was decided to procure an air traffic control simulator to be used as part of their efforts.

TechnoBrain has been conducting development and domestic marketing of an air traffic control simulation product, "ULANS." NTT DATA has been acting as an overseas sales agent of ”ULANS” under the name of "airpalette 3D Simulator" for its business development.

In December 2016, JICA, which has been assisting construction of the domestic aviation infrastructure of Tajikistan, adopted the "airpalette 3D Simulator" as an air traffic control simulator to be introduced in Tajikistan. The operation is scheduled to be launched at the end of September 2017.

The "Project for Improvement of Air Navigation Services in Tajikistan" is a 3-year project of JICA that started in 2016. The aim of the project is to assist construction of a system and development of human resources to achieve safe and reliable air traffic control in Tajikistan.

JICA ordered this product so it could be used by a specialist dispatched from Japan as part of their efforts for human resource development in this program. This product visualizes a near real environment and expedites the handling of manpower required for training, thereby contributing to the development and enhancement of the skills of Tajikistan's air traffic controllers.

Airpalette 3D Simulator
"Airpalette 3D Simulator" is an air traffic control simulation product （domestically sold under the name of "ULANS"） developed by TechnoBrain, and NTT DATA is conducting sales overseas. This product simulates the air traffic control operations that are performed at the control tower. The main use is development and enhancement of the skills of air traffic controllers. The primary features of this product are as follows:

• High precision graphics
  The view from control towers and aircraft is reproduced on a real scale. This product addresses the change of the light source according to the time of day and the change of the weather conditions, such as visibility ^{（note 2）}. Control training can thereby be performed in a near real environment.
  
  
• Visual and intuitive operation
  The design of the system screen is similar to that of equipment used at the actual air traffic control site. Trainees and instructors will not feel uneasy, and most operations can be intuitively performed using simple mouse actions.
  
  
• Automatic reproduction of aircraft behavior
  The operation of the conventional simulator product is very complicated and requires many people acting as pilots and instructors in addition to trainee students. This product employs "AISHIP," which is a unique AI-technology of TechnoBrain, and automatically reproduces most of the behavior of any aircraft ranging from civil to military aircrafts. One trainer instructor can operate multiple aircraft by giving minimal instructions for this product. A small number of instructors can thereby efficiently train many trainees.
   
• Freely customizable system configurations
  In response to clients' demand, this product can be customized for creating any configurations, ranging from a small-scale training system to a full-fledged large-scale training facility, and any number of screens and PCs that work in cooperation with each other.

Figure： Images of "airpalette 3D Simulator"

About the future
Taking advantage of the order from JICA, NTT DATA will aggressively pursue the establishment of a greater presence in the global air traffic control simulator market in the future.

(note1）          
The annual rate of increase in the passenger traffic volume of Dushanbe International Airport is 15 to 18% in the last five years. The freight transportation volume has been increased by 1.6 times in four years from 2009 to 2013, and the air transportation demand is expected to increase further in the future （2013 survey by Dushanbe International Airport).

（note2）
 The visibility refers to the maximum distance where an object can be visually discerned.