FLARM

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Instrument panel of an ASW 19 with PDA navigation and FLARM collision warning device
FLARM logo

FLARM is a collision warning device (Portable Collision Avoidance System) used in light aircraft , which was originally developed in Switzerland for gliding and which quickly gained worldwide attention and distribution. It is the size of a cigarette packet and essentially comprises a GPS receiver and a digital radio module, consisting of a transmitter, which, among other things. a. the current position of the device in close range (a few kilometers) is transmitted to other FLARMs and to an associated receiver. The data transmission takes place on a configurable frequency (in Europe 868.2 and 868.4 MHz).

development

First generation FLARM with limited display

Three glider pilots from Switzerland invented FLARM and launched it as a device on the market in early 2004. The impetus for the development was given by several fatal collisions between gliders and the realization that a complete visual airspace surveillance is fundamentally not possible. Urs Rothacher is an electrical engineer. Andrea Schlapbach, graduate natw. ETH, has over 2000 flying hours. Urban Mäder is an electrical engineer at the ETH. All three now work full-time for Safemine (a FLARM-like application for vehicles in open-cast mines). Authorities supported the project by releasing a radio frequency quite unbureaucratically. Swiss gliding clubs signed options and made down payments during the development phase, thus providing the financial basis for the project.

The inventors received the OSTIV Prize in 2006. The OSTIV (Organization Scientifique et Technique de Vol a Voile) awards the prize every two years to scientists who have done something special for the development of gliding.

In 2007 they received the $ 20,000 award for security technology from the Prince Alvaro de Orleans-Borbon Fund. The Prince Alvaro de Orleans-Borbon Fund honors technical developments in air sports. The founder asked the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), the world association for air sports, to select the winners.

function

The FLARM display shows neighboring aircraft according to the priority of the most dangerous approach and thus supports the observation of the airspace. The device is an effective aid in avoiding collisions, especially on routes that are frequently flown, such as the course in the French Maritime Alps , the Swabian Alb , the Thuringian or Teutoburg Forest in Germany, the Swiss Jura or the Pinzgau Walk in Austria. But FLARM has also become very widespread in the lowlands, where you often feel alone.

Gliding poses a problem for collision warning systems: in gliding, people often fly very deliberately and deliberately very close together, e.g. B. when circling together in the same updraft or when flying in parallel. A collision warning system, which reacts solely to the distance between two aircraft, would constantly sound the alarm in these situations and would therefore be completely useless for gliding. FLARM solves this problem in such a way that it not only transmits its own position (determined by GPS), but also calculates and transmits the probable future flight path. The software can recognize typical flight conditions such as thermal circles. The FLARM in the second aircraft does the same for itself and then not only determines the distance between the aircraft, but also tries to determine whether the two predicted future flight paths are on a collision course . Only if this is the case does it sound an alarm with an LED compass rose pointing in the direction of the other aircraft. The first warning is usually issued 18 seconds before the collision - this gives the pilot time to react. It is also possible for the FLARM device to always show the next aircraft equipped with FLARM on the display.

FLARM has been able to record the flight path in IGC format since 2005 and has also received a pressure probe for barometer recording. In spring 2008 the FLARM received the IGC approval. A motor sensor for motor gliders can also be installed in this context. All FLARM devices built from 2005 onwards can be retrofitted with IGC approval and motor sensors and can therefore be used as loggers . From the third hardware generation is possible by the built-in microSD - Memory card reader to refer logger data and new firmware einzuspielen versions.

At the AERO 2010 in Friedrichshafen, the PowerFlarm, primarily designed for powered aircraft, was presented, which in addition to the FLARM functions also functions as a passive TCAS and can therefore also warn of air traffic equipped with Mode S , Mode A / C and ADS-B- enabled transponders . Devices with their own display, which graphically depict the approaching aircraft, as well as installation variants which transmit the traffic data to the navigation display of an MFD , are offered.

display

FLARM in action: It shows an approach from the front left (LED on compass rose) and slightly above (LED "above") your own flight altitude. The slot for the microSD memory card can be seen to the right of the compass rose .

In the first two versions the representation of the horizontal approach situation was implemented by a horizontal row of LEDs. Devices that were delivered after spring 2006 have a small LED compass rose . From 2005, the height of the “collision partner” was displayed using four vertically arranged LEDs that stand for above and below .

FLARM has a serial interface via which GPS data and (warning) information on identified aircraft are output in the NMEA 0183 standard. The manufacturers Artronic, Butterfly Avionics, Ediatec and LX Navigation offer external displays that can be used instead of the display on the main unit. There are also devices that output the warnings by voice.

In addition to pure collision warnings, the data provided by the FLARM device can also contain further warnings and tactical information relevant to gliding. In addition, these can be imported into compatible moving map devices and used there to display aircraft warnings. This is currently possible with the graphic displays of Butterfly Avionics and LX Navigation and most moving map programs XCSoar , GPS_Log, Sky-Map, SeeyouMobile, pocket * Strepla, Winpilot, Flymap and Skymap.

Fixed obstacles

In addition to other aircraft equipped with FLARM, the device also warns of fixed obstacles such as transmitter masts and cable cars as well as other officially known aviation obstacles . A database is integrated in the device for this purpose.

distribution

FLARM devices have become the quasi-standard within a few years, especially in gliders used in the Alpine region. In the lowlands, too, more and more gliders, motor gliders, powered aircraft, helicopters and ultralight aircraft are being equipped with FLARMs. According to the manufacturer, over 22,000 devices were in use in Europe alone at the end of 2012, including over 9,000 in Germany. Half of these devices come directly from FLARM, the rest from third parties who manufacture compatible devices under license.

Compatible licensed products

In addition to the original FLARM, there are a few other compatible products from other manufacturers. The various products are all built on the same FLARM core module to ensure maximum compatibility between the devices. EDIATec GmbH has been offering a FLARM-compatible device for installation in the instrument panel since 2006. The ECW100 is a round instrument with a diameter of 57 mm and combines all FLARM functions with the proven round display from EDIATec in one device. ECW100 also has a distance display, an intercom connection and an SD card.

Another manufacturer, Triadis from Switzerland, has developed a device called Floice for helicopters and powered aircraft ; this is installed, among other things, in the helicopters of the Swiss Air Rescue .

LX Navigation or LXNAV offers the integration of FLARM in the current cross-country flight computers; there are also individual devices such as Colibri FLARM, Red Box and LX FLARM Mini.

The Swiss Altivario manufacturer Flytec offers a "Passive FLARM module" for its models 6020 and 6030: Paraglider and hang-glider pilots can be "seen" by FLARM-equipped aircraft. However, the passive module cannot inform the paraglider pilot about the direction of the "collision partner", hence the term "passive".

The German Altivario manufacturer SKYTRAXX offers a FANET + module for its models 2.0, 2.1 and 3.0 and a separate FANET beacon. These devices also send FLARM signals. Paraglider and hang-glider pilots can be “seen” by FLARM-equipped aircraft.

Somax Software UG from Germany offers a FLARM-compatible device especially for paraglider and hang-glider pilots. The FAT 201 is an active FLARM which, in addition to the standard functionality, has a Bluetooth 4 interface.

FLARM and ADS-B

FLARM is an implementation of ADS-B , optimized for the requirements of small aviation. There are various ADS-B systems for commercial aviation, none of which have been able to gain global acceptance until now. These are VDL Mode-4, Mode-S Extended Squitter ("ES") and UAT.

The companies Funkwerk Avionics and Garrecht Avionik have an ADS-B receiver with a FLARM-compatible interface. This device receives ADS-B signals with the positions of appropriately equipped aircraft and generates FLARM-typical NMEA data sets from them. The positions of the aircraft equipped with ADS-B and FLARM can be shown on a common display. ADS-B signals are currently [as of?] Sent out by around 85% of all commercial aircraft (mandatory in Europe since 2017). In the general aviation , the system is not yet established, but can with little effort at any common mode S transponder with GPS receivers are equipped to send as ADS-B.

FLARM and SAR (Search and Rescue)

An interesting secondary use is the search for missing aircraft and hang-glider pilots. Since encounters with other FLARM-equipped aircraft are saved in the IGC log, the recordings of aircraft that were in the vicinity of a missing aircraft can be used to draw conclusions about its flight path.

FLARM and TBS Crossfire

In July 2017 the company Team Blacksheep published a software update with which it is now also possible to use FLARM in drones. If you control your model airplane or drone via the TBS Crossfire system, it automatically evades other participants in air traffic. These must of course also support the FLARM system.

FlarmNet

FlarmNet is a community of FLARM users and was started in 2007 by the third-party manufacturer Butterfly Avionics on behalf of FLARM Technology. FlarmNet provides a database in which the users can save each FLARM device's own radio ID together with data from the associated aircraft. The database can be downloaded from the FlarmNet website and installed on compatible third-party devices or software. This means that data can be assigned to the received FLARM devices, provided they are registered with FlarmNet. Over 9000 devices are currently registered with FlarmNet. This database is u. a. Helpful for airport statistics and billing applications, as well as for the synthetic reconstruction of flight tracks of missing aircraft.

Safemine

In 2007, FLARM aviation equipment was tested for use in vehicles in open-cast mines. This gave rise to the Safemine company, which today has over 35 employees and supplies customers on all continents and has also sold over 12,000 systems. A typical open-cast mine has a few hundred vehicles in use, including dump trucks with loading capacities over 200 tons.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ FLARM SD card operating manual (pdf; 240 kB)
  2. ↑ Technology - Traffic Recognition . Manufacturer's website. Retrieved December 1, 2012
  3. ↑ Flarm transmitter in Flytec-Varios. (No longer available online.) Swiss Hang Glider Association , March 1, 2010, archived from the original on March 14, 2010 ; Retrieved February 4, 2011 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.shv-fsvl.ch
  4. ↑ Skytraxx 3.0 - What are FLARM, FANET + and Open Glider Network (OGN)? Retrieved April 25, 2019 .
  5. ↑ FAT 201 - FLARM for paragliders and hang gliders. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on June 8, 2017 ; accessed on March 28, 2017 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.fat201.de
  6. ↑ FLARM® as an additional tool when searching a missing aircraft ( Memento of the original from July 17, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 84 kB), accessed on October 25, 2012 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.flarm.com

Web links

Commons : FLARM  - collection of images, videos and audio files