Visual docking guidance system
The visual docking guidance system , abbreviated to VDGS, German: visual docking guidance system , is a docking system (ADS). At larger airfields it is used to inform the pilots of the arriving vehicle by means of optical signals about their position, to instruct them on the exact position in front of the gate ( final stop position ). The purpose here is to enable safe, precise and time-saving docking. The very exact parking position of the aircraft is necessary because the passenger boarding bridge has only limited freedom of movement, but still has to be placed exactly on the aircraft door for boarding and alighting. The time saved not only benefits the aircraft, it also relieves taxiing traffic on the busy apron .
On a single, combined display board, which hangs in front of the aircraft at the pilots' eye level at the reception building, the pilots receive information about the distance to the final stopping point ( distance guiding ), the information when to stop and the deviation from the side . azimuth guiding ) appears. In addition to the visual docking guidance system, which is attached to the outside of the airport building at the respective gate, at the pilots' eye level, the pilots see the number of the parking position and the exact geographic coordinates of the parking position.
The aircraft is brought up to the visual docking guidance system via taxiing lines. Depending on the airport, a follow-me car may also be used.
There are different systems for the visual docking guidance system at different airports. What all systems have in common, however, is that they provide the pilots with distance information and lateral guidance. The distance information is usually displayed via shrinking light bars. The distance in meters may also be shown. The stop signal is almost always given by the illuminated text: STOP. The lateral guidance takes place via the lighting of arrows.
The visual docking guidance system takes into account the different parking positions for the various types of aircraft, which can differ by a few meters. Depending on the system, the size of the display boards varies between 1 × 1 m and 1.5 × 1.5 m.
Some visual docking guidance systems offer additional added value by registering the on-block and off-block time and exchanging information with the Aeronautical Information Service (AIS).
history
Only after the introduction of the first passenger boarding bridges in 1959 did the need for visual docking guidance systems develop. With the advent of passenger boarding bridges, exact "parking" of the aircraft became necessary. In earlier times it was not necessary to maintain the parking position with absolute precision, as passengers boarded and left the aircraft via a mobile gangway . At that time, the parking position was assigned by a marshaller .
When parking at a gate, it was no longer possible to use a winker for that reason alone, as the aircraft usually drives directly towards the airport building with its aircraft nose and drives very close, so that the winker can no longer stand far enough in front of the aircraft to move away to be seen by the pilot.
In the 1970s, these systems mainly used pneumatic sensors. With older systems, pilots mostly had to turn their head to one side to see the display board, as they were based on the principle of parallax error.
Nowadays, lasers , LADAR , floor sensors or video cameras with automatic image recognition are used for these systems .
ICAO regulations
The ICAO regulations for visual docking guidance systems can be found in Annex 14 (Annex 14 Vol.I, 5.3.24).
AGNIS / PAPA
The AGNIS / PAPA docking system is widely used in the UK. This system is old, reliable and cheap, but also relatively imprecise.
The left side of the display gives the side information. AGNIS stands for Azimuth Guidance for Nose-In Stand . The right side of the display provides the distance information. PAPA stands for Parallax Aircraft Parking Aid .
The AGNIS display again consists of two fields. If the aircraft deviates to one side, the field on this side lights up red. When the aircraft is driving or standing exactly on the center line of the docking system, both fields light up green.
In the PAPA display, a white display field scrolls through a list of different aircraft types. The pilot in control must roll his aircraft forward until the white display is next to his aircraft type. If his aircraft type is not listed, he must select an aircraft type that approximately corresponds to the dimensions of his aircraft. The operating principle of the PAPA display is based on the parallax error .
A-VDGS
A-VDGS stands for Advanced Visual docking guidance system and enables a parking position for docking with a maximum deviation of 10 cm. The very exact positioning allows the passenger boarding bridge to be positioned close to the required end position, so that it only has to be moved very slightly and in a time-saving manner for docking.
In the event of a system failure, the "Stop" signal is displayed.
SafeGate
SafeGate is a somewhat older system that is rarely used today.
Synonyms, variants and models
- guidance system
- gate park system
- gate guidance system
- aircraft gate system
- aircraft gate support system
- APIS (aircraft parking and information system)
- PADS (Parallax Aircraft Docking System)
- CAM-ADS
- SMGCS
- JB1900
Web links
- gateguide ( Memento from February 16, 2005 in the Internet Archive )