Textron enhances safety with upgrades to Ground Support Equipment
The airport ramp is a dangerous place. Turn around time of an aircraft between flights is essential for airlines to maintain efficient operations. But the sense of urgency creates an environment where several machines and operators move quickly around the aircraft in every direction.
Safety benefits
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Alarms that help, not distract. |
Automated braking systems |
Incident recording for training |
| Visual alarms detect pedestrians and alert operators only when needed to avoid distractions. | The onboard CANbus integration will automatically stop the vehicle If an operator fails to brake for a pedestrian in its path. | If an unsafe interaction with a pedestrian occurs, the incident is recorded locally for enhanced operator training. |
Project Goal
The Textron engineering team wanted to explore new technologies to improve safety on the airport ramp for pedestrians. Operators needed more helpful visual feedback in an environment where acoustic alarms are often ineffective, since ambient noise on the ramp presents an additional limitation for alarms. They needed to find a reliable solution that balanced identifying risks to pedestrians without too many false triggers that could result in alarm fatigue.
The Challenge
Previously, Textron vehicles had additional mirrors and standard backup cameras, but these are passive solutions that require an operator to monitor while also focusing on the task at hand. To reduce the frequency of ground support accidents involving pedestrians, Textron GSE aimed to find a solution that would help airlines better protect their employees.
The ifm solution
Textron validated and deployed a robust collision avoidance system from ifm that integrated seamlessly with the rest of the vehicle controls.
2D cameras improve safety with AI
2D camera leverages embedded Artificial Intelligence (AI) for human classification provided a robust solution for this challenge. With a wide angle lens and rear-mount position, the camera provides constant surveillance behind the vehicle and in side blind spots. The reliable performance of the human classification algorithm ensures that alarms only trigger when a pedestrian enters the vehicle path, avoiding alarm fatigue and unnecessary distractions.
HMI display safety benefits
Textron integrated the camera feed with a robust ifm HMI display for high visibility at any angle. The color-coded alerts on the screen provide quick visual feedback to help operators differentiate people from equipment. The camera and display solution offered two additional safety features:
- Incident recording: Unsafe interactions with pedestrians are recorded locally for additional operator training.
- Automatic braking: If an operator misses the visual pedestrian alert, the vehicle control system steps in and automatically stops the vehicle.
Simplified integration
In addition to hardware performance and reliability, the ifm solution simplified system integration with native CANbus connectivity and world-class technical engineering support.
Durability for mobile machines
ifm solutions for mobile machines are designed to outperform in extreme conditions. The hardware used in this application provide reliable performance across the extreme range of outside temperatures and exposure to vibration from airplane engines.
Technologies
In the chart below, browse the ifm products used in this collision avoidance system.
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2D camera with AI for human classification uses an onboard algorithm that differentiates pedestrians from equipment or other objects in the vehicle's path. |
 CR1079 |
HMI Controllers provide machine control and display functionality in one device. |
Collision avoidance systems often use a combination of sensors and cameras to cover the area around a vehicle. Explore more solutions for your collision avoidance technology stack.
Conclusion
By partnering with ifm, Textron deployed a robust solution on their ground support vehicles to improve pedestrian safety on the airport ramp. The solution helped them protect workers through multiple new layers of safety precautions - all without slowing down operations or distracting operators.
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