scholarly journals Fatigue Minimization Work Shift Scheduling for Air Traffic Controllers

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 91-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ta-Chung Chu ◽  
Tzu-Yao Wang ◽  
Guo-Chuan Ke
2021 ◽  
Vol 35 ◽  
pp. S404-S407
Author(s):  
Syamsiar S. Russeng ◽  
Lalu Muhammad Saleh ◽  
Anwar Mallongi ◽  
Chin Hoy

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Faustino Tello ◽  
Alfonso Mateos ◽  
Antonio Jiménez-Martín ◽  
Adán Suárez

We address an air traffic control operator (ATCo) work-shift scheduling problem. We consider a multiple objective perspective where the number of ATCos is fixed in advance and a set of ATCo labor conditions have to be satisfied. The objectives deal with the ATCo work and rest periods and positions, the structure of the solution, the number of control center changes, or the distribution of the ATCo workloads. We propose a three-phase problem-solving methodology. In the first phase, a heuristic is used to derive infeasible initial solutions on the basis of templates. Then, a multiple independent run of the simulated annealing metaheuristic is conducted aimed at reaching feasible solutions in the second phase. Finally, a multiple independent simulated annealing run is again conducted from the initial feasible solutions to optimize the objective functions. To do this, we transform the multiple to single optimization problem by using the rank-order centroid function. In the search processes in phases 2 and 3, we use regular expressions to check the ATCo labor conditions in the visited solutions. This provides high testing speed. The proposed approach is illustrated using a real example, and the optimal solution which is reached outperforms an existing template-based reference solution.


Mathematics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Jiménez-Martín ◽  
Faustino Tello ◽  
Alfonso Mateos

This paper deals with a variation of the air traffic controller (ATC) work shift scheduling problem focusing on the tactical phase, in which the plan for the day of operations can be modified according to real-time traffic demand or other possible incidents (one or more ATCs become sick and/or there is an increase in unplanned air traffic), which may lead to a new sectorization and a lower number of available ATCs. To deal with these issues, we must reassign the available ATCs to the new sectorization established at the time the incident happens, but also taking into account the work done by the ATCs up to that point. We propose a new methodology consisting of two phases. The goal of the first phase is to build an initial possibly infeasible solution, taking into account the sectors that have been closed or opened in the new sectorization, together with the ATCs available after the incident. In the second phase, we use simulated annealing (SA) and variable neighborhood search (VNS) metaheuristics to derive a feasible solution in which the available ATCs are used and all the ATC labor conditions are met. A weighted additive objective function is used in this phase to account for the feasibility of the solution but also for the number of changes in the control center at the time the incident happens and the similarity of the derived solution with templates usually used by the network manager operations center, a center managing the air traffic flows of an entire network of control centers. The methodology is illustrated by means of seven real instances provided by the Air Traffic Management Research, Development and Innovation Reference Center (CRIDA) experts representing possible incidents that may arise. The solutions derived by SA outperform those reached by VNS in terms of both the number of violated constraints in all seven instances, and solution compactability in six out the seven instances, and both are very similar with regard to the number of control center changes at the time of the incident. Although computation times for VNS are clearly better than for SA, CRIDA experts were satisfied with SA computation times. The solutions reached by SA were preferred.


Author(s):  
O. M. Reva ◽  
V. V. Kamyshin ◽  
S. P. Borsuk ◽  
V. A. Shulhin ◽  
A. V. Nevynitsyn

The negative and persistent impact of the human factor on the statistics of aviation accidents and serious incidents makes proactive studies of the attitude of “front line” aviation operators (air traffic controllers, flight crewmembers) to dangerous actions or professional conditions as a key component of the current paradigm of ICAO safety concept. This “attitude” is determined through the indicators of the influence of the human factor on decision-making, which also include the systems of preferences of air traffic controllers on the indicators and characteristics of professional activity, illustrating both the individual perception of potential risks and dangers, and the peculiarities of generalized group thinking that have developed in a particular society. Preference systems are an ordered (ranked) series of n = 21 errors: from the most dangerous to the least dangerous and characterize only the danger preference of one error over another. The degree of this preference is determined only by the difference in the ranks of the errors and does not answer the question of how much time one error is more dangerous in relation to another. The differential method for identifying the comparative danger of errors, as well as the multistep technology for identifying and filtering out marginal opinions were applied. From the initial sample of m = 37 professional air traffic controllers, two subgroups mB=20 and mG=7 people were identified with statisti-cally significant at a high level of significance within the group consistency of opinions a = 1%. Nonpara-metric optimization of the corresponding group preference systems resulted in Kemeny’s medians, in which the related (middle) ranks were missing. Based on these medians, weighted coefficients of error hazards were determined by the mathematical prioritization method. It is substantiated that with the ac-cepted accuracy of calculations, the results obtained at the second iteration of this method are more ac-ceptable. The values of the error hazard coefficients, together with their ranks established in the preference systems, allow a more complete quantitative and qualitative analysis of the attitude of both individual air traffic controllers and their professional groups to hazardous actions or conditions.


Aerospace ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (7) ◽  
pp. 170
Author(s):  
Ricardo Palma Fraga ◽  
Ziho Kang ◽  
Jerry M. Crutchfield ◽  
Saptarshi Mandal

The role of the en route air traffic control specialist (ATCS) is vital to maintaining safety and efficiency within the National Airspace System (NAS). ATCSs must vigilantly scan the airspace under their control and adjacent airspaces using an En Route Automation Modernization (ERAM) radar display. The intent of this research is to provide an understanding of the expert controller visual search and aircraft conflict mitigation strategies that could be used as scaffolding methods during ATCS training. Interviews and experiments were conducted to elicit visual scanning and conflict mitigation strategies from the retired controllers who were employed as air traffic control instructors. The interview results were characterized and classified using various heuristics. In particular, representative visual scanpaths were identified, which accord with the interview results of the visual search strategies. The highlights of our findings include: (1) participants used systematic search patterns, such as circular, spiral, linear or quadrant-based, to extract operation-relevant information; (2) participants applied an information hierarchy when aircraft information was cognitively processed (altitude -> direction -> speed); (3) altitude or direction changes were generally preferred over speed changes when imminent potential conflicts were mitigated. Potential applications exist in the implementation of the findings into the training curriculum of candidates.


2021 ◽  
Vol 96 ◽  
pp. 102105
Author(s):  
Marta Makara-Studzińska ◽  
Maciej Załuski ◽  
Joanna Biegańska-Banaś ◽  
Ernest Tyburski ◽  
Paweł Jagielski ◽  
...  

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