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Measuring Airport PAPI Lights with low-cost RTK kit
What are PAPI lights?
PAPI Lights (Precision Approach Path Indicator) are a set of four bright lights installed next to a runway. They help pilots know if they are exactly on the correct descent path while landing. Here’s how they work:
- Each light can shine either white (if the pilot is above the correct angle) or red (if below).
- When the pilot is at the perfect approach angle, they will see two white lights and two red lights.
Airports need to check these PAPI lights and calibrate them regularly to make sure they give correct guidance.
But the traditional process uses special flight inspection aircraft, which is expensive. The customer wanted to create a portable, fast, and accurate system that could measure PAPI light angles in real time, using equipment that could be installed on smaller aircraft or even UAVs.
Portable system for airport PAPI lights calibration
In this project, the customer developed custom software that processed the positioning data from simpleRTK2B – Starter Kit XLR and calculated the PAPI light angles.
The system was first installed on a UAV, and after successful measurements, it was also installed on a King Air flight inspection aircraft during the latest test. The calibration of PAPI lights at Airport was successfully completed, with results matching the standards and receiving certification from the Civil Aviation Authority.
Subsequently, the system was installed on an Islander aircraft, and with the approval of the Civil Aviation Authority, the first flight inspection operation successfully calibrated the PAPI lights of three runways in under 30 minutes, declaring them operational.
Measurements matched the results of the official flight inspection system
The calibration of PAPI lights was successfully completed, with results matching the standards and receiving certification from the Civil Aviation Authority. The system was able to measure PAPI light angles with very high accuracy. In tests conducted on both UAVs and aircraft, the measurements matched the results of the official flight inspection system. This confirmed that the solution can serve as a reliable and cost-effective tool alongside certified inspection systems.
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If you are developing a GNSS project, our product provide the accuracy and reliability you need.
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Made in EuropeRTK starter kitssimpleRTK2B – Starter Kit XLR
699,00€ This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page
