The chair`s apron control simulator (VokoSim) is a device to reproduce the infrastructure and the operations on an airport movement area holding the possibility to manage apron control tasks by human operators. The VokoSim was set up in the context of the DFG-funded „LiDAR project“ and was used for the validation of risk mitigation effects on apron operations resulting from a prototypical LiDAR surveillance system. Currently, the simulator is used as a test bed and validation tool for several student theses (e.g. data link applications between apron control and cockpit). In the near future, the VokoSim will be coupled with the A320 simulator to provide an extended simulation lab for the student tutorials that are part of the lectures on „Cockpit technologies“ and „Air Traffic Control“.

The actual hardware setup of the VokoSim comprises (among others) of a system to reproduce the out-the-window-view from the control tower, which is realized by 3 video projectors for a 140° field of view. Depending on the equipment of the simulated airport different camera views are shown on seperate screens. Both out-the-window-view and video are generated by the flight simulation software X-Plane. Furthermore, a key board is provided to issue clearenaces that were requested earlier on a simulated radio channel. The selection and configuration of operational scenarios is executed at a seperate computer terminal („instructor station“).