Darwin Airfield Lighting Control

PROJECT

Lighting the Way in Darwin

CSE Technology has completed commissioning of a new Airfield Lighting Control System (ALCS) at the RAAF Base in Darwin. The facility is shared with Darwin International Airport, which includes the Domestic Terminal.

CSE Technology was awarded the contract to design, supply and install the new ALCS in the Northern Territory as part of a major upgrade of the existing Base. The works include new airfield lights, control tower, taxiways and aprons.

The ALCS provides control and monitoring of all Airfield Lighting systems. This includes approach lighting, runway lighting, taxiway lighting, T Visual Approach Slope Indication System (T-VASIS), Illuminated Wind Indicators (IWI), Constant Current Regulator (CCR) status and control, Pilot Activated Airfield Lighting Control (PAALC) and airfield blackout request. The system also includes extensive alarm monitoring and reporting facilities.

The system consists of SCADA and PLC systems located in two Airfield Lighting Equipment Rooms (ALERs) at each end of the runway, and at the new Control Tower. An additional SCADA workstation is also located temporarily in the existing Control Tower until the new Control Tower is fully operational. The ALCS can be controlled from any of these four locations, but only one location can be in active control at any one time.

The SCADA system consists of Intellution Fix HMI software with touchscreen equipped displays, allowing maintenance staff and operators to easily interact with the ALCS. The user interface was designed in conjunction with the Department of Defence to ensure a consistent, reliable, and efficient interface for operational staff. The connection between the SCADA system and the local PLC is via serial interface.

At the new Control Tower the system interfaces to the new ADATS system being implemented by the Department of Defence, and in the ALERs it controls the CCRs used to power the lighting circuits.

A high-speed fibre optic LAN connects all PLC systems, allowing fast and secure communications between all locations. The design of the system uses the fibre LAN to transport SCADA information as well as PLC status values.

The ALCS can also be monitored from a remote location using a dial-in modem connection and a laptop PC. This allows maintenance staff to remotely access the SCADA systems for easy fault diagnosis at any time.

Commissioning was carried out in a number of phases, the last one coinciding with the Interfet airlift to East Timor. The massive transport planes thundering past made for a very noisy environment in the ALERs at the end of the runways!

CSE Technology is also committed to provide maintenance for the system for 12 months as part of the contract. This will be implemented with a combination of local support staff and remote maintenance techniques that CSE has developed over many years.

This ALCS application is part of CSE's AirCams product solution for airports.