Searidge Technologies
Intelligent Video Technology Intuitively Managing the Airport Surface

When Moodie Cheikh joined Searidge Technologies, he had a vision of taking it from a services company and turning it into a global technology company. Fulfilling his dream over the years, the company evolved as a provider of innovative collaborative surface management services and solutions to airports and Air Navigation Service providers (ANSPs) worldwide.

Airports and ANSPs use ground surveillance systems to facilitate the safe and expeditious flow of traffic in and around an airport and to help mitigate runway incursions. Searidge, headquartered in Ottawa, ON, identified that although these systems continue to play a pivotal role in surface management, the availability of intelligent video would allow airports and ANSPs to maximize their investment and cost effectively address various shortcomings of existing systems including line-of-sight limitations, scalability, and the requirement of all aircraft and vehicles to be transponder equipped.

The Searidge ATC-Grade Video system uses advanced video processing technology to intuitively consolidate multiple camera scenes into a simulated single out-of-the-window view of the area of interest. Full visual confirmation of the situation helps controllers effectively manage the ground traffic with a high degree of confidence. The system provides a video view of a geographically remote or visually obstructed airport area on a proven fail-safe software platform.

Additionally, as many ANSPs are faced with workforce challenges due to attrition and an ever-increasing demand on the air traffic network, industry must play an integral role in providing technology solutions that advance the current tower-centric method of operations.

To equip controllers with an advanced set of decision support tools, the company offers Searidge Remote Tower Services solution that enable them to provide advisory or control services to aircraft and vehicles at geographically independent airfields.

“Searidge realized that with airports becoming more congested, the need would soon arise for a solution that could help airplanes move efficiently while maintaining the safety throughout the airfield. So we introduced video and in 2008 we became the first company to put video in an aircraft control tower for our client in Abu Dhabi to provide controllers with a surface management tool which allowed them to make timely air traffic management decisions” says Cheikh, CEO of Searidge.

Dubai Airport, a Searidge client, was looking for technology solutions to more effectively manage its airport ground traffic, specifically around taxi-way crossings through out the ramp area. Searidge provided a solution by implementing its IntelliDAR and Enhanced Airport Vision Display (EAVD) systems, that automatically determine the position of the airplanes and vehicles and provides zone highlighting functionality to the operations personnel located in a remote location. This solution enables the uninterrupted movement of airplanes thus increasing the efficiency. “We have been working with Dubai Airport for 5 years and although we started with one crossing, we have now significantly expanded our footprint throughout the airport,” says Cheikh.

The coming years will witness Searidge focusing on providing intelligent video systems and giving emphasis on integration as well. “Video will be more powerful if one can integrate other forms of data into it. In addition, we ensure that our solution supports easy integration to other system; that it is hardware and platform agnostic and can provide maximum flexibility to our customers. Safety is paramount in the aviation world and as such we will continue to offer innovative solutions to counter aerospace challenges,” says Cheikh.