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NASA Program Spans New Safety Software for Pilots

Don Nolan-Proxmire
Headquarters, Washington, DC                        March 31, 1998
(Phone:  202/358-1983)

John G. Watson
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA
(Phone:  818/354-5011)

RELEASE:  98-52

NASA PROGRAM SPAWNS NEW SAFETY SOFTWARE FOR PILOTS

     Two new software packages enabling pilots to use laptops to 
avoid hazardous terrain and find their place on maps are the 
latest success stories of a NASA program bringing together 
entrepreneurs and space engineers. 

     Pilots of small planes, for whom such tools have been largely 
unavailable until now due to cost and the sheer size of bulky 
hardware, may soon be able to carry onboard the personal computer 
equivalent of collision-avoidance systems now used by the military 
and commercial airlines. 

     "TerrAvoid" and "Position Integrity" combine Global 
Positioning Satellite (GPS) data with high-resolution maps of the 
Earth's topography. Dubbs and Severino, Inc., based in Irvine, CA, 
has developed software that allows the system to be run on a 
battery-powered laptop in the cockpit.

     The packages, designed primarily for military sponsors and 
now positioned to hit the consumer market in coming months, came 
about as the result of the Technology Affiliates Program at NASA's 
Jet Propulsion Laboratory's (JPL), Pasadena, CA.  Intended to give 
American industry assistance from NASA experts and to facilitate 
business use of intellectual property developed for the space 
program, the Technology Affiliates Program introduced the start-up 
company of Dubbs and Severino to JPL's Dr. Nevin Bryant four years ago. 

     Dubbs and Severino had an idea for mapping software to help 
private airplane pilots, inspired in part by the fatal crash of a 
pilot friend of company president Bob Severino.  The twist: the 
package was to be completely software-driven, instead of requiring 
expensive hardware, as was the norm up to that time. 

     Bryant's Cartographic Applications Group at JPL had developed 
GeoTIFF, an architecture standard providing geo-location tools for 
mapping applications.  GeoTIFF proved to be the crucial key that 
the start-up company needed to bring the idea to fruition, 
allowing the firm to develop low-cost software packages.

     GeoTIFF is now in the public domain, and its use for 
commercial product development has evolved into an industry 
standard over the last year.  Through the Technology Affiliates 
Program, Dubbs and Severino obtained JPL's assistance early on and 
thus gained a jump-start in adapting the architecture for their 
products' specific needs.  "JPL gave us a demonstration and opened 
up the red carpet.  It was a match made in heaven," says Severino. 

     Merle McKenzie, manager of JPL's Commercial Technology 
Program, said that Dubbs and Severino's ability to utilize 
technology originally developed for NASA provides a strong example 
of the many advantages of technology transfer programs.  "This is 
a win-win partnership through which yet another American business 
gets a boost from the space program," McKenzie said.

     "TerrAvoid" is a terrain avoidance system that graphically 
shows pilots if they are flying dangerously close to mountains: 
safe sections can be seen in green, while hazardous sections show 
up in red, with those proportions changing in real time as the 
pilot moves through hilly terrain. In a sense, the system "looks" 
out over a plane's flight path, sweeping 360 degrees, warning the 
pilot if there are any upcoming hazards. Ithe software integrates 
GPS tracking data with maps on CD-ROM, and is approximately 1/20th 
the cost of its nearest competitor.

     "Position Integrity," which also co-registers real-time GPS 
data with local maps on CD-ROM, is a moving map detailing the 
exact position of the pilot.  Because of the unique features of 
GeoTIFF, this software can be adapted to operate with any map, 
chart or photo image in the world, while comparable versions are 
limited solely to either military, scientific or commercial maps.  
GeoTIFF also enables the package to feature four windows at once, 
a useful and unique option for pilots who need to work 
simultaneously with maps, charts, photo images and sketches at 
different scales and zoom levels. 

     Further details about JPL's technology transfer activities, 
including the Technology Affiliates Program, are available online 
at http://techtrans.jpl.nasa.gov/tu.html 
JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology.

                        -end-