Large dvLED Installation
Project Name: Remote Towers Centre
End User: Avinor Air Navigation Services AS
Integrator / Project Manager: Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace
Mount Manufacturer: B-Tech AV Mounts
B-Tech Mounting System: System X
Mounting Supplier: Solvo-Tech AS
Screens: Samsung 65-inch QM65R
Aviation is vital in a country like Norway, where distances are large, tourism is growing and businesses are internationally focused. With many of Norway’s control towers due for refurbishment or complete replacement, the move to remote towers presented a significant opportunity to increase efficiency, reduce costs and train new personnel more quickly. At the same time, accuracy and safety remained the highest priorities, meaning the solution needed to provide the same or better performance than a traditional physical tower service located at each airport.
To recreate the same “out of the window” view provided by a traditional control tower, the correct AV mounting solution was essential. Jens Petter Duestad, Head of Operations at Remote Tower Centre Bodø, explained: “It is of great importance that the AV mounting solution provides consistent curvature and seamless transition between each and every screen. It must be robust and steady enough to endure cleaning and enable replacement of individual screens swiftly.”
He also emphasised the importance of a future-ready solution: “We also demand the AV mounting system to be flexible in screen height and curvature since we are still in an experimental phase. Larger and more complex airports, implemented later in the Remote Tower Programme, might make other demands.”
Two centuries of innovation, transformation and delivering results have made Kongsberg a recognised global technology leader and a leading supplier within defence, surveillance, space, aerostructures and MRO. Their experience in complex projects and highly skilled technical team made them an ideal fit for the challenge.
Kongsberg developed an advanced solution using extremely high-resolution camera sensors capable of capturing detail with the accuracy of the human eye, and in some cases exceeding it through advanced features such as infrared cameras.
To provide operators with a realistic viewpoint of the airport they were controlling, each module incorporated a curved 10-screen videowall. Ole Preben Tenold, Service Manager Aviation & Security at Kongsberg, recognised early on the advantages B-Tech products could provide and personally supervised the physical installation of the videowalls. According to Tenold, B-Tech products were selected for their “robustness, precision alignment to achieve a smooth videowall curve, ease of install and aesthetic appearance.”
Using the incredibly versatile System X range, B-Tech’s technical team developed a mounting solution that perfectly met the client’s requirements. The result was a robust yet elegant curved design, capable of securely mounting ten Samsung 65-inch QM65R displays in portrait orientation.
Micro-adjustment throughout the mounting system allowed each display to be precisely aligned, ensuring content could be presented seamlessly across the videowall. Each unit also provided adjustment of screen height and curvature, while allowing straightforward maintenance or replacement of individual displays.
Norwegian B-Tech distributor Solvo-Tech AS acted as an intermediary to support the approval and supply of the B-Tech equipment. The project involved a total volume of close to 20m³ and a shipping weight of nearly five tonnes.
The Remote Towers Centre opened in October 2020. At the time of the original case study, four remote towers were already successfully operating, with a further eleven scheduled for rollout by the end of 2022.
Kongsberg’s technological innovation helped make the project a success, providing improved safety and performance while also delivering exceptional flexibility and scalability. B-Tech AV Mounts and Solvo-Tech AS were proud to provide a mounting solution capable of meeting the project’s demanding requirements for precision, flexibility and reliability.
The project was also nominated as a finalist in the “Best Control Room” project category at the 2021 InAVation Awards.
