Australian Aviation - July 2018

44 AUSTRALIAN AVIATION

E

ngines that know when

they’re about to break, notify

maintenance engineers, and order

parts. Live weather applications

that interact with air traffic control

to give pilots advanced options. Seats

that know who you are and just how

much you like to be reclined. Inflight

entertainment that remembers

where you are and suggests what you

might like to watch. These were the

promises of the Internet of Things

when Australian Aviation last delved

into the IoT in October 2015 (“The

Internet of Planes”), in an article that

was filled with much promise of the

future.

But are we there yet? Australia’s

airlines have lagged behind their

international comparators in adding

inflight internet, even while early

benefits of the Internet of Things have

arrived before the radomes, satellite

dishes and Wi-Fi access points in our

skies.

Meanwhile, the IoT itself is

evolving, nearly as quickly as the

consumer technology it emulates.

Three years ago, Amazon’s Echo

had only just arrived in homes, and

Apple Pay hadn’t even arrived in

Australia. The definition of the IoT

we used nearly three years ago aimed

to achieve a future where “objects

equipped with electronics, software,

sensors and access to a network can

transmit information without needing

operational input from humans”.

Yet, intriguingly, three years

later, the definition of the Internet

of Things for the aviation industry

hasn’t changed much – a remarkable

achievement from IoT players in an

industry where change is a paradoxical

constant.

“Rockwell Collins considers IoT

to be any device connected to a

network that produces or consumes

information within the aviation

community. We use a definition that

essentially allows any device that

INTERNET

OF THINGS

TO COME?

WRITER: JOHN WALTON

An early report card for the Internet of Planes

Aviation is striving to harness

the ‘Internet of Things’.

ROB FIINLAYSON