Having successfully attracted interest from airports in Europe, the Americas and Australia since its launch last year, AeroSTRIPE, an innovative marking software developed by Keysoft Solutions, looks set to revolutionise the way airport planners, designers and engineers manage airside marking projects.

AeroSTRIPE is a dedicated airside marking design application that allows airports around the world to plan, update and visualise the markings required with ease, accuracy and speed. Keysoft Solutions is a UK-based developer of specialist software which nurtures productivity, efficiency, safety and compliance in road and landscape design.

Airside markings are under constant review, changing regularly as a result of changes to routes, capacity requirements and airline fleet mix. Using AeroSTRIPE, those in charge of airside layouts can quickly, easily and confidently plan and record changes to runway, taxiway and apron markings.

The application includes a full library of linetypes, text and symbols, pre-drawn to the correct size and shapes for various territories around the world. These adhere to International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requirements, as well as the ACI apron markings and signs handbook.

AeroSTRIPE has also been designed to provide for local standards and best practice and to allow the use of custom lines and symbols.

Time is saved on every drawing as a result of its ability to draw complex sets of markings as singles entities. Instead of using many dissociated CAD entities to draw, for example, markings with black outlines or perpendicular bands, with AeroSTRIPE a single feature can be used to produce the required results.

Users also benefit from a flexible labelling system that allows designs to be annotated with text that can be easily edited at a later date.

Manchester Airport airfield planner Shaun McAleer comments: "Some markings can be very labour intensive to draw in AutoCAD. I’ve found that with AeroSTRIPE, drawing markings such as for the edges of irregularly curved pavements (two yellow lines with perpendicular lines coming off every meter) is a breeze.

"For an airport like ours, day-to-day, the time savings the software allows for are modest. However, for bigger projects, such as the reconfiguration of an entire terminal, I can see that AeroSTRIPE would quickly become invaluable. With so many parties involved in the planning of such a project, we will often have to present plans to non-technical people.

"In these circumstances, a picture can be worth a thousand words and then some. For me, this is when the ability to create 3D visualisations from multiple viewpoints could really come into its own."

Keysoft Solutions product manager Alan Mason comments: "It’s been an exciting few months for us as we’ve introduced the product to airports all over the world. Currently much of the design of airside markings is done manually using standard AutoCAD tools. As awareness of this new suite of easy-to-use tools spreads, we hope to see a gradual move away from time-consuming manual airside design.

"While AeroSTRIPE does make it quicker and easier to produce accurate, compliant plans, this is just one part of its potential. AeroSTRIPE also has a role to play in designing safer airsides. In addition to ensuring that airside markings conform to industry regulations, the software also enables users to quickly generate 3D eye views, which can then be used to ensure that markings will be clearly seen and understood.

"AeroSTRIPE will be regularly updated to reflect changes to national and international standards, as well as any changes in CAD software."

For more information and for a free trial of the software, contact Keysoft Solutions.