Company
Date Published
Author
Robert Bruce
Word count
1856
Language
-
Hacker News points
None

Summary

Crimson Macaw collaborated with Manchester Airport Group to develop real-time dashboards for Stansted Airport's security operations using Canvas and Elasticsearch, aiming to enhance the control room and security staff's decision-making capabilities by providing a comprehensive view of passenger flow and security performance. The project involved overcoming challenges related to data ingestion from various sources, such as on-premises databases and external APIs, and required the creation of custom plugins for data visualization and control, including handling gzip compressed messages and formatting timestamps with time zones. Canvas, a new visualisation tool discovered during an AWS Summit, enabled more granular control over dashboard elements than Kibana, prompting the development of additional features like colour coding and dynamic image updates through plugins. The iterative design process, involving stakeholder feedback and workshops, led to the creation of visually appealing and functional dashboards, such as the Security Hub and Train Arrivals dashboards, which display real-time data to facilitate quick decision-making by airport security staff. The collaboration culminated in a modern display of integrated data that improved internal efficiencies and demonstrated the potential of Canvas for creating imaginative and effective data visualisations.