Cockpit Display Of Traffic Information Research Articles

Effects of Force Feedback and Distractor Location on a CDTI Target Selection Task

New flight deck technologies need to be implemented in order to support the projected rises in traffic levels. Future cockpit displays of traffic information (CDTIs) shall accommodate the altered responsibilities of pilots by facilitating more efficient routes and minimizing conflicts. However, the unstable nature of the cockpit may present challenges when precise inputs are required. The present study investigated the effects of force feedback and distractors on point-and-click movement times in a CDTI environment. Participants performed target selection tasks with multiple levels of force feedback and distractor location. Results implied that force feedback failed to benefit movement times relative to the standard computer mouse. However, substantial interactions between distractor effects, force levels, and other target characteristics are explored.

Flight Test Results of a Measurement-Based ADS-B System for Separation Assurance

ABSTRACT: Future Aircraft Surveillance Applications (ASA) systems for situational awareness applications (e.g.,conflict detection and resolution, final approach and runway occupancy awareness, and airport surface situationalawareness methods), airborne spacing applications, airborne separation applications, and self-separationapplications will benefit from the introduction of Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B). Analternative ADS-B implementation, which transmits measurements from the Global Navigation SatelliteSystem (GNSS) instead of aircraft state vectors and performance parameters in the current implementation, hasbeen proposed previously to improve surveillance performance. This paper summarizes the proposedmethodology, discusses its threat models and integrity aspects, and presents the initial flight test results of thisalternative ADS-B implementation, along with a performance analysis. Copyright # 2013 Institute of Navigation INTRODUCTIONTo meet the expanding demand of air traffic in theNational Airspace System (NAS), an increase incapacity will be required. Efforts to achieve thischange in capacity are directed and overseen bythe Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO)formed by the Federal Aviation Administration(FAA), the National Aeronautics and SpaceAdministration (NASA), and several othergovernment agencies. The resulting improved airtransportation system is referred to as the NextGeneration Air Transportation System or NextGen.When completed NextGen is supposed to “providethe capacity required to meet the nation’sneedinthemost effective, efficient, safe, and secure mannerpossible” [1, 2]. Meanwhile, Europe has been workingon an equivalent transformation of European airspace through the Single European Sky Air TrafficManagement (ATM) Research (SESAR) [3].The goals of NextGen are to significantly increasethe safety, security, capacity, efficiency, andenvironment compatibility of aviation operations inthe NAS. In order to achieve increased capacityand efficiency in an even more congested NAS, manydecisions in NextGen will be made at a local levelwith an awareness of system-wide implications.Intermsofsurveillance,NextGenenvisionsdelegatedseparation, which transfers certain responsibilityfor separation from ATM to flight crews to ensurethat the applicable airborne separation minimaare met. In particular, two of the eight identi fiedkey capabilities of NextGen, Performance-BasedOperations and Services (PBO) and Aircraft Trajectory-Based Operations (TBO), will help facilitate aircraftusingtheir4-Dflightprofilesandperformance-relatedparameters to enable reduced separation andincreased trajectory predictability [1].The Aircraft Surveillance Applications (ASA)systems are expected to provide the abovementionedimproved situational awareness. As the surveillanceand application-specific component of the ASAsystems, Airborne Surveillance and SeparationAssurance Processing (ASSAP) is intended tointegrate information from all the NextGenCommunication, Navigation, and Surveillance (CNS)systems to perform surveillance applicationssuch as enhanced visual acquisition, conflictdetection and resolution, airport surface situationalawareness, final approach and runway occupancyawareness, and enhanced visual approach, and topresent trafficstateinformationtoflight crewsthrough a Cockpit Display of TrafficInformation(CDTI) atleastseveralminutesaheadofapredictedloss of separation [4, 5].

Studying Collision Avoidance by Nearly Colliding: A Flight Test Evaluation

As the next generation of air traffic systems (NextGen) moves forward, human factors analyses related to warnings and graphical depictions of air traffic conflicts become increasingly important. Despite this, related human-factors research involving traffic has been conducted in simulation where the contributions of traffic display systems and ultimately visual detection of traffic cannot be fully assessed. We report a flight trial involving 12 deliberate near miss (as little as 160 ft) configurations of differing intercept angles. We evaluate the workload and track error of the intruder test pilot for flight trials in which a custom iPod™ Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B)-driven display was used. Constant and variable error of trajectory tracks were differentially affected by the availability of three-dimensional real world information for the intercept approach. We consider the components of spatial representation common to planned interceptions and traffic avoidance and discuss the implications for the design of cockpit display of traffic information (CDTI) systems and the role of automation in collision avoidance systems. Language: en

Testing a Nonveridical Aircraft Collision Avoidance System: Experiment 2

Veridical displays represent realistic scenes. State spaces are nonveridical displays representing n-dimensional information based on arbitrary coordinate axes plus variables such as color and shading. Here, flight performance using only a veridical cockpit display of traffic information (CDTI) was compared to performance augmented by a 4D state space-based collision avoidance system (CDTI+4CAS). Twelve general aviation pilots flew scenarios with the task of deviating as little as possible from course while still maintaining standard enroute separation from traffic. The CDTI+4CAS condition showed performance superiority over the CDTI-only condition for five of five dependent measures of maneuver efficiency, four of four measures of maneuver safety, and six of nine measures of workload.

Testing a Multidimensional Nonveridical Aircraft Collision Avoidance System

This study explores operators' ability to use a multidimensional, nonveridical control display. Veridical displays represent realistic scenes. State space displays represent nonveridical n-dimensional information based on informative coordinate axes plus variable features such as color and shading. Empirical investigation of state space displays is relatively new to human factors research. Twelve licensed general aviation pilots flew flight scenarios, trying to deviate as little as possible from a preassigned course while still maintaining standard en route separation from traffic. Flight performance using only a veridical cockpit display of traffic information (CDTI) was compared with performance using the CDTI augmented by a 4-D nonveridical state space collision avoidance system (CDTI+4CAS). Using moderate traffic density and complex traffic geometry, the CDTI+4CAS condition showed performance superiority over the baseline CDTI-only condition for five of five dependent measures of maneuver efficiency, four of four measures of maneuver safety, and six of nine measures of user workload. Results suggest that nonveridical information display may enhance operator performance on a control task involving simultaneous processing of multidimensional information. Nonveridical information displays have potential application wherever human control of multidimensional processes is involved.

Display Dimensionality and Conflict Geometry Effects on Maneuver Preferences for Resolving In-Flight Conflicts

Two experiments explored the effects of display dimensionality, conflict geometry, and time pressure on pilot maneuvering preferences for resolving en route conflicts. With the presence of a cockpit display of traffic information (CDTI) that provides graphical airspace information, pilots can use a variety of conflict resolution maneuvers in response to how they perceive the conflict. Inconsistent preference findings from previous research on conflict resolution using CDTIs may be attributable to inherent ambiguities in 3-D perspective displays and/or a limited range of conflict geometries. Pilots resolved predicted conflicts using CDTIs with three levels of display dimensionality; the first had two 2-D orthogonal views, the second depicted the airspace in two alternating 3-D perspective views, and the third had a pilot-controlled swiveling viewpoint. Pilots demonstrated the same preferences that have been observed in previous research for vertical over lateral maneuvers in low workload and climbs over descents for level-flight conflicts. With increasing workload the two 3-D perspective displays, but not the 2-D displays, resulted in an increased preference for lateral over vertical maneuvers. Increased time pressure resulted in increased vertical maneuvers, an effect again limited to the two 3-D perspective displays. Resolution preferences were more affected by workload and time pressure when the 3-D perspective displays were used, as compared with the 2-D displays, although overall preferences were milder than in previous studies. Investigating maneuver preferences using the strategic flight planning paradigm employed in this study may be the key to better ensure pilot acceptance of computer-generated resolution maneuvers.

ATOMS: Air Traffic Operations and Management Simulator

In this paper, we introduce the air traffic operations and management simulator (ATOMS), which is an air traffic and airspace modeling and simulation system for the analysis of free-flight concepts. This paper describes the design, architecture, functionality, and applications of the ATOMS. It is an intent-based simulator that discretizes the airspace in equal-sized hyper-rectangular cells to maintain intent reference points. It can simulate end-to-end airspace operations and air navigation procedures for conventional air traffic, as well as for free flight. Atmospheric and wind data that are modeled in the ATOMS result in accurate trajectory predictions. The ATOMS uses a multiagent-based modeling paradigm for modular design and easy integration of various air traffic subsystems. A variety of advanced air traffic management (ATM) concepts that are envisioned in free flight are prototyped in the ATOMS, including airborne separation assurance (ASA), cockpit display of traffic information (CDTI), weather avoidance, and decision support systems (DSSs). Experimental results indicate that advanced ATM concepts make a sound case for free flight; however, there is a need to investigate and understand their complex interaction under nonnominal scenarios.

Dual-Task Performance Consequences of Imperfect Alerting Associated With a Cockpit Display of Traffic Information

Performance consequences related to integrating an imperfect alert within a complex task domain were examined in two experiments. Cockpit displays of traffic information (CDTIs) are being designed for use in airplane cockpits as responsibility for safe separation becomes shared between pilots and controllers. Of interest in this work is how characteristics of the alarm system such as threshold, modality, and number of alert levels impact concurrent task (flight control) performance and response to potential conflicts. Student pilots performed a tracking task analogous to flight control while simultaneously monitoring for air traffic conflicts with the aid of a CDTI alert as the threshold, modality, and level of alert was varied. As the alerting system became more prone to false alerts, pilot compliance decreased and concurrent performance improved. There was some evidence of auditory preemption with auditory alerts as the false alarm rate increased. Finally, there was no benefit to a three-level system over a two-level system. There is justification for increased false alarm rates, as miss-prone systems appear to be costly. The 4:1 false alarm to miss ratio employed here improved accuracy and concurrent task performance. More research needs to address the potential benefits of likelihood alerting. The issues addressed in this research can be applied to any imperfect alerting system such as in aviation, driving, or air traffic control. It is crucial to understand the performance consequences of new technology and the efficacy of potential mitigating design features within the specific context desired.

Effects of Air Traffic Geometry on Pilots' Conflict Detection With Cockpit Display of Traffic Information

This experiment attempted to identify the features of air traffic geometry that would influence the difficulty and biases of pilots' conflict detection using a cockpit display of traffic information (CDTI). There was previously no systematic study on effects of such features on conflict detection using the CDTI. Twenty-four pilots viewed dynamic encounters between their own aircraft and an intruder aircraft on a simulated CDTI; difficulty was varied by the intruder aircraft's distance and time to closest point of approach (CPA), relative speed, miss distance at CPA, approach side, and conflict angle. Participants estimated the intruder's location at, and its time to, CPA. Effects on three estimation error measures were explored: intruder's miss distance at CPA, orientation at CPA, and time to CPA. (a) Estimation errors increased with slower speeds, longer times to CPA, and longer distances to CPA and with longer miss distances at CPA; (b) the best performance occurred at a conflict angle of 90 degrees; (c) there was a bias to judge conflicts to be more risky than was actually the case; and (d) there was a "distance-over-speed" bias, such that two aircraft farther apart and converging rapidly were perceived as less risky than when they were closer to each other and converging at a slower rate, despite identical time to CPA. Pilots' conflict detection with CDTI was subject to various errors and biases, which has important safety implications. The design of procedures, displays, and decision support tools for the free flight environment needs to take these human performance limitations into account.

Effects of conflict alerting system reliability and task difficulty on pilots' conflict detection with cockpit display of traffic information

A total of 24 pilots viewed dynamic encounters between their own aircraft and an intruder aircraft on a 2-D cockpit display of traffic information (CDTI) and estimated the point and time of closest approach. A three-level alerting system provided a correct categorical estimate of the projected miss distance on 83% of the trials. The remaining 17% of alerts were equally divided between misses and false alarms, of large and small magnitude. Roughly half the pilots depended on automation to improve estimation of miss distance relative to the baseline pilots, who viewed identical trials without the aid of automated alerts. Moreover, they did so more on the more difficult traffic trials resulting in improved performance on the 83% correct automation trials without causing harm on the 17% automation-error trials, compared to the baseline group. The automated alerts appeared to lead pilots to inspect the raw data more closely. While assisting the accurate prediction of miss distance, the automation led to an underestimate of the time remaining until the point of closest approach. The results point to the benefits of even imperfect automation in the strategic alerts characteristic of the CDTI, at least as long as this reliability remains high (above 80%).

Evaluation of Onboard Taxi Guidance Support on Pilot Performance in Airport Surface Navigation

Advanced Surface Movement Guidance and Control Systems (A-SMGCS) comprise a range of new technologies for both the flight deck and ground air traffic control and is supposed to enable increased safety and a more efficient throughput at presently highly congested major airports. A flight deck A-SMGCS module is the onboard guidance system TARMAC-AS. This module consists of controller pilot data link communication (CPDLC) and an electronic moving map (EMM), which also serves as a cockpit display of traffic information (CDTI). TARMAC-AS is evaluated in an investigation involving 49 commercial pilots who performed a series of approach, landing and taxiing simulation trials under varied visibility, which were completed in a fixed-base cockpit simulator. Results support the notion that an EMM + CPDLC + CDTI improve the effectiveness of taxi navigation. A potential negative impact of observed increased head-down times to the compelling TARMAC display on unexpected outside scene obstacle detection was not substantiated.

Human factors issues in implementation of advanced aviation technologies: a case of false alerts and cockpit displays of traffic information

This paper provides a framework for identifying and evaluating the human performance implications of new avionics technology such as the cockpit display of traffic information (CDTI). Several important human factors issues in developing and implementing the CDTI are discussed in terms of their effects on the two primary flight tasks associated with the CDTI: conflict detection and conflict resolution. One issue is the development of alerting algorithms, which are defined by how uncertainty, false alarms and look-ahead times are dealt with. Another issue concerns understanding how time pressure, display dimensionality and conflict geometry affect pilot preferences for certain avoidance maneouvres over others. A third issue is the proposed shift in responsibility of flight safety away from air traffic control to the pilot after CDTIs make it possible for pilots to perform tasks related to self-separation. These issues and the factors affecting them are classified into several categories of dependent and independent variables and placed into a framework illustrating their effects on false alarm rates and human tolerance for false alarms. A review of the literature reveals gaps in understanding of the impact of these issues under various operational situations and new directions for research are proposed.

Display Dimensionality, Conflict Geometry, and Time Pressure Effects on Conflict Detection and Resolution Performance Using Cockpit Displays of Traffic Information

Cockpit displays of traffic information are designed to support pilots' abilities to perform conflict detection and resolution tasks. Three experiments investigated the effects of display dimensionality, conflict geometry, and time pressure of in-flight conflicts on performance. The results indicated that interactive viewpoints in 2 3–D displays eliminated ambiguity costs, resulting in performance on both tasks comparable to a 2–D coplanar display. Viewpoint interactivity in the 3–D displays was vulnerable to increased workload, although corresponding performance was no worse than the 2–D coplanar. All 3 display formats showed performance decrements for nonlevel conflict geometries and increased time pressure.

Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast/Cockpit Display of Traffic Information: Pilot Use of the Approach Spacing Application

An operational evaluation of the automatic dependent surveillance system and cockpit display of traffic information (CDTI) provided an opportunity to examine how pilot use of CDTI enabled them to maintain predefined spacing intervals from other aircraft. Seventy percent of the controller -issued traffic calls resulted in positive visual acquisitions (83% displayed on CDTI). Approximately 55% of the approach clearances that included instructions to "follow that traffic" involved communication problems and operational concerns. In light of the findings and the participants' comments, changes to proposed procedures and supporting phraseology will be constructed and evaluated for the approach spacing application.

The Influence of Brightness Highlighting on Eye Movements within a Cockpit Display of Traffic Information

Several experiments were conducted to examine the effect of brightness highlighting on search of a target aircraft among distractor aircraft within a cockpit display of traffic information (CDTI). The present experiment partially replicated the design of one of these experiments, adding an examination of eye movements. The display presented homogenous all bright, all dim, or mixed bright and dim aircraft. Within the mixed display, target aircraft were non-predictive and either bright or dim. Results showed that with the mixed display, participants yielded slower detection times, exhibited more eye fixations, and searched with longer paths, compared to the homogenous all bright or dim displays. The duration of the fixation and the speed of eye movements did not show any difference between the homogeneous and mixed displays. The present detection time analysis did not replicate previous experimental results and this is likely due to the fewer trials given in the current experiment. The present results demonstrated how using highlighting to segregate information domains may impose costs on visual search performance in the early stages of a search task.

Display Dimensionality and Conflict Geometry Effects on Maneuver Preferences for Resolving in-Flight Conflicts

With the presence of a cockpit display of traffic information (CDTI) that provides graphical airspace information, pilots can use a variety of conflict resolution maneuvers in response to how they perceive the conflict. Inconsistent preference findings from previous research on conflict resolution using CDTIs may be due to inherent ambiguities in 3-D displays and/or a limited range of conflict geometries. This paper describes a study that investigates conflict resolution maneuver preferences using three displays with different frames of reference and a wide range of conflict geometries. Results indicate that 3-D displays with interactive viewpoints reduced spatial ambiguities. The interactive 3-D displays produced a preference for vertical maneuvers over lateral similar to a 2-D coplanar display; however this preference was reversed under increased workload conditions for both 3-D displays. Pilots in all three display conditions showed a preference to maneuver vertically away from intruders, though this was eliminated (or reversed) as workload increased. The 2-D coplanar display induced a preference to laterally turn away from approaching intruders, which overwhelmed a trained “turn right” preference.

Traffic Awareness for General Aviation (TAGA)

A project called “Traffic Awareness for General Aviation (TAGA)” was performed in the Federal Republic of Germany. The project focused on investigating the feasibility and identifying possible safety benefits of performing the “Enhanced Visual Acquisition for See & Avoid” application within German VFR airspace in the vicinity of Frankfurt/Main. The following hypotheses were to be assessed in the project:•It is possible to enhance the traffic detection probability of General Aviation pilots flying under visual flight rules by means of a Cockpit Display of Traffic Information (CDTI).•General Aviation pilots are able to monitor a CDTI and to detect in time potential conflicting aircraft on the CDTI during a normal flight performed under visual flight rules.•It is possible to derive traffic information for the performance of a see-and-avoid application from a Traffic Information Service Broadcast (TIS-B).In order to meet the objectives of the project, an experimental TIS-B ground system based on the VDL Mode 4 data link technology was installed. The TIS-B service was based on radar surveillance data from the ground radar data network. Three General Aviation aircraft were equipped with appropriate airborne equipment, and a flight trial campaign was performed during May 2002 and April 2003.

Perspective and Coplanar Cockpit Displays of Traffic Information: Implications for Maneuver Choice, Flight Safety, and Mental Workload

In 3 experiments, we examined maneuver choice, flight safety, and mental workload across 3-dimensional (3D) perspective and 2-dimensional coplanar cockpit displays of traffic information in a free-flight simulation. In Experiment 1 (30 pilots), we examined dimensionality issues; in Experiments 2 and 3 (18 pilots each), we examined the effects of traffic density, dimensionality, and vertical profile orientation. Collectively, these data may be modeled by trade-offs between the display types: The coplanar suite suffers from scanning-related integration that increases with conflict density; the 3D display suffers from perceptual ambiguity. This research informs our understanding of how displays modulate performance in free-flight environments.

Effects of Air Traffic Geometry on Pilots' Conflict Detection with Cockpit Display of Traffic Information

We explored the effects of conflict geometry on pilot conflict understanding, manifested in estimation accuracy of three continuous variables: miss distance, time to closest point of approach, and orientation at the closest point of approach. Results indicated (a) increased difficulty of understanding with conflicts that occurred with slower speeds, a longer time into the future, and a longer distance into the future; (b) a tendency for pilots' judgments often to be conservative, judging that conflicts were both more risky and would occur sooner than was actually the case; and (c) a “distance-over-speed” bias, such that two aircraft viewed farther apart and converging rapidly were perceived as less risky than two aircraft that were closer to each other and converging at a slower rate, even though the time until a conflict occurred was identical.

Pilot Use of a Cockpit Display of Traffic Information during Aircraft Navigation on the Airport Surface: An Analysis of Pilot/Controller Operational Communication

The Federal Aviation Administration is making a concerted effort to reduce runway incursions. A 5-day operational evaluation conducted in October 2000 assessed pilot use of varying types of CDTI devices. Structured and unstructured taxi routes examined how well pilots navigated their aircraft using electronic surface-map displays (north-up, track-up) or a paper surface map. An analysis was performed of 15 hours of communication data to determine how the use of these displays might aid situation awareness and influence operational communications. A Type-of-Route x Type-of-Map ANOVA revealed that more problems occurred, and more messages were exchanged for structured taxi routes. Most problems occurred for the north-up group during structured taxi routes, and the number of problems encountered was comparable for the other map groups when pilots navigated unstructured taxi routes. The format in which a map is presented appears to affect some aspects of pilot performance during airport surface navigation.