Pilot Cockpit Research Articles

Brain dynamics of mental workload in a multitasking context: Evidence from dynamic causal modeling

Multitasking is a common element in complex human-computer interactions and is known to impose deleterious mental workload demands. High mental workload is known to involve bilateral hemisphere activation, but the patterns of effective connectivity (directed causal influence or communication) among brain regions in such a context remain unclear. This study investigated the effect of mental workload on the causal influence brain regions exert over each other under a multitasking scenario. The Dynamic Causal Modeling (DCM) method was implemented to infer the flow of information and allocation of attentional resources. Thirty participants performed four subtasks with varying levels of workload on a computer-based multitasking program, simulating a pilot cockpit. Using eight brain regions commonly identified to be activated in multitasking conditions, nine candidate models were developed. Bayesian model averaging was then used to quantify the connectivity strengths among the brain regions. Linear regression was conducted to study the relationships between connection strengths and subtask performances. The results showed that the causal connections shifted from the left to both sides of the brain with increased workload. Linear regression analysis showed that the subtask performance could be predicted by connectivity strengths. Thus, by studying the brain dynamics of mental workload, we may be able to develop a predictor that supplements subjective self-report measures.

Fatal injuries due to direct helicopter propeller strike.

During a helicopter exercise, due to the scarce visibility caused by the presence of snow, a collision between a landing helicopter and one already on the ground occurred. The 40-year-old pilot of the already landed aircraft was killed as a result of a direct propeller impact in the right side of the pilot's cockpit, while the co-pilot remained uninjured. At autopsy, the macroscopic characteristic findings in the form of cut injuries and amputations along the axis of the rotor blade impact as well as a 3D reconstruction through CT-Scan were analyzed and discussed for a thorough reconstruction of the injuries and the dynamics.

FUNCTIONAL ASSUMPTIONS FOR THE “HELICOPTER SIMULATOR FOR POLICE AVIATION”

An analysis of training needs for the crews of police multi-purpose Black Hawk S70i helicopters serving in Polish Police Forces has been an impulse to attempt the construction of the simulation system within the research and development project financed by the National Centre for Research and Development entitled “Helicopter Simulator for Police Aviation” consisting of three components, i.e. a training stand for a pilot (cockpit), a stand for a cargo handler, a training stand for the police officers practicing the air drop operations. The simulator is supposed to provide an opportunity to drill various emergency situations, which consequently will allow preparing the crews and technical personnel in the full range to perform the tasks as far as theoretical knowledge and practical skills are concerned. Replacing real exercises by training held in a virtual environment is expected to contribute to a decrease in costs to be incurred by Police and enhanced safety for any persons participating in the actions remaining the subject of the said trainings. The article presents the design assumptions that arise, among other things, from multidisciplinary research performed over the determination of the detailed training needs and equipment requirements with regards to the Full Flight Simulator. The said research was conducted in collaboration with the officers of the Police Aviation Board in the High Command of the Police Headquarters as well as the operators of the counter terrorism sub-units of Polish Police Forces.

A Socio-Technical Simulation Model for the Design of the Future Single Pilot Cockpit: An Opportunity to Improve Pilot Performance

The future deployment of single pilot operations must be supported by new cockpit computer services. Such services require an adaptive context-aware integration of technical functionalities with the concurrent tasks that a pilot must deal with. Advanced artificial intelligence supporting services and improved communication capabilities are the key enabling technologies that will render future cockpits more integrated with the present digitalized air traffic management system. However, an issue in the integration of such technologies is the lack of socio-technical analysis in the design of these teaming mechanisms. A key factor in determining how and when a service support should be provided is the dynamic evolution of pilot workload. This paper investigates how the socio-technical model-based systems engineering approach paves the way for the design of a digital assistant framework by formalizing this workload. The model was validated in an Airbus A-320 cockpit simulator, and the results confirmed the degraded pilot behavioral model and the performance impact according to different contextual flight deck information. This study contributes to practical knowledge for designing human-machine task-sharing systems.

Safety critical visualization of the flight instruments and the environment for pilot cockpit

Safety critical visualization of the flight instruments and the environment for pilot cockpit

Human Factors/Ergonomics Contributions to Aerospace Systems, 1980–2012

We examined aerospace systems research trends in papers published in the Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting from 1980 to 2012. We categorized articles based on authors’ affiliation type, content area, population, sample size, apparatus, and nature and specification of outcome dependent variables. Our results, available at http://erg.sagepub.com/supplemental , revealed an increase in research interests related to cognition and pilot–cockpit systems interface design. Our findings are intended to guide students, educators, and researchers by providing an analysis of these trends and a searchable online database.

Human computer interactions in next-generation of aircraft smart navigation management systems: task analysis and architecture under an agent-oriented methodological approach.

The limited efficiency of current air traffic systems will require a next-generation of Smart Air Traffic System (SATS) that relies on current technological advances. This challenge means a transition toward a new navigation and air-traffic procedures paradigm, where pilots and air traffic controllers perform and coordinate their activities according to new roles and technological supports. The design of new Human-Computer Interactions (HCI) for performing these activities is a key element of SATS. However efforts for developing such tools need to be inspired on a parallel characterization of hypothetical air traffic scenarios compatible with current ones. This paper is focused on airborne HCI into SATS where cockpit inputs came from aircraft navigation systems, surrounding traffic situation, controllers’ indications, etc. So the HCI is intended to enhance situation awareness and decision-making through pilot cockpit. This work approach considers SATS as a system distributed on a large-scale with uncertainty in a dynamic environment. Therefore, a multi-agent systems based approach is well suited for modeling such an environment. We demonstrate that current methodologies for designing multi-agent systems are a useful tool to characterize HCI. We specifically illustrate how the selected methodological approach provides enough guidelines to obtain a cockpit HCI design that complies with future SATS specifications.

Consumers’ Perceptions About Autopilots and Remote-Controlled Commercial Aircraft

Trust, willingness, and comfort to fly on an airliner is a large factor in the consumer’s travel plan decision process. This research aims to further understand consumers’ opinions on the set-up of the cockpit in terms of number of pilots, and seeks establish a line of studies geared towards the development of future cockpit set-ups. The foundation of which will be invaluable to the future of the aviation industry, and could potentially be the stepping-stone to the future. The study asks participants from the United States and India to rate their trust, willingness and comfort to fly on a commercial flight piloted by three different cockpit scenarios: a traditional two pilot cockpit; a hybrid with one pilot in the cockpit and one remote control pilot on the ground; or two remote control pilots on the ground. The research shows, as predicted, that participants would trust the traditional set-up more than the hybrid mix, while having negative feelings of trust towards the completely automated aircraft with two remote control pilots on the ground.

Implementing Sun Tzu's Art of War, system of systems (SoS) thinking

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to draw a metaphorical parallel between a pilot in the cockpit of the latest, ultra‐modern US fighter F22 and that of a chief executive officer (CEO) managing his corporation in responding to global competitive challenges.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is inspired by the embedded, “system of systems (SoS) thinking” in the text of the very ancient Chinese Art of War by Sun Tzu. The approach here is to illustrate how such a 2,500‐year‐old thinking may be applied through the emerging discipline of SoS. For designing a CEO‐responsive, informative system, the innovations in designing the cockpit for a pilot in the latest US fighter jet, F22, is utilized.FindingsToday's corporate world management has, in the past, drawn heavily from the military (for example, operations research). Whilst there is a vast difference between the pilot's cockpit in an F22 and the lap‐top of the CEO, the need for deadly accurate, often reflexive decisions is the same. It is becoming a fact of business life that speed of deadly accurate responses is necessary to ensure the survival of corporations, especially for firms operating in rapidly changing technologies, or top executives who have to cope effectively with informatively intensive yet fast changing environments, such as in the financial markets.Originality/valueThis paper illustrates how it is still possible for managers to draw inspirations in designing corporate systems through examples taken from the military. Sun Tzu drew inspirations on organizing for flexibility by observing and thus grasping the essential nature of water. Similarly, it may be useful to draw parallels in innovative design of an F22 pilot's cockpit for the CEO or managers having to make fast yet deadly responses.

Micro-cogeneration system for a small passenger vessel operating in a nature reserve

Saving energy and money is one of the main concerns of many industrial and service firms. Reducing energy consumption means reducing environmental impact, related to the considered activity, and in some cases this entails also economical benefits. Environmental impact reduction becomes of main importance if the device operates in a nature reserve. In this work the possibility to install a micro-cogeneration system has been studied, for a small passenger vessel, by recovering a fraction of the heat rejected by the existing, fossil-fuelled, on-board engines, instead of the actual auxiliary fossil-fuelled heating system. These systems are necessary for supplying thermal demands to the pilot cockpit and to the passenger cabin, during the cold period of the year. The boat operates on a lake, “Trasimeno”, that belongs to an Italian nature reserve. Thermal features of the boat structure have been carefully examined and evaluated. Experimental analysis of the amount of heat and temperature available from the engine has been carried out with the aid of a thermocouple and a non-intrusive ultrasonic flow-meter. The heat recovery system was designed and the capital cost estimated. An environmental and economical benefit analysis was also carried out.

The Math Club for Girls and Other Problem Solvers

You have just entered ‘My Plane,’” reported Captain Karen Lee, pilot at the United Parcel Service hub at the Louisville (Kentucky) International Airport. A group of girls from Meyzeek Middle School listened intently to Captain Lee's every word as they tried out the few passenger seats, sat in the pilot's cockpit, tried on her cap and blazer, and even tinkered with the dials and switches. Captain Lee works at one of the largest employers in our area, UPS, where the Math Club for Girls and Other Problem Solvers was touring the facilities of this package-delivery giant. Our interest in this senior pilot's career was the incentive for the group's visit, yet the club also observed the center's activities. At the most hectic point of the visit, fifty planes were being packed with cargo.

Assessment of Pilot Situational Awareness: Measurement via Simulation

While pilots have an intuitive understanding of situational awareness (SA), researchers have had difficulty defining and measuring SA for practical ends such as pilot selection, training and cockpit design evaluation. To achieve the latter end a model of SA is proposed and a measurement technique is described. Specifically, SA appears to involve the development and maintenance of a highly dynamic mental representation of critical aspects of the flying environment. Using this system the pilot makes judicious decisions in a timely manner with little conscious effort. To render SA measurable, SA may be modeled as a computer system with elements and processes which serve to develop and maintain an extremely fast, efficient database. Computer systems are assessed via benchmark tests. To measure SA, the pilot flies a benchmark test which consists of a standardized mission in a medium fidelity simulator under progressively increasing assigned airspeeds. The pilot's SA is measured via techniques including objective metrics such as flying performance and responses to “unexpected” events, as well as subjective metrics such as ratings and knowledge elicitation. All must of necessity be indirect measures of SA, for the pilot's actions reflect not only SA but the adequacy of the data initially available as well as the quality of training, talent, and the vehicle itself. A statistically weighted combination of these measures is used in order to improve sensitivity and minimize their individual limitations.

News and Views

Dunlop's Precision Rubber Division is manufacturing the inflatable canopy seal for the European Fighter Aircraft (EFA). This is the largest and most complex seal on the aircraft and serves to ensure pressurised air is retained in the pilot's cockpit.

Physiological and psychotechnical criteria for the arrangement of dials and clocks in the pilot's cockpit : Dybowski, W.Aviation and Space Medicine, Proceedings of the Seventeenth International Congress, Oslo, Norway, August 5–8, 1968, edited by Birget Hannisdans and C. W. Sem-Jacobsen, Oslo Universitetsforlager, 1969, pp 357–361; abstr in Aerospace Medicine

Physiological and psychotechnical criteria for the arrangement of dials and clocks in the pilot's cockpit : Dybowski, W.Aviation and Space Medicine, Proceedings of the Seventeenth International Congress, Oslo, Norway, August 5–8, 1968, edited by Birget Hannisdans and C. W. Sem-Jacobsen, Oslo Universitetsforlager, 1969, pp 357–361; abstr in Aerospace Medicine

A Remote Control Sound Level Meter and Analyzer

A combined sound level meter and analyzer has been developed for the U.S. Navy Bureau of Aeronautics, incorporating many novel features and meeting all pertinent ASA and military specifications. The main assembly, consisting of a combined sound level meter and octave band analyzer, is smaller and lighter than many ordinary sound level meters alone and is of a shape particularly adapted for placement in remote compartments of aircraft. This main assembly can be used as a complete sound level meter and analyzer by itself or it can be operated in conjunction with a remote control unit which can be mounted in the pilot's cockpit. All important functions of the sound level meter and analyzer can be controlled remotely from this unit, which occupies a volume of any 0.05 cubic foot. Although designed specifically for tests in single-seater fighter aircraft, the new instrument's versatility and compactness make it applicable to a wide variety of uses. The development is unclassified, and the resulting equipment is available on special orders to commercial customers as well as the U.S. Government.

Air Ministry Official Notices

(Originally promulgated as Notice to Airmen No. 137/1935) 1. Several accidents, attributed to mishandling by the pilot during take‐off, have occurred on multi‐engined aircraft in which the pilot's cockpit is in the nose of the fuselage, well forward of the landing wheels.

Preliminary Tests for Everest Flight

A WESTLAND PV-3 type two-seater biplane, named the Houston-Westland, fitted with a Bristol Pegasus S.III engine, piloted by Mr. H. J. Penrose, test pilot at the Westland Aircraft Works, reached a height of 35,000 ft. at Yeovil on Wednesday, January 25. The total time in the air was about 1 hr. 40 min. This constitutes a worldâs record for a two-seater aircraft. This machine has been specially adapted to undertake a flight over Mount Everest in conjunction with an expedition led by Air-Commodore P. F. M. Fellowes, with Lord Clydesdale as pilot. Specially designed electrical heating apparatus includes not only heated clothing, but also warming devices for the cabin, the valves of the oxygen apparatus for breathing, many of the instruments and jackets for the cameras. The pilot's cockpit is a normal open one, but is fitted with a hooded windscreen as a protection against draughts. The observer's cockpit is roofed over and is provided with sliding windows in either side and the floor for photographic purposes. Williamson Eagle cameras and cinematograph apparatus are to be used. The machine weighs about 5,000 lb. fully loaded as for the Everest flight, and, as is usual with supercharged engines, carries a propeller that allows the full horse power to be developed only after passing 13,000 ft. height. Temperatures down to -40° C. were registered inside the observer's cabin at the extreme altitude reached. The elimination of vibration, to assist the photography, has been specially dealt with, and in this respect the flight was very successful. A second machine is being converted similarly to take part in the expedition.

Designed for Aerobatics in Germany

OWING to the various competitions in Germany last year one type was neglected, a moderately high‐powered machine for stunt flying. The Raab‐Katzenstein firm has now filled the gap with the “R.K. 26,” which combines high strength factor with speed and rapid climb. This machine is a cantilever biplane with one‐piece wings. Above the fuselage the top wing is carried on a capotage of steel struts and there is one N‐strut towards the wing‐tip on each side. The American N.A.C.A. M‐12 aerofoil section is used, giving low centre of pressure travel, the wings being constructed of wood and fabric covered. The fuselage is built up of wire‐braced steel‐tubes, the pilot's cockpit being in rear of the passenger seat. The empennage is also constructed of steel tubes. The tubular steel undercarriage has a divided circle supported by M struts for the bottom longerons. Four fuel tanks are provided, three in the wings and a special tank for upside‐down flying in the fuselage, with a total capacity of 210 litres (46 gallons).