Development of an annoyance model based upon elementary auditory sensations for steady-state aircraft interior noise containing tonal components

The purpose of this investigation was to develop a noise annoyance model, superior to those already in use, for evaluating passenger response to sounds containing tonal components which may be heard within current and future commercial aircraft. The sound spectra investigated ranged from those being experienced by passengers on board turbofan powered aircraft now in service to those cabin noise spectra passengers may experience within advanced propeller-driven aircraft of the future. A total of 240 sounds were tested in this experiment. Sixty-six of these 240 sounds were steady state, while the other 174 varied temporally due to tonal beating. Here, the entire experiment is described, but the analysis is limited to those responses elicited by the 66 steady-state sounds

Smart system for aircraft passenger neck support

Air travel is becoming increasingly more accessible to people due to the availability of low cost air travel. However, long distance air travel is not a normal activity for human. During air travel, people experience different levels of physiological and psychological discomfort. The discomfort may affect the passenger’s health and feeling. With the rapid development of technology, the comfort of service has become an important issue. Nowadays, comfort is an attribute which is highly demanded by aircraft passengers. The comfort of aircraft passengers depends on different features and the cabin environment during air travel. Seat is one of the important features for the passengers and in which a passenger spends almost all their time during air travel. Different seat aspects have to be seen and taken into account in the comfort model. The research has five goals. First goal, literature research starts with the study on the state of the art and recent development of vehicle seat design which is available in current literature and products. The literature review gives a general idea about the research and the measurement method related to seating comfort and discomfort. Second goal, four surveys were conducted to identify the comfort factor of economy class aircraft passenger, body discomfort for truck driver, body discomfort for economy class aircraft passenger and relationship between seat location and sitting posture. The first survey is to identify and investigate the comfort factors for economy class aircraft passenger seat. Subsequently, survey on the body back sitting discomfort over travel time was conducted for truck driver and economy class aircraft passenger. The third survey is to investigate the relationship of the seat location and sitting posture of passengers in the economy class aircraft cabin. The postures of subjects were observed and recorded based on seven predefined sitting postures. Third goal, we contributed to develop a smart neck support system for economy class aircraft passenger. Our system aims to support and reduce neck muscle stress. A functional and working prototype was built to demonstrate the design concept and to perform experimental validation. Forth goal, we developed a low cost aircraft cabin simulator and we utilized it to validate our developed smart neck support system. The aircraft cabin simulator was built with motion platform and it is able to simulate a broad range of flight procedures. Next, a calibration experiment was conducted to investigate SCM muscle stress in relation to different support conditions, time interval and head rotation angle. Fifth goal, a validation experiment was conducted in the aircraft cabin simulator to evaluate the smart neck support system. The objective and subjective results show that the smart neck support system is able to reduce SCM muscle stress adaptively in a fully automate manner

Aeronautical Engineering: A special bibliography with indexes, supplement 74

This special bibliography lists 295 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system in August 1976

Localisation of passenger experience through digital channels

International air transport is growing rapidly, with 2 million international passengers flying every day. Airlines must provide innovative and differentiated services, which are based on local culture and behaviours, and tailored to passengers’ needs and desires. However, behavioural studies in the airline industry are still absent from both academia and the field. Hence, this case study investigates the following research question: What are the opportunity areas to localise airline services in the Korean market, while maintaining the cultural identity of the airline as a crucial part of the travel experience? The main focus of this master’s thesis is a case study of a Finnish airline company targeting the Korean market. The study derives insights through the application of service design methods and tools based on a passenger-centric approach. In total, 21 insights were obtained from Korean travellers and the diverse internal stakeholders of the company in South Korea and Finland. The research reveals that understanding local behaviours should play a role in the design of international airline services, since travellers experience contrasts between Finnish and Korean culture. While the airline exhibits Finnish cultural elements, the targeted passengers have different mindsets and behaviours. The research findings suggest three potential themes: Nordic experience, communication and learning, and accessibility and visibility. Under those themes, the study creates 16 job stories highlighting strategic areas for Korean passengers as customers and 15 job stories for the cabin crew as the ‘enablers’. These strategic areas are prioritised and evaluated by managerial employees in the company through the jobs-to-be-done prioritisation matrix. As the outcome of the project, this study proposes strategic areas for localising passenger experiences in addition to business goals. The conclusion recommends that behavioural studies of various regional markets should be conducted individually because behaviours of passengers from different markets appear to be distinctive. However, the approach to crew training should be scaled and implemented nationally or regionally, depending on the market size. By further investigating the suggested strategic areas, the passenger experience of the target country could be improved, and consequently, more international customers onboarding could be acquired.Son, Jiyoun

The Self-Reported Seat Discomfort Survey on Economy Class Aircraft Passenger in the Netherlands

The economy class aircraft passengers who experience long hour sitting during air travel has experienced significant body discomfort at neck, shoulder, lower back, upper leg and lower leg. The questionnaire was set out to study the relationship between different body back part discomfort and travel time of economy class aircraft passenger in order to rank the discomfort level for each body back part. There were one hundred and four anonymous self administered surveys were completed at Schiphol International Airport, the Netherlands. In line with the survey hypothesis, findings confirmed that the body discomfort of aircraft passenger after five hours travel is higher than after one hour travel. The body discomfort of economy class aircraft passenger is associated with flight duration. Further studies concerning how to best provide comfort to long haul economy class aircraft passengers are needed. The survey presented in this paper will beneficial the aircraft passenger seat designers to facilitate future design and evaluate seats that able to reduce body discomfort during long haul air travel

Urban Air Mobility System Testbed Using CAVE Virtual Reality Environment

Urban Air Mobility (UAM) refers to a system of air passenger and small cargo transportation within an urban area. The UAM framework also includes other urban Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) services that will be supported by a mix of onboard, ground, piloted, and autonomous operations. Over the past few years UAM research has gained wide interest from companies and federal agencies as an on-demand innovative transportation option that can help reduce traffic congestion and pollution as well as increase mobility in metropolitan areas. The concepts of UAM/UAS operation in the National Airspace System (NAS) remains an active area of research to ensure safe and efficient operations. With new developments in smart vehicle design and infrastructure for air traffic management, there is a need for methods to integrate and test various components of the UAM framework. In this work, we report on the development of a virtual reality (VR) testbed using the Cave Automatic Virtual Environment (CAVE) technology for human-automation teaming and airspace operation research of UAM. Using a four-wall projection system with motion capture, the CAVE provides an immersive virtual environment with real-time full body tracking capability. We created a virtual environment consisting of San Francisco city and a vertical take-off-and-landing passenger aircraft that can fly between a downtown location and the San Francisco International Airport. The aircraft can be operated autonomously or manually by a single pilot who maneuvers the aircraft using a flight control joystick. The interior of the aircraft includes a virtual cockpit display with vehicle heading, location, and speed information. The system can record simulation events and flight data for post-processing. The system parameters are customizable for different flight scenarios; hence, the CAVE VR testbed provides a flexible method for development and evaluation of UAM framework

The extended comfort. Analysing the flight journey through a design-oriented approach.

The study of passengers' comfort on an aircraft is a research field that, has been able to accommodate both quantitative contributions, deriving from disciplines such as ergonomics, and qualitative contributions coming from product design. In recent years, design research has also focused on experiential and perceptive aspects, considering disciplines such as Interaction Design and User Experience. In the first instance, the paper aims to systemize the different design-oriented approaches that generated a complex map based also on the support of visual narration. In the map the flight experience is treated as if it were a service, analysing the entire customer journey to highlight the most critical issues. The methodological steps, based on the analysis of the activities, as well as those based on the optimization of the components, are then integrated into a holistic vision. The system has been created on the basis of case studies drawn from aircraft currently in service and from still embryonic concepts, capable of providing useful categories of analysis. The paper ends with the application of the map to an application study case: the CASTLE project (CAbin Systems design Toward passenger welLbEing)

Electronic/electric technology benefits study

The benefits and payoffs of advanced electronic/electric technologies were investigated for three types of aircraft. The technologies, evaluated in each of the three airplanes, included advanced flight controls, advanced secondary power, advanced avionic complements, new cockpit displays, and advanced air traffic control techniques. For the advanced flight controls, the near term considered relaxed static stability (RSS) with mechanical backup. The far term considered an advanced fly by wire system for a longitudinally unstable airplane. In the case of the secondary power systems, trades were made in two steps: in the near term, engine bleed was eliminated; in the far term bleed air, air plus hydraulics were eliminated. Using three commercial aircraft, in the 150, 350, and 700 passenger range, the technology value and pay-offs were quantified, with emphasis on the fiscal benefits. Weight reductions deriving from fuel saving and other system improvements were identified and the weight savings were cycled for their impact on TOGW (takeoff gross weight) and upon the performance of the airframes/engines. Maintenance, reliability, and logistic support were the other criteria

The Self-Reported Seat Discomfort Survey on Economy Class Aircraft Passenger in the Netherlands

The economy class aircraft passengers who experience long hour sitting during air travel has experienced significant body discomfort at neck, shoulder, lower back, upper leg and lower leg. The questionnaire was set out to study the relationship between different body back part discomfort and travel time of economy class aircraft passenger in order to rank the discomfort level for each body back part. There were one hundred and four anonymous self administered surveys were completed at Schiphol International Airport, the Netherlands. In line with the survey hypothesis, findings confirmed that the body discomfort of aircraft passenger after five hours travel is higher than after one hour travel. The body discomfort of economy class aircraft passenger is associated with flight duration. Further studies concerning how to best provide comfort to long haul economy class aircraft passengers are needed. The survey presented in this paper will beneficial the aircraft passenger seat designers to facilitate future design and evaluate seats that able to reduce body discomfort during long haul air travel

Community rotorcraft air transportation benefits and opportunities

Information about rotorcraft that will assist community planners in assessing and planning for the use of rotorcraft transportation in their communities is provided. Information useful to helicopter researchers, manufacturers, and operators concerning helicopter opportunities and benefits is also given. Three primary topics are discussed: the current status and future projections of rotorcraft technology, and the comparison of that technology with other transportation vehicles; the community benefits of promising rotorcraft transportation opportunities; and the integration and interfacing considerations between rotorcraft and other transportation vehicles. Helicopter applications in a number of business and public service fields are examined in various geographical settings