Honeywell Enhancing Airplane State Awareness (EASA) Project: Final Report on Refinement and Evaluation of Candidate Solutions for Airplane System State Awareness

The loss of pilot airplane state awareness (ASA) has been implicated as a factor in several aviation accidents identified by the Commercial Aviation Safety Team (CAST). These accidents were investigated to identify precursors to the loss of ASA and develop technologies to address the loss of ASA. Based on a gap analysis, two technologies were prototyped and assessed with a formative pilot-in-the-loop evaluation in NASA Langleys full-motion Research Flight Deck. The technologies address: 1) data source anomaly detection in real-time, and 2) intelligent monitoring aids to provide nominal and predictive awareness of situations to be monitored and a mission timeline to visualize events of interest. The evaluation results indicated favorable impressions of both technologies for mitigating the loss of ASA in terms of operational utility, workload, acceptability, complexity, and usability. The team concludes that there is a feasible retrofit solution for improving ASA that would minimize certification risk, integration costs, and training impact

Evaluation of the Sustainable Employment in a Green US Economy (SEGUE)

The Rockefeller Foundation's Sustainable Employment in a Green US Economy(SEGUE) initiative has been a central player in green job discussions since 2009, andeven earlier through the Foundation's Campaign for American Workers. In its earliestdevelopmental stages, the initiative sought "to maximize the 'green' growth areas ofthe economy while benefiting low- and moderate-income workers" (RockefellerFoundation, 2009b). SEGUE focused on creating jobs by supporting green economicactivities. Initially, the focus was the building energy-retrofit market in the constructionindustry and, later, on water infrastructure and waste management. The demandfor workers became recognized as the bottleneck that needed to be released, in orderto realize the benefits of the green economy.To document and expand upon the learning and exploration that SEGUE has started,the Rockefeller Foundation provided a grant to the research firm, Abt Associates,Inc., in April 2012, to conduct a short-term, developmental evaluation of SEGUE. Theevaluation focused on three areas: learning for the purposes of determining SEGUE'sfuture direction, documenting SEGUE's grant and non-grant outputs for accountabilityneeds, and providing public knowledge on green jobs and evaluations in general.This report provides the results from the evaluation

Memory Aids to Improve Follow-Through on Intentions in Complex Task Environments

University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation.December 2015. Major: Human Factors/Ergonomics. Advisor: Caroline Hayes. 1 computer file (PDF); vii, 115 pages.The purpose of this research was to assess whether an adaptive prospective memory (PM) aid could benefit PM performance while minimizing costs such as interfering with primary tasks, user annoyance, and potential for complacency. This was investigated in a series of computer-based experiments that involved dynamic flight scenarios, multiple primary tasks, and 12 unique, embedded PM tasks. The cues to trigger PM tasks were presented in the simulated flight deck environment, such as "call Air Traffic Control at 10000 feet altitude". There were two independent variables (IV): multiple PM aid types were investigated across two primary task workload levels. PM task difficulty was fixed across IV levels such that there were a consistent number of “easy” and “hard” PM tasks across all conditions. Dependent variables included PM measures, such as PM performance and PM reaction time (RT), primary task measures, such as percent correct and reaction time, and subjective impression rating for PM aids and perceived workload. The potential benefits and costs of two different adaptive PM aids modes were investigated: one based on PM task difficulty and the other primary task workload. While PM aids supported a greater benefit for “hard” PM tasks performance compared to “easy” ones, the practical impact was modest and did not justify costs. In a follow-up experiment, there was both a statistical and substantive practical PM performance benefit found across primary task workload levels. Based on the benefits to PM performance and the actual and likely costs of each aid type, we concluded that an adaptive PM aid based on primary task load has the most advantageous cost/benefit ratio in a challenging real-world task environment

Multiple two-state classifier output fusion system and method

A system and method for providing more than two levels of classification distinction of a user state are provided. The first and second general states of a user are sensed. The first general state is classified as either a first state or a second state, and the second general state is classified as either a third state or a fourth state. The user state of the user is then classified as one of at least three different classification states

Assessing V and V Processes for Automation with Respect to Vulnerabilities to Loss of Airplane State Awareness

Automation has contributed substantially to the sustained improvement of aviation safety by minimizing the physical workload of the pilot and increasing operational efficiency. Nevertheless, in complex and highly automated aircraft, automation also has unintended consequences. As systems become more complex and the authority and autonomy (A&A) of the automation increases, human operators become relegated to the role of a system supervisor or administrator, a passive role not conducive to maintaining engagement and airplane state awareness (ASA). The consequence is that flight crews can often come to over rely on the automation, become less engaged in the human-machine interaction, and lose awareness of the automation mode under which the aircraft is operating. Likewise, the complexity of the system and automation modes may lead to poor understanding of the interaction between a mode of automation and a particular system configuration or phase of flight. These and other examples of mode confusion often lead to mismanaging the aircraft"TM"s energy state or the aircraft deviating from the intended flight path. This report examines methods for assessing whether, and how, operational constructs properly assign authority and autonomy in a safe and coordinated manner, with particular emphasis on assuring adequate airplane state awareness by the flight crew and air traffic controllers in off-nominal and/or complex situations

Mixed-initiative transfer of datalink-based information

A system and method are provided for transferring datalink-based information into an aircraft flight management system. When a datalink message is received in an aircraft, it is parsed into individual information elements. The operational impact of the received datalink message on the aircraft is determined from the individual information elements. A method of supplying pilot feedback regarding the received datalink message is determined from the determined operational impact. The pilot feedback regarding the received datalink message is supplied using the determined method. At least selected portions of the individual information elements are selectively transferred into the aircraft flight management system (FMS)

Aircraft situational awareness improvement system and method

The present invention in its various aspects is as set out in the appended claims. In one embodiment, a method for improving aircraft pilot situational awareness includes receiving and processing datalink messages and automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) data in an aircraft. A spatial and temporal situational model for the aircraft is generated based on the processed datalink messages and the processed ADSB data. At least a portion of the spatial and temporal situational model is rendered on a display device within the aircraft. In another embodiment, an aircraft pilot situational awareness improvement system includes a display device and a processor. The display device is coupled to receive image rendering display commands and is configured, upon receipt thereof, to render one or more images. The processor is configured to receive datalink messages and automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) and is configured, upon receipt thereof, to process the received datalink messages and the received ADS-B data, generate a spatial and temporal situational model for the aircraft based on the processed datalink messages and the processed ADS-B data, and supply image rendering display commands to the display device that cause the display device to render at least a portion of the spatial and temporal situational model. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the aircraft pilot situational awareness improvement system and method will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the preceding background

Human Performance Risks and Benefits of Adaptive Systems on the Flight Deck

Objective. Human performance risks and benefits of adaptive systems were identified through a systematic analysis and pilot evaluation of adaptive system component types and characteristics. Background. As flight-deck automation is able to process ever more types of information in sophisticated ways to identify situations, it is becoming more realistic for adaptive systems to adapt behavior based on their own authority. Method. A framework was developed to describe the types and characteristics of adaptive system components and was used to perform a risk/benefit analysis to identify potential issues. Subsequently, eight representative adaptive system storyboards were developed for an evaluation with pilots to augment the analysis results and to explore more detailed issues and potential risk mitigations. Results. Analysis identified the principal drivers of adaptive “triggering conditions” risk as complexity and transparency. It also identified the drivers of adaptations risks/benefits as the task level and the level of control vs. information adaptation. Conclusions. Pilots did not seem to distinguish between adaptive automation and normal automation if the rules were simple and obvious; however, their perception of risk increased when the level of complexity and opacity of triggering conditions reached a point where its behavior was perceived as non-deterministic

Aircraft situational awareness improvement system and method: Patent Application

A system and method are provided for improving aircraft pilot situational awareness. When datalink messages and/or automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) data and/or various other data are received in the aircraft, the received data are processed to generate a spatial and temporal situational model for the aircraft. At least a portion of the spatial and temporal situational model is rendered on a display device within the aircraft

Display system and method for generating a display: Patent Application

A display system and method for providing a display. A display system includes a computer processor, the computer processor being configured to receive information from a plurality of sensors. The computer processor is further configured to detect an abnormal situation, based on information received from the plurality of sensors. The display system further includes a database including abnormal situation response procedures in operable communication with the processor, wherein the database is configured to provide the processor with the abnormal situation response procedures upon the detection of an abnormal situation. The display system further includes a display device in operable communication with the processor, wherein the display device is configured to display information from the sensors regarding the abnormal situation and the abnormal situation response procedures