Browse Topic: Human machine interface (HMI)
This paper presents insights into a comparative approach to down-select on the most suitable pilot control schemes for eVTOL and powered-lift aircraft. The investigation examines three main areas: (1) experimental flight test performance, (2) flight control analysis, and (3) Human-Machine Interface (HMI) factors. Experiments were conducted to evaluate how various inceptor control schemes were perceived by people of various experience levels, ranging from manned aviation pilots with experience in flying F-16 jets, AH-64D helicopters and high-performance turboprop trainers, to unmanned aviation pilots of various backgrounds, such as with remote control (RC) rotorcraft and RC fixed-wing aircraft, and finally to participants with zero experience with either of these. In this experimental surveying study, all participants were briefed on a standardized mission profile and tasked to fly a VTOL drone and a computer based flight simulator using various flight control schemes. Videos were recorded for each test and reviewed for in-depth flight performance and controls scoring and analysis. At the end, feedback on key Human Machine Interface (HMI) factors for each flight control method is obtained. These results in totality provided insights, strengths and weaknesses for each flight control scheme. Upon identification of the most optimal control methodology, a novel energy-based control method to unify both multirotor drone and fixed wing aircraft control logics was developed, future testing will involve incorporating the 3+1 control inceptor scheme with the energy-based control method for further testing and optimization in a simulation environment. The goal of this study is providing a design framework to help eVTOL and powered-lift aircraft designers optimize their pilot control methodology; to become more instinctive, easier to operate, safer and more cost-effective to train new eVTOL and powered-lift pilots and operators.
This paper describes a combined visual and haptic localization experiment that addresses the area of multi-modal cueing. The aim of the present investigation is to characterize accuracy and precision of tactile cue-ing in the peri-personal space (PPS), the space around the body in which sensory information is perceived as meaningful (Ref. 1). Outcomes of the unimodal (visual and haptic) and multi-modal (combined visual-haptic) localizations are used to make predictions about the multimodal integrative phenomenon. In the localization experiment, participants are presented with visual, haptic, or multimodal target cues using the body-centered reference frame and are instructed to indicate the corresponding hypothetical target location in space using a mouse pointer in an open-loop feedback condition.
This paper investigates the use of multi-modal cueing through full-body haptic feedback to enhance pilot-vehicle system (PVS) performance, reduce mental workload (MWL), and increase situational awareness (SA) in both good and degraded visual environments (GVE/DVE). Piloted simulations were conducted using an H-60-like flight dynamics model in a virtual reality (VR) motion-based simulator, evaluating two ADS-33-like mission task elements (MTEs) – precision hover and slalom – under visual-only and combined visual and haptic feedback conditions in both GVE and DVE. The H-60 flight dynamics were augmented with a dynamic inversion (DI)- based stability augmentation system (SAS), implementing rate-command/attitude hold (RCAH) response type on the roll, pitch, and yaw axes and altitude hold response type on the vertical axis. The SAS was designed to achieve Level 1 handling qualities per ADS-33 standards. The full-body haptic cueing strategy leveraged an outer-loop DI control law, which provided vibrotactile feedback to cue desired roll, pitch, and yaw attitudes to the pilot. Roll cues were delivered via tactors mounted on the upper arms, pitch cues via tactors on the chest and back, and yaw cues via tactors on the calves. Eight test subjects participated in the piloted simulations, including three U.S. Navy test pilots and five subjects with different flying experiences. Results indicated that haptic feedback significantly improved hover performance, reducing MWL and enhancing SA, particularly in DVE. However, in the slalom task, predefined haptic guidance misaligned with pilots’ individual control strategies, leading to performance degradation. This finding highlights the need for pilot-specific adaptive haptic feedback to mitigate inconsistencies in dynamic maneuvering tasks.
This paper describes development and testing of a low-cost device mounted on in the pilot seat of a rotorcraft simulator with the aim of improving the perceived realism of the flight. The device acting vertically from the bottom of the seat is used to communicate changes of acceleration in the vertical direction corresponding to heave movement of the simulated aircraft. A bespoke flight simulator system was developed, featuring modular design and virtual reality (VR) visualisation to enable comparative testing with a full motion system. Objective analyses have shown similarities between the two motion cueing configurations when contrasted with only using visual cues.
This paper illustrates the development, implementation, and testing of full-body haptic and spatial audio cueing algorithms for augmented pilot perception. Cueing algorithms are developed for roll-axis compensatory tracking tasks where the pilot acts on the displayed error between a desired input and the comparable vehicle output motion to produce a control action. The error is displayed to the pilot using multiple cueing modalities: visual, haptic, audio, and combinations of these. For the visual and combined visual haptic/audio modalities, visual cues are also considered in degraded visual environments (DVE). Full-body haptic and spatial audio algorithms that are based on a proportional derivative (PD) compensation strategy on the tracking error are found to provide satisfactory pilot vehicle system (PVS) performance for the task in consideration in absence of visual cueing, and to improve PVS performance in DVE when used in combination with visual feedback. These results are consistent with previous studies on the use of secondary perceptual cues for augmentation of human perception. The combination of these results indicate that the use of secondary sensory cues such as full-body haptics and spatial audio to augment the pilot perception can lead to improved/partially-restored PVS performance when primary sensory cues like vision are impaired or denied.
Maintenance of spatial orientation (SO) is achieved primarily through visual information where the horizon and celestial reference cues or flight instruments are used by pilots to infer aircraft orientation. However, cross checking the instruments in degraded visual environments can be complicated by factors such as workload, distraction, and situations where the vestibular and proprioceptive systems may provide false and competing orientation information. We describe experiments measuring pilot performance using a flight simulator under challenging conditions where the sensory information was controlled. Reducing available visual instruments increased the task difficulty. A wearable vibrotactile array could provide concurrent, additional orientation information. Increasing the flying task segment difficulty increased the perceived workload and also corresponded to an increase in accidents. Adding tactile orientation information reduced the accident rate.
ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT Current and future military rotary-wing operations are anticipated to take place more frequently in urban environments. This will increase likelihood for the presence of obstacles along the flight path. In order to maintain safe and effective flights, cueing for obstacle detection and subsequent avoidance is needed. A study was completed to examine the utility of providing obstacle avoidance cues using multimodal cueing. Three different cueing configurations consisting of combinations of visual, auditory, and tactile cues that provided obstacle avoidance information were examined to evaluate their effect on pilots' situational awareness and workload. Pilots performed low-level flights in a dense urban area with obstacles present. Initial support for multimodal displays of obstacle information was found.
This study is a part of an ongoing series of studies examining cueing modalities to circumvent the in-flight effects of degraded visual environments (DVEs) in a rotary wing aircraft. The suite of cueing modalities investigated include visual cueing symbology, auditory cueing, and tactile cueing. This study compared the use of combinations of these cueing modalities to find which resulted in the best performance and the least amount of workload required of the pilot. This specific paper focuses on the analysis of pupillometric data collected through video-based eye-tracking to measure cognitive workload. Results are discussed.
Spatial orientation (SO) awareness and the associated Spatial Disorientation (SD) are very complex and multi-faceted problems that are often implicated in military and civilian aviation mishaps. This work describes a series of experiments where participants reported their perceived orientation during test flight maneuvers, while under various controlled sensory reference conditions. Participant sensory information was restricted to; visual instrument conditions, vibrotactile orientation cues that were presented on an array of body referenced tactile actuators and no visual or tactile cues. During maneuvers where visual or tactile cueing information was provided, all participants maintained spatial orientation. As expected, in the absence of cues, participants relied on their somatosensory system which could lead to significant errors in orientation estimation. Continuous tactile orientation information potentially provides the capability of maintaining SO under conditions of pilot distraction during degraded visual environments.
We are living in a digitally integrated and connected world. Evidenced by the use of smartphones, smartwatches, and other smart devices, there is no ending this trend. This holds true across many industries and applications, but is especially prevalent within medtech devices — a market that’s predicted to reach $432.6 billion by 2025.1
Over the years, technological innovation has allowed the medical equipment sector to become a mission-critical part of the healthcare industry, delivering such benefits as lower operating costs and improved patient outcomes. But competitive pressures are driving the need for device developers to provide a richer experience for users, incorporating broader capabilities and features and more options.
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