Requirements for Automated Collision-Avoidance Systems for Free Flight

Author(s):  
William Knecht

Advanced displays of traffic information will be required by pilots and air traffic controllers to cope with the problems of free flight. The development of these displays should be human-centered, and should be guided by what we have learned about collision avoidance.

Author(s):  
M. Ephimia Morphew ◽  
Christopher D. Wickens

Arising from the need to employ innovative solutions to safely and efficiently maintain air traffic separation in increasingly denser skyways, the concept of Free Flight involves shifting some air traffic management responsibilities from air traffic control specialists on the ground, to pilots in the cockpit. Such a shift in traffic management responsibilities will be critically dependent upon the development of displays to provide traffic and hazard information to pilots in the cockpit (Wickens, Carbonari, Merwin, Morphew, & O'Brien (1997; Battiste (in progress); Johnson, Battiste, Delzell, Holland, Belcher, & Jordan, 1997). This research examined the effect of different information-varying display aids (predictors and threat vectors) for in-cockpit traffic displays, on pilot performance, workload, attentional demands, and flight safety. Fifteen pilots flew a series of traffic avoidance scenarios in a Free Flight simulation designed to assess the effects of different levels of traffic display information on these pilot variables. Three, 2D-coplanar prototype displays were compared which differed in the level of traffic information provided. Analysis of the data revealed that the traffic display with the most predictive information supported increased safety and decreased workload, without appreciable decrements in flight performance or efficiency.


1982 ◽  
Vol 26 (9) ◽  
pp. 772-776 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. D. Smith ◽  
Stephen R. Ellis

Ten airline pilots rated the collision danger of air traffic presented on cockpit displays of traffic information (CDTI) while they monitored simulated departures from Denver. They selected avoidance maneuvers when necessary for separation. Most evasive maneuvers were turns rather than vertical maneuvers. Evasive maneuvers chosen for encounters with low or moderate perceived collision danger were generally toward the intruding aircraft. This tendency lessened as the perceived threat level increased. In the highest threat situations pilots turned toward the intruder only at chance levels. Some of the implications of the pilots' turning-towards tendencies are discussed with respect to automatic collision avoidance systems and coordination of avoidance maneuvers of conflicting aircraft.


Author(s):  
O. M. Reva ◽  
V. V. Kamyshin ◽  
S. P. Borsuk ◽  
V. A. Shulhin ◽  
A. V. Nevynitsyn

The negative and persistent impact of the human factor on the statistics of aviation accidents and serious incidents makes proactive studies of the attitude of “front line” aviation operators (air traffic controllers, flight crewmembers) to dangerous actions or professional conditions as a key component of the current paradigm of ICAO safety concept. This “attitude” is determined through the indicators of the influence of the human factor on decision-making, which also include the systems of preferences of air traffic controllers on the indicators and characteristics of professional activity, illustrating both the individual perception of potential risks and dangers, and the peculiarities of generalized group thinking that have developed in a particular society. Preference systems are an ordered (ranked) series of n = 21 errors: from the most dangerous to the least dangerous and characterize only the danger preference of one error over another. The degree of this preference is determined only by the difference in the ranks of the errors and does not answer the question of how much time one error is more dangerous in relation to another. The differential method for identifying the comparative danger of errors, as well as the multistep technology for identifying and filtering out marginal opinions were applied. From the initial sample of m = 37 professional air traffic controllers, two subgroups mB=20 and mG=7 people were identified with statisti-cally significant at a high level of significance within the group consistency of opinions a = 1%. Nonpara-metric optimization of the corresponding group preference systems resulted in Kemeny’s medians, in which the related (middle) ranks were missing. Based on these medians, weighted coefficients of error hazards were determined by the mathematical prioritization method. It is substantiated that with the ac-cepted accuracy of calculations, the results obtained at the second iteration of this method are more ac-ceptable. The values of the error hazard coefficients, together with their ranks established in the preference systems, allow a more complete quantitative and qualitative analysis of the attitude of both individual air traffic controllers and their professional groups to hazardous actions or conditions.


Aerospace ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (7) ◽  
pp. 170
Author(s):  
Ricardo Palma Fraga ◽  
Ziho Kang ◽  
Jerry M. Crutchfield ◽  
Saptarshi Mandal

The role of the en route air traffic control specialist (ATCS) is vital to maintaining safety and efficiency within the National Airspace System (NAS). ATCSs must vigilantly scan the airspace under their control and adjacent airspaces using an En Route Automation Modernization (ERAM) radar display. The intent of this research is to provide an understanding of the expert controller visual search and aircraft conflict mitigation strategies that could be used as scaffolding methods during ATCS training. Interviews and experiments were conducted to elicit visual scanning and conflict mitigation strategies from the retired controllers who were employed as air traffic control instructors. The interview results were characterized and classified using various heuristics. In particular, representative visual scanpaths were identified, which accord with the interview results of the visual search strategies. The highlights of our findings include: (1) participants used systematic search patterns, such as circular, spiral, linear or quadrant-based, to extract operation-relevant information; (2) participants applied an information hierarchy when aircraft information was cognitively processed (altitude -> direction -> speed); (3) altitude or direction changes were generally preferred over speed changes when imminent potential conflicts were mitigated. Potential applications exist in the implementation of the findings into the training curriculum of candidates.


2021 ◽  
Vol 96 ◽  
pp. 102105
Author(s):  
Marta Makara-Studzińska ◽  
Maciej Załuski ◽  
Joanna Biegańska-Banaś ◽  
Ernest Tyburski ◽  
Paweł Jagielski ◽  
...  

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document