Pilot Performance, Workload, and Situation Awareness During Lunar Landing Mode Transitions

Objective: This article describes a closed-loop, integrated human–vehicle model designed to help understand the underlying cognitive processes that influenced changes in subject visual attention, mental workload, and situation awareness across control mode transitions in a simulated human-in-the-loop lunar landing experiment. Background: Control mode transitions from autopilot to manual flight may cause total attentional demands to exceed operator capacity. Attentional resources must be reallocated and reprioritized, which can increase the average uncertainty in the operator’s estimates of low-priority system states. We define this increase in uncertainty as a reduction in situation awareness. Method: We present a model built upon the optimal control model for state estimation, the crossover model for manual control, and the SEEV (salience, effort, expectancy, value) model for visual attention. We modify the SEEV attention executive to direct visual attention based, in part, on the uncertainty in the operator’s estimates of system states. Results: The model was validated using the simulated lunar landing experimental data, demonstrating an average difference in the percentage of attention ≤3.6% for all simulator instruments. The model’s predictions of mental workload and situation awareness, measured by task performance and system state uncertainty, also mimicked the experimental data. Conclusion: Our model supports the hypothesis that visual attention is influenced by the uncertainty in system state estimates. Application: Conceptualizing situation awareness around the metric of system state uncertainty is a valuable way for system designers to understand and predict how reallocations in the operator’s visual attention during control mode transitions can produce reallocations in situation awareness of certain states.

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A Preliminary Examination of Situation Awareness and Pilot Performance in a Synthetic Vision Environment

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting ◽

10.1177/154193120104500208 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 45 (2) ◽

pp. 40-43 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Julie M. Stark ◽

J. Raymond Comstock ◽

Lance J. Prinzel ◽

Daniel W. Burdette ◽

Mark W. Scerbo

Keyword(s):

Situation Awareness ◽

Pilot Performance ◽

Synthetic Vision ◽

Preliminary Examination

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Vertical situation awareness and pilot performance

15th DASC. AIAA/IEEE Digital Avionics Systems Conference ◽

10.1109/dasc.1996.559206 ◽

2002 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

D. McCrobie ◽

L. Sherry

Keyword(s):

Situation Awareness ◽

Pilot Performance

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Flying Solo

Aviation Psychology and Applied Human Factors ◽

10.1027/2192-0923/a000189 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (2) ◽

pp. 59-69

Author(s):

Amy Irwin ◽

Nejc Sedlar ◽

Oliver Hamlet

Keyword(s):

Situation Awareness ◽

General Aviation ◽

Awareness Training ◽

Pilot Performance ◽

Risk Area ◽

Protective Measures ◽

High Risk Area ◽

Mitigating Factors ◽

Flight Parameters ◽

Risk Categories

Abstract. The paper examines general aviation (GA) pilot risk perception and decision-making via an online vignette study. GA is a high-risk area of aviation with many GA accidents considered to be the result of pilot performance rather than mechanical failure. Pilots ( n = 101) were presented with 12 go/no-go take-off decision scenarios across four risk categories (compromised performance, environment, faulty equipment, missing equipment). Scenarios depicting a missing checklist, missing sunglasses, and stress were considered less risky than illness, a faulty airspeed indicator (ASI), and a broken seatbelt. Pilots weighed their take-off decisions against mitigating factors, protective measures, and flight parameters. Situation awareness training and a focus on pre-flight planning may help to enhance flight safety within this group.

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Flying solo: General aviation pilot risk perception and decision-making

10.31234/osf.io/7buv4 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Amy Irwin ◽

Nejc Sedlar ◽

Oliver Hamlet

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Risk Perception ◽

Situation Awareness ◽

General Aviation ◽

Pilot Performance ◽

Risk Area ◽

Protective Measures ◽

High Risk Area ◽

Mitigating Factors ◽

Flight Parameters

The paper examines General Aviation (GA) pilot risk perception and decision-making via an online vignette study. GA is a high-risk area of aviation with many GA accidents considered to be the result of pilot performance rather than mechanical failure. Pilots (n = 101) were presented with 12 go/no-go take-off decision scenarios across four risk categories (compromised performance, environment, faulty equipment, missing equipment). Scenarios depicting a missing checklist, missing sunglasses and stress were considered less risky than illness, a faulty airspeed indicator (ASI) and a broken seatbelt. Pilots weighed their take-off decisions against mitigating factors, protective measures and flight parameters. Situation awareness training and a focus on pre-flight planning may help to enhance flight safety within this group.

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Applying Virtual Environment Technology to the Design of Fighter Aircraft Cockpits: Pilot Performance and Situation Awareness in a Simulated Air Combat Task

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting ◽

10.1177/154193129403800123 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 38 (1) ◽

pp. 115-118 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Lawrence J. Hettinger ◽

W. Todd Nelson ◽

Michael W. Haas

Keyword(s):

Virtual Environment ◽

Air Force ◽

Situation Awareness ◽

Current Experiment ◽

Pilot Performance ◽

Fighter Aircraft ◽

Us Air Force ◽

Air Combat ◽

To Receive ◽

The U.S

The use of multi-sensory displays for fighter aircraft cockpits is being investigated at the U.S. Air Force's Armstrong Laboratory as a means of enhancing pilot performance. The current experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of employing such displays on the performance of a simulated air combat task. Each of four experienced US Air Force F-16 pilots flew 12 simulated missions which required them to locate and destroy four enemy bombers whose flight path was pre-programmed. Simultaneously, two other pilots were assigned to auxiliary cockpits in the laboratory and flew enemy fighter aircraft in an attempt to intercept and shoot down the primary pilot. Therefore there were three active participants in each air combat scenario. Each pilot flew six trials using a cockpit comprised of conventional F-15 flight instruments and six trials using a modified, multi-sensory cockpit. The results indicated that pilot performance and situation awareness were generally superior with the multi-sensory cockpit as opposed to the conventional cockpit, although statistical differences between the two were at best marginally significant. Nevertheless, the results suggest that if pilots were to receive advance training with the multi-sensory cockpit their performance may exceed that in the highly overlearned conventional cockpit by even more substantial amounts.

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Effects of Virtually-Augmented Fighter Cockpit Displays on Pilot Performance, Workload, and Situation Awareness

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting ◽

10.1177/154193129604000205 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 40 (2) ◽

pp. 30-33 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Lawrence J. Hettinger ◽

Bart J. Brickman ◽

Merry M. Roe ◽

W. Todd Nelson ◽

Michael W. Haas

Keyword(s):

Air Force ◽

Situation Awareness ◽

Relevant Information ◽

The United States ◽

Pilot Performance ◽

Us Air Force ◽

Cockpit Displays ◽

Air Force Base ◽

Aircraft System ◽

Military Pilots

Virtually-augmented display concepts are being developed at the US Air Force Armstrong Laboratory's Synthesized Immersion Research Environment (SIRE) Facility at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, for use in future USAF crew stations. These displays incorporate aspects of virtual environment technology to provide users with intuitive, multisensory representations of operationally relevant information. This paper describes an evaluation that was recently conducted to contrast the effects of conventional, F-15 types of cockpit displays and virtually-augmented, multisensory cockpit displays on pilot-aircraft system performance, workload, and situation awareness in a simulated air combat task. Eighteen military pilots from the United States, France, and Great Britain served as test pilots. The results indicate a statistically significant advantage for the virtually-augmented cockpit configuration across all three classes of measures investigated. The results are discussed in terms of their relevance for the continuing evolution of advanced crew station design.

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Investigating Pilot Performance Using Mixedmodality Simulated Data Link

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting ◽

10.1177/154193120504900126 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 49 (1) ◽

pp. 118-122

Author(s):

Jeff A. Lancaster ◽

John G. Casali

Keyword(s):

Situation Awareness ◽

Mental Workload ◽

New Technology ◽

Simulated Data ◽

General Aviation ◽

Pilot Performance ◽

Data Link ◽

Communication Performance ◽

Synthesized Speech ◽

Time Required

Research exploring new technology integration into general aviation (GA) cockpits is lacking, especially that which focuses on the capabilities and limitations of the single pilot. Sixteen visual flight rules (VFR) rated pilots were evaluated for data link communication performance using a flight simulator equipped with a mixed-modality simulated data link within one of two flight conditions. Modalities included textual, synthesized speech, digitized speech, and synthesized speech/textual combination. Flight conditions included VFR (unlimited ceiling, visibility) or marginal VFR (MVFR) flight conditions (clouds 2800 feet, threemile visibility). Evaluation focused on the time required accessing, understanding, and executing data link commands. Measures to evaluate workload, situation awareness, and subjective preference were also obtained. Results indicated performance, mental workload, and situation awareness differences across data link modalities and between flight conditions. Implications for operational safety in future systems that incorporate data link for use by a single pilot are discussed.

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Using Pupillometry and Electromyography to Track Positive and Negative Affect During Flight Simulation

Aviation Psychology and Applied Human Factors ◽

10.1027/2192-0923/a000052 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

pp. 23-32 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Jennifer G. Tichon ◽

Tim Mavin ◽

Guy Wallis ◽

Troy A. W. Visser ◽

Stephan Riek

Keyword(s):

Positive Affect ◽

Cognitive Processing ◽

Situation Awareness ◽

Fixation Duration ◽

Muscle Activation ◽

Evaluation Method ◽

Objective Measure ◽

Flight Simulation ◽

Pilot Performance ◽

Saccade Velocity

Affect is a key determinant of performance, due to its influence on cognitive processing. Negative emotions such as anxiety are recognized cognitive stressors shown to degrade decision making and situation awareness. Conversely, positive affect can improve problem solving and facilitate recall. This exploratory pilot study used electromyography and pupillometry measures to track pilots’ levels of negative and positive affect while training in a flight simulator. Fixation duration and saccade rate were found to correspond reliably to pilot self-reports of anxiety. Additionally, large increases in muscle activation were also recorded when higher anxiety was reported. Decreases in positive affect correlated significantly with saccade rate, fixation duration, and mean saccade velocity. Results are discussed in terms of using psychophysiological measures to provide a continuous, objective measure of pilot affective levels as an additional evaluation method to support assessment of pilot performance in simulation training environments.

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Charting the Edges of Human Performance

MATEC Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/matecconf/201930406007 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 304 ◽

pp. 06007

Author(s):

Barry Kirwan ◽

Matthias Wies ◽

Rebecca Charles ◽

Charles-Alban Dormoy ◽

Theodore Letouze ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Heart Rate ◽

Eye Tracking ◽

Real Time ◽

Situation Awareness ◽

Human Performance ◽

Human Machine Interface ◽

Pilot Performance ◽

Horizon 2020 ◽

Safety Programme ◽

Machine Interface

In the Horizon 2020 funded Future Sky Safety programme, the Human Performance Envelope project pushed airline pilots to the edges of their performance in real-time cockpit simulations, by increasing stress and workload, and decreasing situation awareness. The aim was to find out how such factors interact, and to detect the edges of human performance where some form of automation support should be employed to ensure safe continued flight. A battery of measures was used, from behavioural to physiological (e.g. heart rate, eye tracking and pupil dilation), to monitoring pilot performance in real time. Several measures – e.g. heart rate, heart rate variability, eye tracking, cognitive walkthrough, and Human Machine Interface (HMI) usability analysis – proved to be useful and relatively robust in detecting performance degradation, and determining where changes in information presentation are required to better support pilot performance in challenging situations. These results led to proposed changes in a prototype future cockpit human-machine interface, which were subsequently validated in a final simulation. The results also informed the development of a ‘Smart-Vest’ that can be worn by pilots to monitor a range of signals linked to performance.

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