Creating Spatial Disorientation in Flight Simulation

Training in the symptoms of Spatial Disorientation (SD) has shown to be valuable in aiding pilots to recognize its onset and provide a means for mitigating its effects, but such demonstrations have traditionally been associated with specialized equipment and devices. Since the vast majority of pilots for the commercial aviation jet fleet are trained (or recertified) on 6-degree-of-freedom (DOF) hexapod moving base simulators, it is of interest to determine the potential capabilities of these platforms for replicating some of the SD training options available in more dedicated equipment. The proposed research described here couples an analytical model of the pilot in terms of his spatial determination process that reflects the limitations of his visual and vestibular system, with a post-processing algorithm that triggers indications of specific types of SD events. This work leverages prior work both at CDI and in the literature on fault detection filter design, pilot modeling, and nonlinear extended Kalman filtering of multisensory systems, and would provide an analytical metric as to the capabilities of a specific simulator to generate one of several types of SD events. Such information may be used in the assessment of training devices and the formulation of syllabi for SD training.