FEASIBILITY STUDY FOR ERGONOMICS ANALYSIS AND DESIGN OF FUTURE HELICOPTER COCKPIT SYSTEMS

PROPOSED IS PHASE I OF A CONCENTRATED PHASE RESEARCH PROJECT AIMED AT THE DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A PREDICITIVE METHODLOGY WHICH RELATES THE HUMAN PILOT TO PROPOSED MILITARY HELICOPTER SYSTEMS IN ADVANCE OF COMMITMENT TO HARDWARE DEVLOPMENT. RECENT ADVANCES IN AVIONICS AND TECHNOLOGY CAN PROVIDE MORE CAPABILITIES, SYSTEMS, AND DISPLAYS THAN THE PILOT AND OTHER CREW MEMBERS CAN POSSIBLY EXPLOIT. THUS, A NEED EXISTS FOR METHODLOGIES TO ENABLE THE DESIGN AND INSTRUMENTATION OF HARDWARE SYSTEMS THAT MEETS SYSTEM MISSION REQUIREMENTS AND EXHIBIT A SENSITIVITY TO THE INFORMATION PRO-CESSING LIMITATIONS AND CAPAIBILITIES OF THE HUMAN OPERATOR. THE OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT'S FIRST PHASE IS TO ASSESS THE FEASIBILITY OF AN EMPIRICALLY-BASED, COMPUTER-DRIVEN SYSTEM EVALUATION PROCESS THAT WILL YIELD JOINT OPTIMIZATION OF THE HARDWARE AND HUMAN SUBSYSTEM CONSTITUTING THE HELICOPTER AS A TOTAL OPERATING SYSTEM. THE ANTICIPATED RESULT OF THE PROJECT IS AN ERGONOMICALLY VALIDATED COCKPIT DESIGN EVALUATION PROCEDURE THAT CAN BE APPLIED FLEXIBLY ACROSS A BROAD RANGE OF POTENTIAL HELICOPTER HARDWARE SYSTEMS.