KNOWLEDGE BASE DEVELOPMENT FOR ROTORCRAFT PILOT-VEHICLE INTERFACE

A SIGNIFICANT LEVEL OF EFFORT HAS BEEN DEDICATED TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOPHISTICATED DECISION AIDS FOR THE ADVANCED COCKPIT OF THE 1990'S AND BEYOND. THE GOAL OF MUCH OF THIS WORK HAS BEEN TO EQUIP THE FUTURE PILOT OF A MULTI-MISSION AIRCRAFT WITH THE LEVEL OF TACTICAL, AVIONICS, AND MISSION SUPPORT NOW ONLY POSSIBLE IN MULTI-MAN COCKPITS. USE OF ADVANCED ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE SYSTEMS, MELDED INTO AN ELECTRONIC SECOND CREWMAN WHO CAN SENSE EXTERNAL THREATS, MODEL THE PILOT'S CURRENT INTENTIONS AND AWARENESS, AND USE MISSION SPECIFIC INFORMATION DATABASES TO PROVIDE THIS SUPPORTS THIS FUNCTION. WHILE MUCH PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE IN THE AI SIDE OF THIS PROBLEM, THIS PROGRESS HAS, IN TURN, INCREASED THE DEMAND FOR HIGH QUALITY MULTI-MODALITY COMMUNICATIONS (AND CONTROL) SYSTEMS TO AND FROM THE PILOT. THE LEVEL OF COMPLEXITY REPRESENTED BY CURRENT PROTOTYPE PILOT-VEHICLE INTERFACES (PVI) SUCH AS THE ONE NEEDED FOR ADVANCED ROTORCRAFT DEMANDS: 1) A RATIONAL BASIS FOR EVALUATION AND DESIGN ANALYSIS FOR DISPLAY AND ACTION EXECUTION SYSTEMS. 2) A SCIENTIFICALLY VALIDATED METHOD FOR PREDICTING MULTI-MODAL MULTI-CHANNEL PILOT WORKLOAD AND PERFORMANCE PARAMETERS WHILE USING THE SYSTEMS, AND 3) EXPLORATION OF ALTERNATIVE, PREFERABLY PRECOGNITIVE, METHODS FOR PILOTS/AIRCRAFT COMMUNICATIONS AND CONTROL.