Development of a Pilot Assessment Software System

Pilots come from varying backgrounds in terms of training, experience, and aircraft flown. Researchers often classify pilots as or mmon task. These simple classifications, however, do not begin to explain the variability often encountered in piloted evaluations. The objective of the proposed SBIR is to provide real time assessment metrics to gauge the ratings assigned by pilots. Frequency domain techniques will be applied to relevant pilot inputs to estimate the significant parameters that influence pilot ratings when performing high gain, closed-loop tasks. Specific techniques include the fast-Fourier transform that will be used to generate real time power spectral densities (PSD) of the pilot's input. The PSD will then be used to estimate relevant parameters including pilot gain, crossover and cutoff frequency, and pilot lead. This effort will lead to software and testing techniques that will integrate with existing simulators and flight test facilities, remotely-piloted vehicle ground stations, and future uninhabited combat air vehicle operator stations. The resulting Pilot Assessment Software System or PASS will allow researchers to make on-line adjustments to their experimental design as pilot ratings are compared to quantitative results at the end of each evaluation.