DEVELOPMENT OF A FLIGHT SIMULATOR VISUAL SYSTEM RECORDING/EVALUATION DEVICE

TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES HAVE PLACED GREATER DEMANDS ON ABILITY TO MAINTAIN TOLERANCES ON SIMULATOR SUBSYSTEMS (E.G., RESPONSES OF VISUAL AND MOTION BASE SYSTEMS AND THEIR INTERACTION). A SYSTEM TO RECORD VISUAL SCENES IN FLIGHT SIMULATORS, WHICH INCLUDES MAN-INTHE-LOOP, IS NEEDED FOR RDTE AND ACQUISITION OF THESE TRAINING SYSTEMS. SUCH A SYSTEM WOULD BE EMPLOYED TO DETECT CHANGES IN SYSTEM OUTPUT (I.E., RUNNING OUT OF TOLERANCE) AND TO MEASURE ELEMENTS OF THE VISUAL SCENE WHICH MAY NOT BE OBSERVABLE TO TEST PILOTS, BUT WHICH INFLUENCE SYSTEMS PERFORMANCE. WE PROPOSE TO SYNTHESIZE TWO APPROACHES TO THIS REQUIREMENT: (1) A METHOD IN WHICH HUMAN OUTPUT IS USED TO MONITOR SYSTEM OUTPUT, AND (2) USE OF ENGINEERING MEASURES TO MONITOR SYSTEMS PERFORMANCE AND OPERATOR HEAD MOVEMENTS. IN PHASE I, WE WILL DEMONSTRATE THE FEASIBILITY OF RECORDING BOTH OF THESE MEASURES IN REAL TIME AND WILL SHOW THAT MORE SOPHISTICATED ANALYSIS CAN BE PERFORMED. THESE LATTER INCLUDE FOR PHASE II ISOLATING EYE MOVEMENTS PLUS STICK AND OTHER CONTROL MOVEMENTS USING MULTIDIMENSIONAL DATA STRUCTURES COMPOSED FOR IMAGES OR THE ELECTRICAL SIGNALS THAT GENERATE IMAGES. THE HUMAN PERFORMANCE METHOD WILL BE EVALUATED ACCORDING TO CRITERIA SUCH AS RELIABILITY, DIAGNOSTIC CAPABILITY, INTRUSIVENESS, AND COST. IN PHASE II, WE PROPOSE TO COMPARE THE HUMAN PERFORMANCE METHODOLOGY AGAINST ON-LINE ENGINEERING MONITORING OF SIMULATOR SYSTEMS. BOTH METHODS WILL BE RATED BY A GROUP OF ENGINEERS AND HUMAN FACTORS SPECIALISTS ACCORDING TO CRITERIA WHICH INCLUDE VALIDITY, PRACTICALITY OF RECOVERING THE NECESSARY DATA FROM PHYSICAL MEASUREMENTS AND/OR FROM COMPUTERS (GIVEN A DIVERSE SET OF SIMULATOR TYPES), COST, RELIABILITY, AND DIAGNOSTIC CAPABILITY.