Lucas Stephane

Affordant guidance for in-flight loss of control: the trajectory recovery system (TRS)

This paper describes the early stage research of the Trajectory Recovery System (TRS). TRS provides directly perceivable and actionable aerodynamic performance and recovery information to a pilot in the event of an In-Flight Loss of Control (ILOC) event arising from exceeding the aircrafts critical angle of attack (AOA), ILOC-Stall (ILOC-S). Documented here is the Human Centered Design (HCD) approach that was utilized to conceptualize, formalize, and select TRS design options. As a Joint Cognitive System (JCS), TRS architecture provides for fluid multi-agent interaction for optimum aerospace system vehicle performance. Therefore, the human-agent model for interaction that theoretically supports TRS is described. Prototyping history, from wireframe to a Wizard-of-Oz test bed, to an aerodynamically optimized algorithm animating a functionally flyable prototype is reported.

LOC-S: Improved model and control algorithm for a stall recovery on-board avionics system

The Trajectory Recovery System (TRS), developed at the Florida Institute of Technology, is a proof-of-concept inflight loss of control due to stalls (ILOC-S) guidance recovery avionic system prototype. When sensing a stall, this on-board technology replaces the pilots primary flight display (PFD) with a custom designed one, which includes only pitch attitude data and a target that prompts the pilot to follow it. A successful following of the target causes the aircraft to recover from the stall. This paper focuses on the method of control that the system utilizes to function, including the design of a potential automated controller, and the requirements to implement it in a flight simulator. The TRS has been successfully integrated in a Boeing 737–800 simulator at the Human-Centered Design Institute, and has undergone both development flight tests as well as expert-pilot experimentation. The challenges involved with performing stall experimentation in a flight simulator have also been explained in this paper.

Autonomous Stall Recovery Dynamics as a Prevention Tool for General Aviation Loss of Control

Loss of control in general aviation is responsible for 48% of reported accidents. The United States government has encouraged ulterior training in the field of stall recovery and understanding of the various factors that cause loss of control events. Although recommendations have been implemented, loss of control related accidents continue to mark a high percentage among aviation accidents. This paper proposes an enhanced autonomous loss of control recovery avionic, developed upon the Trajectory Recovery System (TRS). The newly developed system (TRS Mk.2) is described in this document with regards to its design characteristics and high-level requirements. The system will provide autonomous stall recovery, backup information to avoid workload spikes in case of system failure, and a parameter summary to inform the pilot of the recovery’s performance. The system is also proposed as a means to increase pilot training, as a byproduct of recovering from real LOC events.

Inspirational Messages to Motivate Students: A Human Centered Smartphone Application for Stress Relieve

This paper is a continuation of earlier work on a major topic, i.e. “stressed students while in college” that is essential to both society and students. Based on previous work we have identified and analyzed the possible causes of stress that college students face. Three major factors (i.e. academic, social, and personal/family) are causes of stress for college students. It is important to note that this paper includes only the first three stages of the Human-Centered Design life cycle (Identify Needs, Research/Analysis, Design) related to students’ motivation and mobile application development. Motivation is introduced and added as a key solution for stressed students. We propose a HCD smartphone application as a solution for the following questions: How important is motivation for students? To what extent inspirational messages help students with their motivation? How can a smartphone application help reduce/manage and be used to reduce/manage stress?

An Exploratory Study of Pilot Observations, Decisions, and Actions During Traffic Pattern Approach Operations

Design enhancements are often aligned with system requirements and human-systems integration user needs. With respect to general aviation (GA), there is limited human-systems integration (HSI) data when considering traffic pattern approach operations. The simplest and most fundamental beginning to the understanding of optimal pilot-aircraft integration is a mapping of pilot observations, decisions, and actions, for all legs of a typical rectangular pattern. The use of understanding these elements related to pilot attention and actions is directly related to the development of a new flight test method to map pilot cognition with aircraft dynamics. The exploratory study described in this paper reports the subjective results of six knowledge elicitation sessions with expert pilots using the critical decision method (CDM) and abstraction decomposition (protocol analysis). For the purposes of this study, expert pilots in general aviation have been identified as certified flight instructors. The results obtained from this exploratory effort provide insight into cognitive patterns that integrate observations, decisions, and actions (ODAs) made by the experts. Illustrations as concept maps are provided to describe various cognitive functions and processes present during the different pattern legs. These maps are compared among knowledge elicitation participants. It has been found in fact, that certain cues are not present, but rather embodied by routine operations within naturalized socio-complex interactions. The paper includes a table will all reported ODAs for future research purposes.

Human-Centered Design of a 3D-Augmented Strategic Weather Management System: First Design Loops

Convective weather is one of the main causes of accidents in the National Airspace System according to the Federal Aviation Administration. This paper describes how the use of Human-Centered Design principles, along with Design Thinking, led to the design and development of a 3D-Augmented Strategic Weather Management System aiming to determine how strategic weather information presented both in 2D and 3D could impact pilots’ weather situation awareness and decision-making capabilities. This paper explains the five design iterations that were carried out over four years, including several knowledge elicitation, participatory design and evaluation sessions. The results are positive overall; pilots’ feedback is very rich and meaningful and will be implemented in the next prototypes. Further human-in-the-loop simulation evaluations will be conducted for consolidating usability and for evaluating pilots’ weather situation awareness and decision-making capabilities.

Helping College Students to Manage Stress: A Human Centered Smartphone Application for Stress Relief

This paper discuses a major topic, i.e. “stressed students while in college”, that is essential to both society and students. It includes only the first two stages of the Human-Centered Design life cycle (Identify Needs, Research/Analysis, Design, Evaluation and Delivery). The importance of this topic is revealed when we realize that stress can affect students internally and externally. In addition, knowing the possible causes of stress helps students to manage and relieve their stress. Three major factors (i.e. academic, social and personal/family) are identified to be the main sources of stress and each factor has sub-factors that are discussed in detail. Based on our findings and analysis, we propose two approaches for students to handle stress in college: time management systems and social support systems.

Interactive System Supporting Children Pleasurable Learning

This paper deals with tangible objects intended for improving young children education in the classroom. Aligned with recent trends that embed interactivity and connectivity in physical objects, our study augments traditional wooden toy blocks with sensors detecting movement, location and alignment as well as providing visual and aural positive feedback when a good result is attained. Several prototypes were designed and tested with children for basic spelling, vocabulary and basic math exercises. Results obtained are positive and encouraging to continue improving the proposed tangible system.