Tiziano Bernard

Trajectory Recovery System: Angle of Attack Guidance for Inflight Loss of Control

This paper describes the design and development of an ecological display to aid pilots in the recovery of an In-Flight Loss of Control event due to a Stall (ILOC-S). The Trajectory Recovery System (TRS) provides a stimulus \( \to \) response interaction between the pilot and the primary flight display. This display is intended to provide directly perceivable and actionable information of the aerodynamic performance state information and the requisite recovery guidance representation. In an effort to reduce cognitive tunneling, TRS mediates the interaction between pilot and aircraft display systems by deploying cognitive countermeasures that remove display representations unnecessary to the recovery task. Reported here, are the development and initial human centered design activities of a functional and integrated TRS display in a 737 flight-training device.

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.

On the Complexity of Loss of Control in Aviation

Loss of control (LOC) in the aviation realm is continuously studied with regards to its definition, recognition, and mitigation. Problematics exist with the high level of complexity present during LOC situations, especially given the non-linear consequences. The study of LOC requires an almost “philosophical” analysis to understand its origins; a study that this paper investigates through complexity analysis. LOC can involve a socio-technical instability on the flight deck: an instability that can be analyzed in the field of cognitive engineering (for the sociological side) and complexity analysis (for the technological side). This document guides the reader through thoughts involving the cognitive aspects of cockpit management and operation during LOC events and the realization that the mitigation of such events need to be recognized and resolved as naturalized complex systems. These systems require a specific framework for research involving human agents that can be executed via human-systems integrated flight testing.

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.

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.