Cognitive Engineering Perspective of ASAS Amy Pritchett Cognitive Engineering Center School of Aerospace Engineering Georgia Tech Atlanta, GA

Our View of ‘the System’ human & physical environment & procedural environment& social/organization environment

Behaviours of Interest Alerting ComponentCommand Component Comprehension of Occurrence Comprehension of Directions of Alert Given By Command Base Reaction TimeAbility to Follow Command Perception of Alert CorrectnessPerception of Command Correctness Willingness to Act Upon AlertWillingness to Follow Command Propensity to Follow AlertPropensity to Follow Command In Operational ContextIn Operational Context Impact on Monitoring Impact on Decision Making Behaviour Behaviour Impact of False AlarmsImpact of Erroneous Commands on Pilot Behaviouron Pilot Behaviour Impact of False AlarmsImpact of Erroneous Commands on System Performance on System Performance Operational Impact Controllability During Testing

Simultaneous, Closely Spaced Parallel Runway Operations  Motivation: The Ability to Land Aircraft Simultaneously on Closely-Spaced Runways During Instrument Meteorological Conditions Could Substantially Reduce Flight Delays  Problem: Aircraft are Closer Together Than During Any Other Phase of Flight

Parallel Runway Operations Experiment - Effects of Displays on Performance 0% 10% 20% 30% BaselinePFDEHSICombo Approaches % Under 500' % Under 1000' Display

Parallel Runway Operations Experiment - Non-Conformance Rate By Displays 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% Baseline EHSI Enhanced EHSI PFD & Baseline EHSI PFD & Enhanced EHSI

Parallel Runway Operations Experiment - Effects of Non-Conformance Matches Displayed Maneuver Does Not Match Matches Displayed Maneuver Does Not Match No Alert or Maneuver ShownAlert & Maneuver Is Shown

Comparing Experiment Results NTZ AlertMIT AlertNo AlertNTZ AlertMIT AlertNo AlertNTZ AlertMIT Alert Best Reaction Time ExperimentBest Judgement Experiment Basic DisplayNTZ DisplayMIT Display Similar Differences Found Between Operational Studies!

Implications for Situation Awareness  Situation awareness OF WHAT?  Good traffic information and hope they will arrive at the same conclusions as the ASAS?  Would like to communicate the alerting/maneuver logic  Requires it to be COMMUNICABLE

Baseline Display

Display with Speed

Display with Speed and Autopilot Targets

Detail From a ‘Baseline STAR’, Showing Waypoints and Altitudes

Detail From a ‘STAR with Speed’, Showing Waypoints, Altitudes, and Expected Speeds

‘STAR with Speed and Merging Path’, Showing the Addition of Merging Paths

Achieved Separation Distance Significant display/procedure interactions (F=2.91, p<.04)

Percentage of Total Speed Changes Made Within 8 Seconds of STAR Chart Reference Marginal effects due to displays (F=3.06, p<.06) Marginal effects due to procedures (F=2.83, p<.07)

Marginally significant display effects (F=3.05, p=.10) (Error Bars Represent  ) Deviant Scenario Average Separation Values

Implications for Procedures  Procedures can be as rigorously designed as technology  Includes procedures for using the system, for crew interaction, and for ATC/ATM  Procedures provide a baseline for behavior  And as such are often the basis for: Expectation Monitoring Planning etc

Modeling the Role of Alerting Systems  Do machine-driven definitions of role define everyway that pilots will use alerting systems?  They direct attention to signals or hazards and that’s it? NO!  Pilot-determined roles?  How alerting system is used, and what it is useful for, is: Context sensitive Opportunistic by the pilot Idiosyncratic

Attention Director Environment DisplaysControls Computer Human Nominal Task Alerted Task X Look!

Task Management Aid Environment DisplaysControls Computer Human Nominal Task 1 Nominal Task 2

Trusted Monitor Environment DisplaysControls Computer Human Nominal Task Alerted Task X Look!

Nuisance Environment DisplaysControls Computer Human Nominal Task Alerted Task

Overload Environment DisplaysControls Computer Human Nominal Task Alerted Task

Final Authority of Problem Environment DisplaysControls Computer Human Nominal Task Alerted Task It’s OK, blame it on me

Resolution Assessor Environment DisplaysControls Computer Human Nominal Task Alerted Task

Desired Cue Environment DisplaysControls Computer Human Nominal Task

Initiator of Procedures Environment DisplaysControls Computer Human Nominal Task Alerted Task

Command Device Environment DisplaysControls Computer Human Nominal Task Alerted Task

Take-Aways  How ASAS will be used, and how well, needs to consider behavior in context  Understanding of the logic relative to the needs of the situation  Operating procedures  ‘Roles’ of the ASAS  Difficult to predict – but it can be done!

Thank You! Questions?