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NASA NTRS2022

Functional Allocation Approach for Separation Assurance for Remotely Piloted Aircraft

A functional analysis framework is employed with the objective of exploring the separation assurance function for the remotely piloted aircraft system. The architecture of the remotely piloted aircraft system—highlighting several of the component systems and the functions resident onboard the remotely piloted aircraft and in the ground control station—is described to provide the context for understanding the complexity of the said system for a detailed functional analysis. The interactions between the agents of the separation assurance function belonging to the air traffic service provider, remotely piloted aircraft system operator and remotely piloted aircraft are described. Separation assurance by air traffic control, remain well clear by the remotely piloted aircraft system and collision avoidance onboard the remotely piloted aircraft are briefly discussed. The functional analysis framework is illustrated by relating the agents to the actions of (a) acquiring the surveillance information, (b) checking for conflicts, (c) creating the solutions for resolving conflicts and (d) implementing the conflict resolution solutions. This example is offered as a template by which a more detailed functional analysis of this and other functions could be developed. The architecture of the remotely piloted aircraft system is described to aid this process.

Functional analysis↗

DOE OSTI2020

A Handbook for Designing, Implementing, and Evaluating Successful Electric Utility Pilots

Since at least the late 1970s, electric utilities and their regulators have recognized the value of experimentation to motivate innovation. The industry has a long history of using pilots to help inform future decision making about electric utility rates, customer technology adoption and integration, and even changes to the utility’s regulatory or business model. Although utility pilots have become almost ubiquitous proving grounds for new rates, technologies, and alterations to the traditional utility regulatory and business model, some regulators are beginning to raise questions about what constitutes a “good” pilot. Much has been written about utility pilots over the years; however, what is missing from the literature is the identification of a comprehensive process for not only designing and evaluating a pilot, but also implementing, successful utility pilots that provide actionable outcomes upon which more informed decisions can be made. This report provides a step-by-step process that regulators, policymakers, and utilities can follow to help promote a more successful pilot, even if whatever is being tested fails to produce the intended or expected result(s). It is worth noting that this report is not intended to serve as a technical resource for those designing, implementing, and evaluating pilots. However, there are myriad references provided for those wishing to delve deeper into the technical details.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

NASA NTRS1979

Cockpit displays of traffic information: Airline pilots opinions about content, symbology, and format

A number of candidate computer-generated cockpit displays of traffic information (CDTI) displays and display options were simulated statically and were shown to 23 airline pilots who were asked to respond to more than 250 questions about them. The pilots indicated that the amount and complexity of navigation information displayed should increase with altitude and map scale. Terrain information should appear automatically if a pilot's own aircraft descends below the minimum safe altitude and should include only those obstruction within 2,000 ft or less. Few pilots that weather information should be displayed on a CDTI, but if it was, it should be at pilot request only. A chevron-shaped symbol, located so that the majority of the map area was ahead was preferred. The position, altitude, ground speed, ground track, weight class, and flightpath history of other aircraft should be presented graphically by coding the shape of the symbol for other aircraft or presented digitally in data tags displayed at pilot request. All pilots thought that color coding was necessary to recognize different categories of information quickly and accurately. The majority of pilots felt that a CDTI would provide useful information even though its presence might increase their workload somewhat particularly during its introductory stages.

Hart, S. G.↗

NASA NTRS1981

A study of decision-making behavior of aircraft pilots deviating from a planned flight

This paper outlines an investigation into the worth structures of pilots facing a deviation from a planned flight. A 'paper and pencil' simulation was used to frame the situation into which pilots interjected their own decision making skills in a simple ranking of candidate diversion airports with varying locational, navigational aid, radar and weather attributes. Using the conjoint measurement technique, attribute worth functions of 30 pilots were constructed. It was discovered that systematic differences in the worth functions of the pilots did not occur as a result of dividing the pilot sample according to any measure of flight hour experience. However, differences were found when the pilot sample was grouped according to grade of pilot certificate, type of pilot training, and type of flying most commonly done.

Flather, G. W., II↗

NASA NTRS1983

Pilot Human Factors in Stall/Spin Accidents of Supersonic Fighter Aircraft

A study has been made of pilot human factors related to stall/spin accidents of supersonic fighter aircraft. The military specifications for flight at high angles of attack are examined. Several pilot human factors problems related to stall/spin are discussed. These problems include (1) unsatisfactory nonvisual warning cues; (2) the inability of the pilot to quickly determine if the aircraft is spinning out of control, or to recognize the type of spin; (3) the inability of the pilot to decide on and implement the correct spin recovery technique; (4) the inability of the pilot to move, caused by high angular rotation; and (5) the tendency of pilots to wait too long in deciding to abandon the irrecoverable aircraft. Psycho-physiological phenomena influencing pilot's behavior in stall/spin situations include (1) channelization of sensory inputs, (2) limitations in precisely controlling several muscular inputs, (3) inaccurate judgment of elapsed time, and (4) disorientation of vestibulo-ocular inputs. Results are given of pilot responses to all these problems in the F14A, F16/AB, and F/A-18A aircraft. The use of departure spin resistance and automatic spin prevention systems incorporated on recent supersonic fighters are discussed. These systems should help to improve the stall/spin accident record with some compromise in maneuverability.

Anderson, S. B.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Pilot human factors in stall/spin accidents of supersonic fighter aircraft

A study has been made of pilot human factors related to stall/spin accidents of supersonic fighter aircraft. The military specifications for flight at high angles of attack are examined. Several pilot human factors problems related to stall/spin are discussed. These problems include: (1) unsatisfactory nonvisual warning cues; (2) the inability of the pilot to quickly determine if the aircraft is spinning out of control, or to recognize the type of spin; (3) the inability of the pilot to decide on and implement the correct spin recovery technique; (4) the inability of the pilot to move, caused by high angular rotation; and (5) the tendency of pilots to wait too long in deciding to abandon the irrecoverable aircraft. Psycho-physiological phenomena influencin pilot's behavior in stall/spin situations include: (1) channelization of sensor inputs, (2) limitations in precisely controlling several muscular inputs, (3) inaccurate judgment of elapsed time, and (4) disorientation of vestibulo-ocular inputs. Results are given of pilot responses to all these problems in the F14A, F16/AB, and F/A-18A aircraft. The use of departure spin resistance and automatic spin prevention systems incorporated on recent supersonic fighters are discussed. These systems should help to improve the stall/spin accident record with some compromise in maneuverability.

Anderson, S. B.↗

NASA NTRS1985

An error-dependent model of instrument-scanning behavior in commercial airline pilots

A new flexible model of pilot instrument scanning behavior is presented which assumes that the pilot uses a set of deterministic scanning patterns on the pilot's perception of error in the state of the aircraft, and the pilot's knowledge of the interactive nature of the aircraft's systems. Statistical analyses revealed that a three stage Markov process composed of the pilot's three predicted lookpoints (LP), occurring 1/30, 2/30, and 3/30 of a second prior to each LP, accurately modelled the scanning behavior of 14 commercial airline pilots while flying steep turn maneuvers in a Boeing 737 flight simulator. The modelled scanning data for each pilot were not statistically different from the observed scanning data in comparisons of mean dwell time, entropy, and entropy rate. These findings represent the first direct evidence that pilots are using deterministic scanning patterns during instrument flight. The results are interpreted as direct support for the error dependent model and suggestions are made for further research that could allow for identification of the specific scanning patterns suggested by the model.

Jones, D. H.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Evaluation of the pseudo pilot effect on baseline controller study data

The Baseline Controller Study requires the support of pseudo pilots who input computer commands in response to air data in a simulated environment. Errors committed either by pseudo pilots, or by the computer's failure to accept commands, can result in data that is not representative of controller capabilities. Therefore, it became necessary to evaluate the actions of the pseudo pilots and determine what effect, if any, those actions had upon a given set of baseline data. The Pseudo Pilot Stations (PPS) associated with the Baseline Controller Study are user unfriendly. This fact, coupled with the human factor of the pilots themselves, required exploration of the degree the pseudo pilot's actions affected the subject air traffic controller actions during the collection of baseline data. Examination of the preliminary data collected by the Basline Controller Study subjectively determined that pseudo pilot actions do, indeed, affect the the research data. Further study is needed to quantify that affect and, perhaps, assign a value to the pseudo pilot factor rather than merely decide which simulations are valid and which are not.

Newcomb, Linda C.↗

NASA NTRS1989

The insertion of human dynamics models in the flight control loops of V/STOL research aircraft. Appendix 2: The optimal control model of a pilot in V/STOL aircraft control loops

An overview is presented of research work focussed on the design and insertion of classical models of human pilot dynamics within the flight control loops of V/STOL aircraft. The pilots were designed and configured for use in integrated control system research and design. The models of human behavior that were considered are: McRuer-Krendel (a single variable transfer function model); and Optimal Control Model (a multi-variable approach based on optimal control and stochastic estimation theory). These models attempt to predict human control response characteristics when confronted with compensatory tracking and state regulation tasks. An overview, mathematical description, and discussion of predictive limitations of the pilot models is presented. Design strategies and closed loop insertion configurations are introduced and considered for various flight control scenarios. Models of aircraft dynamics (both transfer function and state space based) are developed and discussed for their use in pilot design and application. Pilot design and insertion are illustrated for various flight control objectives. Results of pilot insertion within the control loops of two V/STOL research aricraft (Sikorski Black Hawk UH-60A, McDonnell Douglas Harrier II AV-8B) are presented and compared against actual pilot flight data. Conclusions are reached on the ability of the pilot models to adequately predict human behavior when confronted with similar control objectives.

Zipf, Mark E.↗

NASA NTRS2002

General Aviation Pilots' Perceived Usage and Valuation of Aviation Weather Information Sources

Aviation suffers many accidents due to the lack of good weather information in flight. Existing aviation weather information is difficult to obtain when it is most needed and is not well formatted for in-flight use. Because it is generally presented aurally, aviation weather information is difficult to integrate with spatial flight information and retain for reference. Efforts, by NASA's Aviation Weather Information (AWIN) team and others, to improve weather information accessibility, usability and decision aiding will enhance General Aviation (GA) pilots' weather situation awareness and decision-making and therefore should improve the safety of GA flight. Consideration of pilots' economic concerns will ensure that in-flight weather information systems are financially accessible to GA pilots as well. The purpose of this survey was to describe how aviation operator communities gather and use weather information as well as how weather related decisions are made between flight crews and supporting personnel. Pilots of small GA aircraft experience the most weather-related accidents as well as the most fatal weather related accident. For this reason, the survey design and advertisement focused on encouraging participation from GA pilots. Perhaps as a result of this emphasis, most responses, 97 responses or 85% of the entire response set, were from GA pilots, This paper presents only analysis of these GA pilots' responses. The insights provided by this survey regarding GA pilots' perceived value and usage of current aviation weather information. services, and products provide a basis for technological approaches to improve GA safety. Results of this survey are discussed in the context of survey limitations and prior work, and serve as the foundation for a model of weather information value, guidance for the design of in-flight weather information systems, and definition of further research toward their development.

Latorella, Kara↗

NASA NTRS2002

Synthetic Vision Systems in GA Cockpit-Evaluation of Basic Maneuvers Performed by Low Time GA Pilots During Transition from VMC to IMC

An experimental investigation was conducted to study the effectiveness of modern flight displays in general aviation cockpits for mitigating Low Visibility Loss of Control and the Controlled Flight Into Terrain accidents. A total of 18 General Aviation (GA) pilots with private pilot, single engine land rating, with no additional instrument training beyond private pilot license requirements, were recruited to evaluate three different display concepts in a fixed-based flight simulator at the NASA Langley Research Center's General Aviation Work Station. Evaluation pilots were asked to continue flight from Visual Meteorological Conditions (VMC) into Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC) while performing a series of 4 basic precision maneuvers. During the experiment, relevant pilot/vehicle performance variables, pilot control inputs and physiological data were recorded. Human factors questionnaires and interviews were administered after each scenario. Qualitative and quantitative data have been analyzed and the results are presented here. Pilot performance deviations from the established target values (errors) were computed and compared with the FAA Practical Test Standards. Results of the quantitative data indicate that evaluation pilots committed substantially fewer errors when using the Synthetic Vision Systems (SVS) displays than when they were using conventional instruments. Results of the qualitative data indicate that evaluation pilots perceived themselves to have a much higher level of situation awareness while using the SVS display concept.

Takallu, M. A.↗

NASA NTRS2003

Airborne Conflict Management within Confined Airspace in a Piloted Simulation of DAG-TM Autonomous Aircraft Operations

A human-in-the-loop experiment was performed at the NASA Langley Research Center to study the feasibility of Distributed Air/Ground Traffic Management (DAG-TM) autonomous aircraft operations in highly constrained airspace. The airspace was constrained by a pair of special use airspace (SUA) regions on either side of the pilot s planned route. The available airspace was further varied by changing the separation standard for lateral separation between 3 nm and 5 nm. The pilot had to maneuver through the corridor between the SUA s, avoid other traffic and meet flow management constraints. Traffic flow management (TFM) constraints were imposed as a required time of arrival and crossing altitude at an en route fix. This is a follow-up study to work presented at the 4th USA/Europe Air Traffic Management R&D Seminar in December 2001. Nearly all of the pilots were able to meet their TFM constraints while maintaining adequate separation from other traffic. In only 3 out of 59 runs were the pilots unable to meet their required time of arrival. Two loss of separation cases are studied and it is found that the pilots need conflict prevention information presented in a clearer manner. No degradation of performance or safety was seen between the wide and narrow corridors. Although this was not a thorough study of the consequences of reducing the en route lateral separation, nothing was found that would refute the feasibility of reducing the separation requirement from 5 nm to 3 nm. The creation of additional, second-generation conflicts is also investigated. Two resolution methods were offered to the pilots: strategic and tactical. The strategic method is a closed-loop alteration to the Flight Management System (FMS) active route that considers other traffic as well as TFM constraints. The tactical resolutions are short-term resolutions that leave avoiding other traffic conflicts and meeting the TFM constraints to the pilot. Those that made use of the strategic tools avoided additional conflicts, whereas, those making tactical maneuvers often caused additional conflicts. Many of these second-generation conflicts could be avoided by improved conflict prevention tools that clearly present to the pilot which maneuver choices will result in a conflict-free path. These results, together with previously reported studies, continue to support the feasibility of autonomous aircraft operations.

Barmore, Bryan↗

NASA NTRS2005

High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS): Pilot Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

This report summarizes the initial work accomplished by the ACCESS 5 Human System Integration (HSI) team to identify Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Pilot Knowledge, Skill and Ability (KSA), Training and Medical requirements. To derive this information the following tasks were accomplished: a) Mission and Function analyses were performed; b) Applicable FARs and FAA Advisory Circulars (ACs) were reviewed; c) Meetings were conducted with NASA and FAA Human Factors personnel; d) Surveys were completed by ACCESS 5 HSI Working group UA Pilots; e) Coordination meetings were conducted with the ACCESS 5 Policy IPT. The results of these efforts were used to develop a summary of the current qualifications. for an individual to function as a Pilot In Command (PIC) for UAs currently flown by UNITE companies, to develop preliminary Pilot KSAs for each phase of flight, and to delineate preliminary Pilot Training and Medical requirements. These results are to be provided to the Policy IPT to support their development of recommendations for UA Pilot Rating Criteria, training and medical qualifications. It is expected that the initially an instrument rated pilot will be required to serve as the PIC. However, as operational experience is gained, and automation is applied to accomplish various system functions, it is expected that pilot rating criteria could be lessened.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS2008

Beyond 'Inop': Logbook Communication Between Airline Mechanics and Pilots

When mechanical discrepancies occur on aircraft, effective communication between pilots and mechanics can facilitate identification of the problem. A survey of pilots and mechanics was conducted to determine how often they were able to discuss discrepancies directly and to identify factors that influenced the detail they provided about discrepancies in the aircraft logbook. Logistical factors such as short turn times between flights and crew schedules appeared to present barriers to face-to-face meetings between pilots and mechanics. Guidelines for pilot logbook entries. Pilots reported receiving significantly less training on writing logbook entries and spent significantly less time making individual entries than mechanics. Mechanics indicated greater concern about the Federal Aviation Administration reading their entries than pilots. Mechanics indicated they had little opportunity to follow up with pilots to clarify a logbook entry once pilots departed the aircraft.

Munro, Pamela A.↗

NASA NTRS2010

Conflict Resolution Automation and Pilot Situation Awareness

This study compared pilot situation awareness across three traffic management concepts. The Concepts varied in terms of the allocation of traffic avoidance responsibility between the pilot on the flight deck, the air traffic controllers, and a conflict resolution automation system. In Concept 1, the flight deck was equipped with conflict resolution tools that enable them to fully handle the responsibility of weather avoidance and maintaining separation between ownship and surrounding traffic. In Concept 2, pilots were not responsible for traffic separation, but were provided tools for weather and traffic avoidance. In Concept 3, flight deck tools allowed pilots to deviate for weather, but conflict detection tools were disabled. In this concept pilots were dependent on ground based automation for conflict detection and resolution. Situation awareness of the pilots was measured using online probes. Results showed that individual situation awareness was highest in Concept 1, where the pilots were most engaged, and lowest in Concept 3, where automation was heavily used. These findings suggest that for conflict resolution tasks, situation awareness is improved when pilots remain in the decision-making loop.

Dao, Arik-Quang V.↗

NASA NTRS2011

Estimation of Time-Varying Pilot Model Parameters

Human control behavior is rarely completely stationary over time due to fatigue or loss of attention. In addition, there are many control tasks for which human operators need to adapt their control strategy to vehicle dynamics that vary in time. In previous studies on the identification of time-varying pilot control behavior wavelets were used to estimate the time-varying frequency response functions. However, the estimation of time-varying pilot model parameters was not considered. Estimating these parameters can be a valuable tool for the quantification of different aspects of human time-varying manual control. This paper presents two methods for the estimation of time-varying pilot model parameters, a two-step method using wavelets and a windowed maximum likelihood estimation method. The methods are evaluated using simulations of a closed-loop control task with time-varying pilot equalization and vehicle dynamics. Simulations are performed with and without remnant. Both methods give accurate results when no pilot remnant is present. The wavelet transform is very sensitive to measurement noise, resulting in inaccurate parameter estimates when considerable pilot remnant is present. Maximum likelihood estimation is less sensitive to pilot remnant, but cannot detect fast changes in pilot control behavior.

Zaal, Peter M. T.↗

NASA NTRS2017

Simulation Evaluation of Pilot Inputs for Real Time Modeling During Commercial Flight Operations

Aircraft dynamics characteristics can only be identified from flight data when the aircraft dynamics are excited sufficiently. A preliminary study was conducted into what types and levels of manual piloted control excitation would be required for accurate Real-Time Parameter IDentification (RTPID) results by commercial airline pilots. This includes assessing the practicality for the pilot to provide this excitation when cued, and to further understand if pilot inputs during various phases of flight provide sufficient excitation naturally. An operationally representative task was evaluated by 5 commercial airline pilots using the NASA Ice Contamination Effects Flight Training Device (ICEFTD). Results showed that it is practical to use manual pilot inputs only as a means of achieving good RTPID in all phases of flight and in flight turbulence conditions. All pilots were effective in satisfying excitation requirements when cued. Much of the time, cueing was not even necessary, as just performing the required task provided enough excitation for accurate RTPID estimation. Pilot opinion surveys reported that the additional control inputs required when prompted by the excitation cueing were easy to make, quickly mastered, and required minimal training.

Martos, Borja↗

DOE OSTI2020

10 MWE CDCL Large Pilot Plant – pre-FEED Study

Coal Direct Chemical Looping (CDCL) is an advanced oxy-combustion technology that has the potential to substantially reduce the energy penalty and the cost of electricity (COE) for coal-fired power generation with CO₂ capture. The Babcock & Wilcox Company (B&W) and The Ohio State University (OSU) have been collaborating on the development of an iron oxide oxygen-carrier based chemical looping technology for clean power generation with inherent carbon capture. In this process, coal is dried and pulverized prior to being transported into a moving-bed reducer. In the reducer, coal reacts with the oxygen-carrier particles, forming combustion byproducts, predominantly CO₂ and H₂O, while reducing the iron oxide oxidation state from Fe₂O₃ to a mixture of FeO and Fe. The reduced state particles are then transported to a combustor reactor and re-oxidized with air. Following the oxidation, the oxygen-carrier particles are regenerated, and a large amount of heat is released for steam production. The produced steam is sent to a turbine for electricity generation. Meanwhile, the CO₂–rich stream leaving the reducer is cooled, cleaned, and compressed for subsequent pipeline transportation and sequestration. By combining air separation and fuel conversion into a single system, the CDCL technology enables the intensification of oxy-combustion processes by eliminating the energy and cost intensive cryogenic air separation unit and thereby results in higher overall plant efficiencies and lower COE’s. The use of a moving-bed reducer results in high conversions of volatile hydrocarbons and high CO₂ purity, which reduces the cost of downstream CO₂ purification for sequestration or utilization. The Babcock & Wilcox Company in collaboration with The Ohio State University, Johnson & Matthey, The Electric Power Research Institute, and Dover Light & Power completed a Preliminary Front-End Engineering and Design (Pre-FEED) study of a 10 MWe coal-direct chemical looping (CDCL) pilot plant. The planned system is a modular 10 MWe CDCL large pilot facility consisting in 4 modules of 2.5 MWe each, working in parallel and to be hosted within the current structure at the City of Dover’s Municipal Power Plant. The CDCL system can achieve auto-thermal operation and includes a sub-critical steam cycle for power generation. The pilot system was designed to demonstrate full commercial operation at a reduced scale. The coal distribution per plan area is a representative slice of larger commercial arrangements. The system includes a CO₂ recycle system, but it does not include a compression system. The large pilot includes all the environmental control equipment and oxygen carrier and ash handling systems. As part of the project, the Team performed laboratory testing and carried out multiple pilot test campaigns to obtain design and performance information at the 250 kWth CDCL pilot facility at the Babcock & Wilcox Company’s Research Center. The Team demonstrated sustained operations at designed coal inputs, high coal conversion, high CO₂ purity, heat generation on the combustor, low carbon carryover between reactors and low particle attrition. Emissions generated in the reducer reactor were identified as SO₂ and NO x . The commercial manufacturing cost of oxygen carrier particle was evaluated by JM. A particle manufacturing report was generated and submitted to the DOE. Based on the results from the pilot tests and the pre-FEED design efforts, a techno-economic analysis was performed. The study shows that the CDCL process is a promising carbon-friendly technology capable of producing electricity with high efficiency. The estimated COE of the supercritical CDCL plant is $83.3 / MWh, which meets DOE’s target of less than 30% increase in COE when compared to a supercritical PC plant without CO₂ capture. This is the lowest among the existing carbon capture technologies (post-combustion and oxy-combustion) for fossil fuel power plant. CDCL is evaluated to be the most promising technology for carbon capture from the economic aspect.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗