An ecological perceptual aid for precision vertical landings

Pilots of vertical landing vehicles face numerous control challenges which often involve the loss of outside visual perceptual cues or the control of flight parameters within tight constraints. These challenges are often associated with a high mental workload, therefore, a precision landing aid that addresses and helps to mitigate these challenges, and reduce mental workload is needed. To address this need, a cognitive task analysis identified specific situation awareness requirements for the design of a vertical landing aid in order to reduce the mental steps required during a vertical landing. From these requirements, a new vertical landing decision aid, known as the Vertical Altitude and Velocity Indicator (VAVI) was designed, which displays altitude and vertical speed information in an integrated form including the display of flight parameter safety constraints. The display instrument takes advantage of direct-perception interaction by leveraging ecological perception and emergent features to provide quick perception and comprehension of critical flight parameters in an integrated fashion. To test the effectiveness of the VAVI for vertical landing and hover performance, an experiment was conducted in which participants flew a simulated Harrier vertical landing flight profile using Microsoft Flight Simulator (MSFS) 2004.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2006

Author dc:creator

• Smith, Cristin Anne

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Mary L. Cummings and Laura M. Forest.

• Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/37885

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/37885