Simulation provides real-life solutions: News from Adept Scientific

In determining just how much of the task could be automated, an aircraft manufacturer has used Micro Saint simulation software to evaluate pilot workload.

Systems designed for people to operate are getting more and more complex Yet, in many cases, we are providing these human operators with more and more help in operating these complex systems with things like computational aids and even artificial intelligence

Plus, there is increasing pressure to cut personnel costs.

This translates to a push in many places to reduce the number of operators of these complex systems by relying increasingly on automated aids.

But, where do we draw the line? How automated does a system need to be before we can do with one less operator, or maybe two less? This question came to the forefront in a recent aircraft design project.

The question was simple - can one pilot do it all or do we need a copilot? And if it takes two, why? How can we direct our research and development to be sure that one person will be enough in the future? In other words, how can we reduce the human workload to be manageable by one person? How can this question be answered without the expense of building the airplanes and running dangerous experiments with real aircraft? Simulation, that's how.

The aircraft manufacturer used Micro Saint simulation software to evaluate pilot workload.

Later studies using real pilots in simulators were performed, but the groundwork was laid in Micro Saint.

To understand the proper fit between the pilot and the system, the first step was to assess the workload and model the activities of the crew (a single pilot or a two-man crew).

Each crew member's activities were initially defined with a task analysis.

This task analysis was sequentially defined in the form of a task network.

A separate model of some of the key aircraft systems was also developed and linked into the crew models.

With this model, it was possible to predict what tasks would be required of the crewmembers during the various phases of aircraft operation, including high stress situations, where the operators might be responsible for several tasks at once.

The question then was how many of what types of tasks could each crewmember perform effectively at once? Human workload research told us that humans could perform several tasks at once if the tasks required different information processing resources.

But if the tasks required the same resources it would be more difficult.

For example, humans can look out the window and talk at the same time, but they couldn't look out the window and at the control panel at the same time.

Using the research as a guide, the aim was to develop a way of using the model to track which of the pilot's information processing resources were tied up while he performed his tasks.

It was then possible to use the simulation to build workload profiles with the data produced in the model.

Using these data, it was possible to not only determine where workload would be too high, but why.

What tasks caused high workload and which tasks were the best candidates for automation.

Many organisations with the same kind of problem, have found this analysis so interesting and informative that they took it one step further to answer similar questions for other aircraft in the future.

The model not only tracked human workload but simulated how humans would manage the workload - or handing off tasks to others, dropping tasks, or performing all required tasks less effectively.

The customer was able to determine whether one person might be able to operate the aircraft with a very small investment in time and equipment.

Now, future research and development in cockpit design can be directed at resolving the real problems that must be solved to make a one-man aircraft possible.

Then they can test the products of this research with simulation, too.

Micro Saint is supplied and supported in the UK and Ireland by Adept Scientific. Request a free brochure from Adept Scientific ...

(This was Engineeringtalk's Top Story on 18 September 2002).

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Simulation provides real-life solutions

In determining just how much of the task could be automated, an aircraft manufacturer has used Micro Saint simulation software to evaluate pilot workload.

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