TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Air Platform, Human Systems

ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PMA-205 Aviation Training

OBJECTIVE: Develop intelligent training system technology that would accelerate skill acquisition rates of vertical short take-off and landing (VSTOL) platform operators. Application of basic research findings could enhance VSTOL operator training via greatly simplified visual perceptual sets that actually promote situation awareness.

DESCRIPTION: Innovative perceptual skills trainer technology is needed to enable VSTOL operators to discriminate between mission-critical visual cues and distracters (e.g., objects such as rocket propelled grenades), and safely navigate environmental dangers while piloting their aircraft. Training VSTOL operators to react visually to these environmental dangers is a difficult task because they occur both rarely and under a variety of conditions including brown outs (i.e., dust clouds), dim lighting, poor weather, crowded airspace, and varied altitudes, orientations, and speeds.

Crashes resulting from the lack of experience combined with poor perceptual cues may be alleviated if operators were trained to instead respond to a radically different and greatly simplified set of visual cues. Recent entomological research examining the visual cues employed by flying insects suggest that an extremely simplified set of perceptual cues that emphasize motion over depth perception may be all that are required for safely performing even sophisticated acrobatic flight maneuvers in challenging (i.e., sight limited) environments. In addition, NASA research has examined the benefits of simple 2D visualizations [7] [5] for enhanced flight situation awareness.

Additional research is needed to leverage the results from previous work done on the benefits of 2D visualizations and simple visual cues used by flying insects and combine that basic research with recent advancements in camera lens technology enabling humans to see images as with an insects compound eye [8]. The purpose of this new research would be to optimize these areas of work into a new approach to VSTOL skills training.

An intelligent tutoring system with a greatly simplified visual display is sought. The prototype trainer would need to be compact enough to be used in a classroom or ready-room onboard ship. The prototype trainer must provide visual and signal stimuli in a self-paced and progressive manner that enables operators to rapidly reach expert skills for VSTOL operations. It should enable discrimination, classification, and estimation of other objects near the vehicle in a manner that captures the variety of potential errors (e.g., hits, misses, false alarms, correct rejections) along with the context in which these errors occur. It should also provide a trainee the same sensitivity and responsiveness of the actual controls for such vehicles, in order to rapidly condition the operators� motor skill development. The prototype trainer should provide training managers with evidence of the system's effects on trainee performance and also must be reconfigurable, in order to keep pace with today�s rapidly evolving weapons platforms.

PHASE I: Conduct basic experiments that demonstrate feasibility of a simplified visual display system for effective flight control. Conduct a gap analysis of current methods of training VSTOL operators and restate as new behaviorally-based pilot performance objectives. Identify interfaces that would allow for self-paced intelligent tutoring based upon proposed prototype trainer.

PHASE II: Design and build prototype training device based on research conducted during Phase I. Conduct test and evaluation of the prototype device with sponsoring VSTOL platforms at locations to be determined. Produce Instructor/Operator manuals for the device. Propose how the research findings could be applied to other current and future VSTOL platforms. Propose how cockpit flight instrumentation could be reengineered for safer and more intuitive VSTOL flight operations.

PHASE III: Enhance prototype developed in Phase II and install at training facilities. Transition the prototype to other VSTOL training organizations.

PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL: Such systems could also have a dual application of serving as a new simpler user interface for operation of VSTOL. The training system would also have a wide law enforcement (e.g. border patrol) market.

REFERENCES:
1. Bone, Elizabeth; Bolkcom, Christopher (2003) Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: Background and Issues for Congress, Report for Congress, Order Code RL31872. Link to: http://www.fas.org/irp/crs/RL31872.pdf on July 13, 2007.

2. Cuntz, H., J. Haag, F. Förster, I. Segev and A. Borst, Robust (2007). Coding of flow-field parameters by axo-axonal gap junctions between fly visual interneurons, PNAS, online first, June 12, 2007 Link to: http://www.physorg.com/news102085519.html AUG 15, 2007.

3. Dickinson, Michael H. (2003). Come fly with me. Engineering and Science, California Institute of Tech. Link to:http://pr.caltech.edu/periodicals/EandS/articles/LXVI3/fly.html. AUG 15, 2007.

4. Estock, J.L., Alexander, A.L, Gildea, K.M., Nash, M., Blueggel, B. (2006). [New technology for assessing fidelity requirements for attaining training objectives] A model-based approach to simulator fidelity and training effectiveness. Proceedings of the 28th Annual Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference, Orlando, FL.

5. Prinzel, Lawrence J., III; Kramer, Lynda J.; Arthur, Jarvis J.; Bailey, Randall E.; [2006]; Multi-Dimensionality of Synthetic Vision Cockpit Displays: Prevention of Controlled-Flight-Into-Terrain; 50th Annual Meeting of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 16-20 Oct. 2006, San Francisco, CA, USA; Link to: http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20060053287_2006255400.pdf ; July 13, 2007.

6. Staff and AFP (2006). Police launch eye-in-the-sky drone above LA 12:37 19 June 2006 New Scientist News Service. Link to: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn9359.html July 13, 2007.

7. Wickens, C. D., Todd, S.,&Seidler, K. (1989, December). Three-dimensional displays: Perception, implementation, and applications (Tech. Rep. No. CSERIAC SOAR 89-001). Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH: Crew System Ergonomics Information Analysis Center.

8. Zyga, Lisa (2007) Focus images instantly with Adobe�s computational photography. Physorg. http://www.physorg.com/news111141405.html

KEYWORDS: VSTOL; UAV; Perceptual; Training; Simulation; Brown out

TPOC: (407)380-4631
2nd TPOC: (407)380-8047