Development of Metrics for the Fidelity Assessment of the Human-Machine Interface in Flight Simulation Applications

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High fidelity modelling and simulation is an essential tool in the design and development process for new aircraft. It also enables the development of an environment which can be used for pilot training, reducing costs compared with real-world operations and leads to improvements in safety. Aircraft development programmes are long and expensive and make extensive use of modelling and simulation. The development programmes carry a large amount of associated risk up to the point of flight testing and subsequent development. If problems with the design are discovered at late design stages they are time consuming and expensive to fix: The SAAB Gripen prototype experienced flight control problems during the landing of its first flight, leading to the loss of the aircraft. The F-16 research and development costs rose by $7 billion to $13.8 billion by 1986 in part due to flight control problems, leading to the months of delays, whilst the latest F35 A/B/C development programme is potentially facing more than five years of delays.Whilst there continues to be advances in computer processing power (enabling more complex flight models to run in real-time) and improved simulator components (more agile motion platforms, faster graphics cards) there are still challenges in how these tools can be utilised to support aircraft development programmes. The aim of the proposed study is to reduce the risk and uncertainty of the (presently unknown) influence of simulator components on the results derived from a simulator. This is paramount when those results are 'safety' critical for the aircraft or would be costly to put right later (e.g. design, clearance to fly, prep for first flight or training quality) and will be achieved by putting in place a framework for assessing simulator perceptual fidelity, i.e. the influence that the simulator components have on the pilot's opinion, ratings and skill acquisition.For training simulators, international standards such as CS-FSTD(H) [1] specify the tolerances (predictive fidelity) which should be used to produce a flight mechanics with sufficient "fidelity" to ensure the utility of the training device.CS-FSTD(H) also provides information on the technical requirements for other individual components of the simulator e.g. field of view for the visual system, control loading feel. Once the components have been installed into the simulator a subjective test is required prior to its final qualification. Some guidance on the methodology to be used during the subjective assessment is provided in the standards but no objective metrics or tolerances are provided for use in this process. What is not well captured in the standards is how the subjective assessment should be carried out, what metrics should be used to quantify to differences between flight and simulation and hence what the acceptable tolerances should be to enable effective training. New research is required to develop objective metrics for simulator fidelity assessment together with a more robust methodology for the subjective assessment of simulators. For research and engineering simulators, there are no standards to define the level of fidelity of the simulator, and hence their utility; this will be examined in the proposed activity [the proposed problem will develop a framework for deriving such metrics].In the domain of naval operations, the safety envelope for aircraft operations to ship is determined through First of Class Flight Trials (FOCFTs). FOCFTs are currently conducted using "live" assets and, as such, are expensive, hazardous, time consuming and their scope is often limited by the environmental conditions encountered during the trials. Hence, there is a drive to use modelling and simulation to provide the evidence in order to develop the safety case for aircraft clearance programmes; this means that the maturity and validation of the simulation environment is of paramount importance.BAE Systems Simulation Department