Use Future Rotorcraft Human Machine Interface

现代航空电子设备和传感器系统为飞行员和机组人员提供与任务、飞机操作和处理以及威胁识别相关的丰富信息。在这个信息日益丰富的数据环境中，如果没有对人机界面（HMI）设计需求和要求进行适当的审查，机组人员可能会受到认知过载的影响，导致操作效率降低，决策能力差，并可能导致机载资产损失。为了减少复杂环境下飞行员的工作量，确保透明度并降低丧失作战能力的风险，需要以飞行员为中心的驾驶舱信息设计、传输和解释方法。这一研究项目的目的是发展一种方法，调查复杂作业中飞行员工作量的主观和客观措施，并制定人机交互准则，以便在高工作量情况下向飞行员/机组人员传递基本信息。该项目将从“传统”文献综述开始，以确定直升机操作的最新技术、虚拟环境中的训练有效性和复杂数据集的HMI设计。在这项活动中，研究人员将需要访问操作和提供当前旋翼机培训的军事人员，以获得当前采用的最佳实践的概述，并确定未来的需求。这项活动的产出将是一份关于主要发现和确定本项目将进行的研究问题的报告。这项活动还将导致将在研究中使用的操作场景的发展。在解决研究挑战时使用建模和飞行仿真将是工作的关键部分。VR和AR技术的进步为开展研究提供了新的工具，也有可能改变培训的方式。在这一阶段的活动中，需要将许多模拟组件聚集在一起，以开发一个技术“沙坑”来调查确定的研究主题。这项活动的重点将是发展一个可用于调查培训和业务需要的模拟框架，并将为拟订新的试点业务人机交互准则提供信息。它将确定哪种模式最适合向机组人员传递复杂和远程信息。现有的和新兴的模拟技术将在这项工作中进行检查，以产生一个用于本项目及以后的能力矩阵。该项目的一个重大挑战将是发现和减轻飞行员认知超载和降低的态势感知能力。这将需要开发以培训和操作为重点的模拟保真度和培训指标和方法。将使用在前一阶段研究中开发的模拟工具进行初步模拟试验，以检查沉浸和保真度对操作决策过程的影响。需要进行更多的研究，以确定可用于检查飞行员工作量的可靠的行为和生理标记，例如眨眼频率、凝视模式、脉搏率。在此之后，候选HMI系统将在模拟环境中进行测试，以评估其操作稳健性，即允许机组人员保持车辆态势感知的能力。拟议的研究为评估和满足新出现的和未来的业务需求的方式提供了一个机会。它具有降低将新平台与现有资产集成的成本和风险的潜力，并将使新技术的发展更加迅速。

Modern avionics and sensor systems offer pilots and crew with a wealth of information related to the mission, operation and handling of their aircraft, and threat identification. In this increasingly information rich data environment there is a significant risk that, without an appropriate review of Human Machine Interface (HMI) design needs and requirements, crew might be subjected to cognitive overload resulting in reduced operational effectiveness, poor decision making and potentially leading to loss of airborne assets. A pilot-centric approach to the design, transmission and interpretation of information in the cockpit is needed to reduce pilot workload in complex environments, ensuring the transparency of and reducing the risk of loss of operational capability. The aim of this research project is to develop a methodology to investigate subjective and objective measures of pilot workload in complex operations and develop HMI guidelines for transmitting essential information to pilots/crew in high workload situations.The project will begin with a 'traditional' literature review to determine the state of the art in helicopter operations, training effectiveness in virtual environments and HMI design for complex datasets. In this activity, the researcher will require access to military personnel who operate and provide training for current rotorcraft to obtain an overview of the best practise currently employed and identify future requirements. The output from this activity will be a report on key findings and the identification of the research questions that will be pursued in this project. This activity will also lead to the development of operational scenarios that will be used in the research.The use of modelling and flight simulation in addressing the research challenges will be a key part of the work. Advances in VR and AR technology offer new tools for conducting research and also have the potential to change the manner in which training is delivered. A number of simulation components will need to be brought together during this phase of activity to develop a technology 'sandpit' to investigate the identified research topics. The focus of this activity will be the development of a simulation framework that can be used to investigate training and operational needs and will inform the development of new HMI guidelines for piloted operations. It will determine which modalities are best suited for conveying complex and remote information to aircrew. Existing and emerging simulation technologies will be examined in this work to produce a capability matrix for use in this project and beyond. A significant challenge in the project will be the detection and mitigation of pilot cognitive overload and reduced situational awareness. This will require the development of simulation fidelity and training metrics and methodologies that are training and operationally focussed. Initial simulation trials will be carried out, using the simulation tools developed in the previous phase of the research, to examine the effect of immersion and fidelity on operational decision-making processes. Additional research is required to identify robust behavioural and physiological markers, e.g. eye blink rate, gaze patterning, pulse rate, that can be used to examine pilot workload. Following this, the candidate HMI systems will be tested in the simulation environment to assess their operational robustness, i.e. the ability to allow the aircrew to maintain situational awareness of their vehicle. The proposed research offers the opportunity to make a step change in the way emerging and future operational requirements are assessed and satisfied. It has the potential of reducing the costs and risks associated with integrating new platforms with existing assets and will enable a more rapid of new technologies.