Date of Award

10-2016

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Computer Engineering and Sciences

First Advisor

Guy Boy

Second Advisor

Lucas Stephane

Third Advisor

Ratan Khatwa

Fourth Advisor

Jean Pinet

Abstract

The Trajectory Recovery System (TRS) is a proposed system that will help a pilot quickly restore the aircraft to controlled flight. In-flight Loss of Control (I-LOC) is the leading cause of aviation fatalities. While attempts to address this threat have mainly focused upon prevention and avoidance, there has been little offered for recovery from an I-LOC event. The work presented herein addresses this gap. Offered here will be a Human- Centered Design (HCD) solution to the problem of I-LOC. The TRS is a real-world application arising from robust multi-agent models of human-automation teaming. The use of such models transforms cognitive science into an engineering and design practice—cognitive systems engineering. TRS provides a pilot with an adaptive primary flight display that removes information unnecessary for an I-LOC recovery. The HCD process of each prototype is documented in this volume as well as the evaluation of the tool. TRS was shown to improve objective pilot performance and situational understanding while attaining exceptional reported usability scores. Mental, frustration, and effort categories of workload were decreased. Although existing regulatory certification constraints preclude the operational use of cognitive countermeasures, this proposed system suggest that there exist opportunities to employ cognitive engineering in design in order to capture a pilot’s attention and elicit appropriate action.

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