Situation awareness

About: Situation awareness is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 7380 publications have been published within this topic receiving 108695 citations. The topic is also known as: SA & situational awareness.

Method and system for display of guidance reference for traffic situational awareness

Abstract: Situational Awareness and Guidance Reference (SAGR) and associated methods and systems are disclosed. A system in accordance to one embodiment of the disclosure includes a display system utilized for a traffic application and an SAGR associated with the own-ship symbol providing longitudinal and lateral guidance reference. In a manual implementation, the SAGR aids human operators achieve required longitudinal and lateral spacing from selected traffic by depicting a small operating region on a navigational map display within which an aircraft will have achieved the required spacing. Such depiction of the deviation guidance may be with respect to time or distance relative to selected traffic aircraft or to fixed structure, and engaged in an automatic or manual mode.

Development, Integration and Testing of a Stand-Alone CDTI with Conflict Probing Support

Abstract: Recognizing the need to improve the situation awareness of unmanned aircraft system pilots to surrounding air traffic, multiple operators of unmanned aircraft systems have begun to introduce Cockpit Displays of Traffic Information into their ground control stations. In some cases, these displays have been augmented with moving maps or synthetic vision to enhance the pilots’ comprehension of the airspace. To identify and classify specific information and processing needs for Sense and Avoid functions, a 3-level framework is proposed for conflict awareness, analogous to existing frameworks for situation awareness. Existing traffic displays focus on the depiction of traffic (position, and sometimes also velocity and direction), leaving it to the pilot to determine whether a conflict exists now or somewhere in the future. In terms of the proposed framework for conflict awareness, such displays support a Level 1 conflict awareness. To achieve higher levels of conflict awareness, the pilot must be able to project the future states of the surrounding traffic and understand the consequences. This level of knowledge can assist the pilot in anticipating potential conflicts and then maneuvering to obviate a time-critical conflict from ever developing. This paper describes the development and implementation of a Cockpit Display of Traffic Information that supports a Level 3 conflict awareness through the use of conflict probing. To compensate for the inherent limitations of a plan-view Cockpit Display of Traffic Information in terms of providing directly interpretable information about the vertical dimension, a Vertical Profile Display is introduced as an additional situational awareness tool to assist the pilot in identifying and resolving conflicts. Finally, to demonstrate the utility of conflict probing and the Vertical Profile Display as part of a Conflict Prediction and Display System to allow pilot involvement in the Sense and Avoid function of self separation, the paper provides an example using a multi-intruder encounter.

Modelling cognitive and affective load for the design of human-machine collaboration

Abstract: We are developing models for hybrid human-machine systems that can cope autonomously with unexpected, complex and potentially hazardous situations. The synthetic or electronic partner (ePartner) has to acquire and maintain knowledge of the (momentary) cognitive and affective load of the tasks and situation, and the capacities of the human partner (hPartner) to cope with this load. For adequate partnership, cognitive and affective load models are needed that support shared situation awareness, trust and scrutability. This paper presents two such models that are being developed and tested for military and space operations in situated cognitive engineering cycles.

Graphical Weather Information System Evaluation: Usability, Perceived Utility, and Preferences from General Aviation Pilots

Abstract: Weather is a significant factor in General Aviation (GA) accidents and fatality rates. Graphical Weather Information Systems (GWISs) for the flight deck are appropriate technologies for mitigating the difficulties GA pilots have with current aviation weather information sources. This paper describes usability evaluations of a prototype GWIS by 12 GA pilots after using the system in flights towards convective weather. We provide design guidance for GWISs and discuss further research required to support weather situation awareness and in-flight decision making for GA pilots.