Design and Evaluation of an Ecological Interface for Separating UAV from Manned Air Trafc in Tower Control

The expected increase in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) traffic in European airspace raises concerns regarding the human factors of tower controllers. Dynamic geofences offer tower control a means to safely separate UAVs from manned traffic, without direct interactions with individual UAVs. A preliminary support interface was designed, supporting...

Rotorcraft Terrain Awareness: Tau-based Approach to Helicopter Display Augmentation in Visual Degradation

Helicopter pilot performance in degraded visual conditions may be improved through sensor fusion and an augmented reality (AR) display. A simulator experiment with 12 participants was done to test the effect of synthetic terrain grid cell size and helicopter heave dynamics on task performance and control behaviour in a terrain-following hill...

Identification of manual control behaviour to assess rotorcraft handling qualities

Flight safety has been a fundamental aspect of aircraft, and the future demand for wider usage of aerial operations leads to more focus on the flight safety. Particularly rotorcraft require high standards of flight safety due to their inherent features, such as complicated rotary mechanisms, close-to-ground operations, and complex aerodynamic...

Changes in pilot control behaviour across Stewart platform motion systems

Flight simulators provide an effective, efficient, and safe environment for practising flight-critical manoeuvres without requiring a real aircraft. Most simulators are equipped with a Stewart-type motion system, which consists of six linear actuators in a hexapod configuration. The argument for use of motion systems in simulators is derived...

Pilot's perception and control of aircraft motions