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In the cockpit of NASA's next generation spacecraft, most vehicle command will be performed via electronic interfaces instead of hard cockpit switches. Checklists will be also displayed and completed on electronic procedure viewers rather than on paper. Transitioning to electronic cockpit interfaces opens up opportunities for more automated assistance, including automated root-cause diagnosis capability. The paper reports an empirical study evaluating two potential concepts for fault management interfaces incorporating two different levels of automation. The operator performance benefits produced by automation were assessed. Also, some design recommendations for spacecraft fault management interfaces are discussed.

The effects of an electronic moving map and a HUD on ground taxi performance in reduced visibility were examined in a high-fidelity simulation. Sixteen commercial flight crews completed 21 trials, each consisting of an autoland arrival to Chicago O'Hare and taxi to an apron area. Relative to a baseline (paper-chart only) condition, the EMM/HUD combination increased forward speed by 21%, and reduced navigation errors by nearly 100%. These results, together with workload ratings, situation awareness ratings, analyses of crew interactions, and pilot feedback, provide strong evidence that the combination of head-up symbology and an EMM can substantially improve both the efficiency and the safety of ground operations.

An integrated cockpit display suite, the T-NASA (Taxiway Navigation and Situation Awareness) system, is under development for NASA's Terminal Area Productivity (TAP) Low-Visibility Landing and Surface Operations (LVLASO) program. This system has three integrated components: Moving Map -- track-up airport surface display with ownship, traffic and graphical route guidance; Scene-Linked Symbology -- route/taxi information virtually projected via a Head-up Display (HUD) onto the forward scene; and, 3-D Audio Ground Collision Avoidance Warning (GCAW) system -- spatially-localized auditory traffic alerts. In this paper, surface operations in low-visibility conditions, the design philosophy of the T-NASA system, and the T-NASA system display components are described.

We report the results of a part-task simulation evaluating the separate and combined effects of an electronic moving map display and newly developed HUD symbology on ground taxi performance, under moderate- and low-visibility conditions. Twenty-four commercial airline pilots carried out a series of 28 gate-to-runway taxi trials at Chicago O'Hare. Half of the trials were conducted under moderate visibility (RVR 1400 ft), and half under low visibility (RVR 700 ft). In the baseline condition, where navigation support was limited to surface features and a Jeppesen paper map, navigation errors were committed on almost half of the trials. These errors were virtually abolished when the electronic moving map or the HUD symbology was available; in addition, compared to the baseline condition, both forms of navigation aid yielded an increase in forward taxi speed.

This paper reviews recent human factors research studies conducted in the Aerospace Human Factors Research Division at NASA Ames Research Center on superimposed symbology and head-up displays (HUDs). We first identify various performance problems that have been associated with HUD use. Results of experiments that suggest an attentional account of these problems are described. A design solution involving the concept of “scene-linked” HUDs is developed, and an experiment testing the design solution is discussed.