This paper shows the results of a research program funded by Douglas Aircraft Co. (DAC) to enhance the situational awareness of pilots flying large aircraft low to the ground in high-threat environments. Radical display formats are employed in flying the aircraft. These formats relate to the spatial alignment of a pilot to mobile threats, imprecisely located destinations, moving weather, and fixed terrains. Assumed in the program is a survival-enhancing intelligent avionics autopilot, called Adaptive Network for Avionics Research Management (ANARM). Demonstrations can be done on any IBM-compatible personal computer supporting VGA displays. The capability to allow a pilot to modify the situation's pseudo 3-D viewpoint as a function of time appears to be of particular importance.
This paper describes the author's view of the next step in aircraft cockpit situational awareness. In this concept, all of the existing and planned products of avionics research are integrated into a coherent set of visual displays and aural signals for use by the pilots. This results in a set of 64 display formats addressed by 8 x 8 Bezel buttons and 6 aural formats automatically addressed by the urgency of the situation. Some of the formats are in pseudo-3D. The aural signals include spatial content. Early examples will be shown of the integration and the formats. Data for this paper has come from AlliedSignal, Collins, Honeywell, NASA, FAA, and McDonnell Douglas
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