Effects of Automation in the Aircraft Cockpit Environment

1. Skill Degradation Situation Awareness Workload Effects of Automation in the Aircraft Cockpit Environment Group #1: Julian Archer Hambisa Keno Yul Kwon

2. Automation Overview What is Automation? • Automation is any system component that removes the necessity for direct human control of certain processes (Sherman, 1997) Types of Automation • Control • Warnings and Alerts • Information

3. Automation Overview Early Stage

4. Automation Overview Major Transition

5. Automation Overview Current

6. Automation Overview Benefits of Automation? • Reduces workload and fatigue • Precision in the handling of routine tasks • Reliability • Increased efficiency and productivity • Economical utilization of machine

7. Overview Inherent disadvantage of manual flying skill decay through non-practice Skill Degradation • Manual Flying Skills • 1. Psychomotor skills • Observable e.g. physical actions • 2. Cognitive skills • Hidden e.g. mental actions I'm planning, don't disturb me!

8. Skill Degradation Psychomotor Skill Degradation • Performance decay is present regardless of time-lapse between training • Performance quickly returns to a proficiency of 75% in 5 minutes of practice (Ammonset al., 1958) J. M. Childs, Spears, & Prophet, 1983

9. Skill Degradation Cognitive Skill Degradation • Cognitive processing is a crucial skill involved in every aspect of flight • Mental models help! • Over-reliance of the automation inhibits the pilot’s ability to develop robust mental models for manually aircraft control (Ebbatson, 2009) The series model of pilot control (adapted from McRuer, 1982)

10. Skill Degradation General Evidence for Skill Degradation (Adapted from Research Integrations Inc.,1997-2007)

11. Skill Degradation Accident Analysis Data • Skill-Based Errors • Visual scanning breakdowns • Poor technique • Over-controlling the aircraft • NTSB Accident records • Commercial Aviation • 1990 -1996 • 63.6% of aircraft accidents • ≥ 1 skill-based error • Constant over 7-year period Shappel & Wiegmann, (2000)

12. Skill Degradation Case study of ColganAir Flight 3407 • February 12th, 2009 • Continental Connection • Bombardier Dash-8 Q400

13. Situation Awareness Why Situation Awareness • The most frequent causal factor of all accidents (41 percent) was lack of positional awareness in the air. • (UK CAA Global Fatal Accident Review 1980 - 2007) • The second most common primary causal factor was “lack of positional awareness in the air,” generally resulting in controlled flight into terrain • (Flight Safety Digest December 2004–March 2005. Special FSF Report: Killers in Aviation) (Adapted from Research Integrations Inc., 1997-2007)

14. Situation Awareness What is Situation Awareness? “…the perception of the elements in the environment within a volume of time and space, the comprehension of their meaning, and the projection of their status in the near future”. (Mica Endsley, 1988)

15. 1 3 2 Thinking ahead Updating the model Understanding Comparison with mental models Scanning Gathering data Situation Awareness Levels of Situation Awareness • Seek and combine data into meaningful information (Level 1 : perception) • Understand what the information means (Level 2 : comprehension) • Use your understanding to think ahead and reconsider the plan (Level 3 : projection) Feedback, check, monitor

16. Situation Awareness What Factors Reduce Situation Awareness? • Workload • Degraded operating conditions • Pattern Recognition • Crew issue • Communication • Attention

17. Situation Awareness How does Automation Impact Loss of SA? • Vigilance, Complacency and Monitoring • Active vs. Passive Role • Feedback • Lack of understanding of automation Sometimes you see only half of the picture but need all of it to understand the situation

18. Workload Humans have limited capacity for: • Processing information. (display, alarm, communication, documentation) • Holding items in memory • Making decisions • Performing tasks

19. Workload Excess Workload can result in human performance issues such as: • Slower task performance • Errors such as slips, lapses and mistakes Under-load can result in: • Boredom • Loss of situation awareness • reduced alertness

20. Workload Measures of Workload • Subjective Ratings • Physiological Measures • Performance measures

21. Workload Multi Attribute Task Battery (MATB) • System Monitoring • Tracking • Communications • Resource management

22. Workload The Irony of Automation Counterproductive workload consequences of automation where; • Automation increases workload when already at its peak • Lowers workload when pilots are under-loaded

23. Workload Role Transition Automation has resulted in transition of pilot role from controlling to monitoring • Results in excessive increase in cognitive demand • Humans are ill-suited for monitoring and will perform poorly

24. Workload Cognitive Overhead • Performing extensive cognitive evaluation of the benefit of automation against cost of performing it manually

25. Workload General Evidence for Workload Issues • 82 documents addressed the impact of automation on workload • 42 of these documents asserted automation can have adverse effect on pilot workload (Adapted from Research Integrations Inc., 1997-2007)

26. Conclusion Accident Statistics vs.Phasesof Flight Distribution of fatal accidents by flight phase for 1998-2007 (Boeing, 2008)

27. Conclusion Addressing Skill Degradation • Manual handling recency • Challenges • Operating procedures require automation • Pilots flying Internationally are conscious of their lack of flying proficiency • Rely on automation • Pilots are mission-oriented Take Control Flip the Switch

28. Conclusion • Augmented Displays Display that improves upon reality by superimposing info over actual environment

29. Conclusion • Automations to improve SA Design improvements - Display design capitalizing on spatial relationships

30. Conclusion Addressing Workload Issues • Automation should allow for maintenance of optimal workload level (neither too high nor too low) • Assessment of workload under automation should consider both steady state and transient operating conditions • Task redistribution between team members offsets workload; automation driven single pilot operation concept needs to be approached with caution

31. Conclusion Addressing Workload Issues • Automation workload assessment should consider visual and auditory input, cognitive activity and psychomotor skills • The 4D resource theory can be used as a design input while developing human-machine interfaces to reduce pilot workload

32. Conclusion Task Allocation Strategies • Design Time (Static) • System designer sets the level of automation. • Adaptive Automation • Contextual allocation based on performance tracking • Adaptable Automation • Automation is a subordinate • that collaborates with the • human.

33. Conclusion Tasking Interface for Adaptable Automation • User Interface • Analysis and Planning Component

34. Conclusion Proof of Concept for Adaptive Automation

35. Questions?