A new HMI for aircraft guidance using touch technologies

Abstract

Touch screen technology has already been introduced on the flight deck of different categories of aircraft and its use is set to increase with the development of larger displays and the introduction of greater avionics functionality in the cockpit. To date, exploitation of this technology has primarily focussed on flight and mission management, with applications in the civil environment focussing on relatively strategic functions such as flight planning and system configuration. The next step is to extend the use of touch technologies to more tactical functions of flight such as autopilot control. This paper proposes a new solution for autopilot control of single and dual pilot aircraft, developed to a technology readiness level of 3 (proof of concept), taking into account the safety-critical nature of the application, standard operating procedures and crew resource management issues. It briefly addresses key system requirements that have been identified at the beginning of the design before presenting the details of the design. It then discusses a preliminary qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the human machine interface and interaction (HMI2 ) concept using flight crew in a laboratory environment, presenting the outcome and perceived value of the concept.