Pilot aviation decision support system (PADSS)

Abstract

Flight was always fascinating to man; so many cultures and different kind of people with different kind of cultural background have experimented with devices that can travel through the air. Some experiments were successful and other were not, some were simple avionic structures like a hot air balloon others where complex like a Boeing 747 aircraft, but the most important thing is that man continued to build and improve avionics structures. Therefore the ability to fly has become more important, since there is a continuous change in aircrafts which are better, more manoeuvrable and faster. Even though there is all these great advantages and advancements, a new problem has developed which is, that an aircraft became more complex to fly and the risk of a pilot making a mistake has increased. To help minimize the risk aircraft cockpits are designed as user friendly as possible and with certain systems of an aircraft being automated. Research is continually being done on new Intelligent Cockpit Systems, where such systems filter information from the pilot and present the pilot with relevant information for the current situation the pilot is in. As a result the system minimizes the workload off the pilot and reduces the risk of making mistakes and help the pilot to learn from his mistakes due to the use of monitoring. Hence the system helps the pilot make better decisions. The following report consequently tries to answer the following question: In flight, pilots sometimes have it easy and sometimes they are faced with decisions based on multiple factors. In most cases, even though most modern aircraft are equipped with state-of-the-art systems, at the time of decision pilots still have to refer to a number of sheets and manuals to handle situations. Is it possible to design a prototype decision support system that determines the current situation of an aircraft and help the pilot by displaying relevant information to help the pilot make better decisions?