Experimental test of the method for evaluating the functioning of automated systems on latest-generation aircraft

DOI 10.51955/23121327_2022_3_20

Ivan Stanislavovich Murav’ev

Abstract. Modern automated aircraft is a system with high information value of its operation parameters. The motor skill of the pilot in the flight control modes using autopilot and auto-throttle remains untapped on such types of aircraft. This leads to a lack of information about the aircraft state in flight and increases the risk of an emergency. To solve this problem, the authors developed a new method that allows pilots to evaluate the functioning of complex control systems, based on the formation of an integrated skill in combining static and dynamic parameters from various sources of information located in the cockpit. This method is based on a mathematical model for assessing the effectiveness of the operator’s activities and allows developing a methodology for training pilots to assess the functioning of automated aircraft systems and the state of the aircraft itself in flight.

The method consists in the fact that when performing a flight in the semi-automatic control mode, the pilot must partially replace the autopilot with manual piloting. By executing the commands set on the flight mode control panel, the pilot is partially dependent on the operating conditions of the automatics involved in operation. The theoretical calculation shows that the flight should be divided into specific stages, and the parameters of the information sources presented to the pilot in flight should be divided into static and dynamic ones. When training, it is necessary to stepwise increase the information load on the pilot through the static parameters of the information sources, requiring the student to withstand them by influencing the dynamic parameters. It is also necessary to gradually change the level of automation of the piloting mode.

The results of the experiment made it possible to determine that the participants of the experimental group were 24% more effective in performing the flight when moving from a flight with a high degree of automation to a flight with a minimum degree of automation. The processing of the experiment results showed that using the proposed preparation method when evaluating the functioning of automated aircraft systems provided the statistically significant efficiency.

Keywords: information, efficiency, evaluation of functioning, piloting, method, experiment.

Download article in PDF 326.8 kB