Human-in-the-Loop Evaluation of Ground-Based Automated Separation Assurance for NextGen

Prevôt, Thomas; Homola, Jeffrey; Mercer, Joey

doi:10.2514/6.2008-8885

Cited by 41 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Conflicts detected with less than three minutes to LOS were not intended to be resolved by the trajectory-based separation assurance function. Even though the number of such occurrences may be excessive, their existence confirms the need for the tactical safety layer which was a primary subject of the research conducted in summer 2008 28 . In addition to simply counting separation violations, the separation distances were also analyzed.…”

Section: Safetymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Initial Study of Controller/Automation Integration for NextGen Separation Assurance

Prevôt

Homola

Mercer

2008

AIAA Guidance, Navigation and Control Conference and Exhibit

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This paper describes an initial human-in-the-loop part-task study on service providerbased automated separation assurance for the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). The study varied levels of trajectory-based separation assurance automation from manual trial planning to fully automated conflict resolution over 1x, 2x and 3x traffic densities. The experiment was conducted in the Airspace Operations Laboratory at NASA Ames Research Center in August 2007. In this study envisioned trajectory based operations for the NextGen were simulated. The ground-side automation was responsible for conflict detection. Four recently retired air traffic controllers and five aviation knowledgeable students participated and were responsible for resolving potential conflicts between aircraft with varying levels of automation. Two combined sectors engaged participants in solving conflicts between an average of 30 (1x), 60 (2x), and 90 (3x) aircraft during the 30 minute long simulation runs, resulting in approximately 6 (1x), 42 (2x) and 90 (3x) conflicts per run. The within subjects design gave operators access to a fast manual trial planning function in half the human-in-the-loop runs. During the other half of the runs participants could also interact with the advanced airspace concepts' conflict resolution algorithm developed at NASA Ames Research Center. The controllers could use the algorithm to request a conflict resolution trajectory and uplink it unchanged, modify the resolution trajectory using the trial planner and then uplink it, or cancel the modification. The analysis shows that in the simulated part-task setting the 2x density was very manageable and adequate for the interactive mode and was somewhat manageable with a manual trial planner. 3x density was somewhat manageable interactively, but would not pass the "spill your coffee" test. 3x density was unmanageable using the trial planning function alone and resulted in many separation violations. Objective and subjective data indicate that the conflict resolution automation was highly acceptable across traffic levels and provided efficient trajectory changes at high traffic densities. The conflict resolution automation reduced the average and the peak workload significantly. In this paper the problem, method, and key findings will be presented. This research is an initial step towards addressing the challenges associated with human/system integration for ground-based NextGen separation assurance and was funded by the Separation Assurance element of NASA's Next Generation Air TransportationAirspace Project.

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Section: Safetymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A detailed report on this study will be compiled once the data analysis has been concluded. In Prevot et al, 2008 28 the design of the study and a few initial findings are presented.…”

Section: Follow-on Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Initial Study of Controller/Automation Integration for NextGen Separation Assurance

Prevôt

Homola

Mercer

2008

AIAA Guidance, Navigation and Control Conference and Exhibit

Self Cite

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“…33 The prototype generated acceptable and efficient trajectory changes and appeared feasible for accommodating the anticipated demand growth in the next 20 years.…”

Section: Present Research Contributions 1 Separation Assurancementioning

confidence: 99%

A Perspective on NASA Ames Air Traffic Management Research

Schroeder

2009

9th AIAA Aviation Technology, Integration, and Operations Conference (ATIO)

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This paper describes past and present air-traffic-management research at NASA Ames Research Center. The descriptions emerge from the perspective of a technical manager who supervised the majority of this research for the last four years. Past research contributions built a foundation for calculating accurate flight trajectories to enable efficient airspace management in time. That foundation led to two predominant research activities that continue to this day -one in automatically separating aircraft and the other in optimizing traffic flows. Today's national airspace uses many of the applications resulting from research at Ames. These applications include the nationwide deployment of the Traffic Management Advisor, new procedures enabling continuous descent arrivals, cooperation with industry to permit more direct flights to downstream waypoints, a surface management system in use by two cargo carriers, and software to evaluate how well flights conform to national traffic management initiatives. The paper concludes with suggestions for prioritized research in the upcoming years. These priorities include: enabling more firstlook operational evaluations, improving conflict detection and resolution for climbing or descending aircraft, and focusing additional attention on the underpinning safety critical items such as a reliable datalink.

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“…NextGen intends to automate specific air traffic roles and responsibilities in order to reduce controller workload and increase their capacity to handle more aircraft. Tasks that are under consideration for automation in NextGen include conflict detection and conflict resolution [2]. In addition, tools and technologies are being considered to provide controllers with the capability of making route modifications that can be uplinked directly to the flight deck [3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Preliminary Investigation of Training Order for Introducing NextGen Tools

Rorie

Kiken

Morgan

et al. 2011

Lecture Notes in Computer Science

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Abstract. Eleven students enrolled in a 16-week radar simulation course were trained on current-day and NextGen tools. The order of the training was manipulated so that half of the students received current-day training first, followed by the training on NextGen tools, while the remaining students received training on the NextGen tools first, followed by current-day training. This paper reports data from the debriefing sessions following the conclusion of the course, with the intent of determining students' reaction to the training order and their comments and suggestions for future training schedules. Results indicated that future training should start with current-day procedures and delay the introduction of NextGen tools until trainees have established fundamental air traffic management skills.

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Human-in-the-Loop Evaluation of Ground-Based Automated Separation Assurance for NextGen

Cited by 41 publications

References 11 publications

Initial Study of Controller/Automation Integration for NextGen Separation Assurance

Initial Study of Controller/Automation Integration for NextGen Separation Assurance

A Perspective on NASA Ames Air Traffic Management Research

A Preliminary Investigation of Training Order for Introducing NextGen Tools

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