HUMAN-MACHINE INTERACTION

IN AVIATION

Aysen K. Taylor and T. Steven

Cotter
Old Dominion University

Agenda
How to improve Human Intelligence
(HI) and Machine Intelligence (MI)
interaction?
What interfaces are best?
Structure of shared HI-MI
authority?
How to coordinate HI and MI to
maximize desired outcomes?

 Previous research emphasized

modeling HI and transferring human
decision making to MI
More study needed on transferring
machine knowledge to the human
decision making domain
Better integration of HI and MI
will improve efficiency,
effectiveness, and safety

Problems with Current Automation

Designs
Humans are poor monitors of highly
reliable automated systems
(Bainbridge, 1983)
Automated systems in aviation have
flawed interfaces with pilots
(Durso et al, 2011)
Machines must determine the state
of their human operators monitoring
them and self adjust (Parasuraman,
2013)

 Automated systems are inherently

inflexible in many situations (Boy,
2011)
Scerbo (2007), separated adaptive
automation into two types;
Adaptable systems are those were
the user changes the presentation
modes or functions of the system.
Adaptive systems are those were
both the user and system can make
alterations in the state of the
system

Why does this matter?

Air France A330, registration F-GZCP

Charles de Gaulle airport

June 1st, 2009

Air France A330, registration F-GZCP

Atlantic Ocean

Captain Sullenberger
"This Air France accident is going to
be a seminal accident that will be
studied for years, and we need to ask
ourselves as an industry tough
questions about the way we're
designing airplanes, the way we're
displaying information to the pilots
in the cockpit. And about whether or
not making airplanes more
complicated, more technologically
advanced makes it more difficult for
pilots to very quickly intervene and

MI-HI Interfaces
Automation interfaces must present
data allowing users to easily
interpret and process the
information (Gavrilova & Tan, 2009)
Adaptive automation can
significantly improve performance
(Parasuraman & Wilson, 2008)
Current cockpit automation can make
it difficult for pilots to
understand the state of their
aircraft during emergencies

Research Objectives
Develop MI-HI Autopilot (MHA)to
support and monitor human operators
during all phases of flight
Automation will provide guidance on
current state of the aircraft
MHA will monitor crews actions using
its own decision making process
MHA will reduce errors of omission
from the pilot such as failing to act
or intervene effectively when required
MHA will randomly check with the pilot
to ensure they are engaged with the
flight and aware what the automation
is doing

Proposed Methods
PC based simulation of airliner
Custom software interfaced with
simulation to add new MI-HI
capabilities in specific scenarios
such as loss of control at high
altitude
Data displayed to pilot will selfadjust based on what information is
most relevant based on a hierarchy
of importance given the current
circumstances

Questions?