Unmanned Aircraft Human Factors Research Program Kevin W. Williams, AAM-510 William Krebs, AAR-100 May 26, 2005 0 0
Overview The Problem Completed Human Factors Initiatives Accident Data Identification and Ranking of HF Issues Proposed Human Factors Initiatives Extra-Agency Efforts Expected Results 1 1
US Unmanned Aircraft Systems Growth During past 5 fiscal years, Congress has funded $2.7 billion to promote rapid employment of Unmanned Aircraft Systems. US budget in 1994 for UAS was $267 Million, in 2004 $1.7 Billion US Market estimated to be $23.7 Billion between 2001 and 2010 70% of Global growth and market share will be in the US by 2010 Note: financial estimates from GAO and UAVWorld.Com 2 2
Rapidly Changing Environment Number of Civil Applications for Certificate of Waiver or Authorization Increasing (23 Pending) (27 Public Pending) AVS Fiscal Year 2005 Budget Required a Reassessment of Unmanned Aircraft Systems Resources Decision to Limit Scope of Certificates of Authorization for Civil Use Manufacturers Need Immediate Access to National Airspace System for Internal Research and Development 3 3
AVS UAS TCRG The AVS Organization has established a new Technical Community Representatives Group (TCRG) to identify Research and Development requirements to support rulemaking and the development of policy and practices for UAS. Eight Research and Development Requirements for 2005 have been identified: Detect, Sense, & Avoid Command, Control and Communication Flight Termination Airspace Risk Analysis Enhanced Vision Unmanned Aircraft Control Station Operator Guidelines Evaluation of Current and Historical Technological Development Relating To UAS Maintenance Issues Human Factors in the Maintenance of Unmanned Aircraft 4 4
Completed HF Efforts Summary of Military UA Accident/Incident Data (Williams, CAMI) 5 major military systems (Hunter, Shadow, Pioneer, Predator, Global Hawk) Maintenance, electrical, and mechanical reliability a major causal factor for most systems Human errors are system specific Landing accidents are the result of operator control interface issues Automation solutions introduce other problems Control handoffs are problematic across systems 5 5
Completed HF Efforts cont. Human Factors Implications of UAVs in the National Airspace McCarley and Wickens, University of Illinois Identified 18 human factors topics unique to UA, separated into 4 main topic areas Automation Issues flight control, degraded reliability, see-and-avoid automation, takeoff and landing automation Pilot Interface Issues control interface options, data requirements, display augmentation, multimodal displays, display and control standardization, pilot decision-making Air Traffic Management Procedural Issues Control handoffs, datalink delays, datalink loss Crew Qualifications Crew size, KSA requirements, training requirements, training qualifications, medical qualifications 6 6
Completed HF Efforts cont. A ranking was performed on those issues thought to have the highest priority for the FAA 5 issues were selected 1. Whether and how much experience piloting a manned aircraft should be required for UA pilot certification, and whether this requirement should vary across UA types 2. Assess and compare the effectiveness and human performance of the variety of existing interface designs and explore possible future designs 3. Assess air traffic controllers and UA operators compensatory responses to time delays in communication, and to determine the impact of communication delays on air traffic flow 4. Define what the UA should be programmed to do in the case of a total loss of GCS-UA control loop communications 5. Determine the desirable and appropriate level of automation for takeoff and landing for a variety of vehicles in civilian airspace 7 7
Proposed HF Efforts for FY05-06 Lowering GA Accidents in Low Visibility: UAV See-and-Avoid Requirements Human Factors Maintenance Considerations of Unmanned Aircraft Unmanned Aircraft Operator Medical, Qualification, and Training Requirements, a Preliminary Analysis 8 8
Extra-Agency Coordination NASA Access 5 RTCA Special Committee 203 SAE-G10 ASTM F38 9 9
Access 5 HSI Activity UAV Human System Integration Functional Requirements HSI Design Requirements and Guidelines ROA Pilot Task, Skill, Medical, and Training Requirements FAA Involvement Participation at all Access 5 Program Reviews; Receive Inputs from Policy Technical Interchange Meetings at FAA Headquarters Technical Interchange Meetings at FAA Headquarters; RTCA and SAE-G10 coordination; CAMI participates with A5 HSI team HSI Requirements for Experimental Certification of the ROA System HSI ATC Traffic Flow Management Research Airspace Operation Simulations (FY06 Proposed) Dedicated FAA Human Factors Point of Contact within AIR-130 identified Technical coordination with ATO R&D and FAA Technical Center UAV Maintainability Requirements- Manufacturer Inputs (FY06 Proposed) Aviation Maintenance Human Factors TCRG Access 5 and FAA are coordinating in several areas 10 10
RTCA Special Committee 203 Minimum Aviation System Performance Standards (MASPS) MASPS establishes high-level system description and functionality of UAS (December 05) MASPS for Command, Control and Communications of UAS (June 06) MASPS for Detect, Sense and Avoid Systems (Dec 07) RTCA Kickoff and Plenary Session of Special Committee SC-203 was held November 29, 2004 through December 2, 2004 11 11
SAE-G10 Approach is to separate human factors issues into four categories Operator Mission Aircraft Human-machine interface Issues will try to include the broad spectrum of unmanned aircraft systems Risk analysis will be a central part of the approach Currently developing an Aerospace Research Document (ARD) and Aerospace Recommended Practice (ARP) document 12 12
ASTM Committee F38 on Unmanned Air Vehicle Systems Committee F38 consists of four subcommittees F38.01 Airworthiness F38.02 Flight Operations WK3135 Standard Practice/Guide for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Flight Authorization WK4333 Standard Terminology for Unmanned Air Vehicle Systems WK5466 Standard Practice for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Visual Range Flight Operations F38.03 Operator Qualifications WK7044 ASTM F-38.03 Operator Survey WK5423 Certificates and Ratings issued for UAV pilots and operators F38.90 Executive 13 13
FAA Flight Plan Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Initiative Strategic Initiative Develop polices procedures and approval processes to enable operation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Strategic Activity Begin developing policy, procedures, and approval processes to enable operation of Unmanned Aircraft in the National Airspace System Activity Target Issue Unmanned Aircraft Systems Notice of Proposed Rulemaking by September 2005 14 14
Alternative Proposal Focus Limited Resources on Civil and Public Use Requests Issue Experimental Airworthiness Certificates Commit to Three Experimental Certificates by September 1, 2005 Bell Boeing General Atomics 15 15
Benefits of New Proposal Provides Large Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Manufacturers Immediate Limited Access to National Airspace System Shows Good Faith Effort to Manufacturers and Congress Supports National Aeronautics and Space Access 5 Efforts Provides Immediate Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Experience Will Help Develop Better Criteria for Future Rules 16 16
Questions? 17 17