Transition from Conventionally to Remotely Piloted Aircraft – Investigation of Possible Impacts on Function Allocation and Information Accessibility Using Cognitive Work Analysis Methods

Kurzfassung

The presented study investigated possible impacts of transitioning from conventional to remote aircraft control while simultaneously decreasing the pilot-aircraft ratio. By applying methods from cognitive work analysis, possible reallocations of functions and the impact on the availability of information relevant for decision making when executing function related tasks were explored. Currently much effort is devoted to developing concepts for the integration of Medium Altitude Long Endurance Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (MALE RPAS) into controlled airspace. The FAA’s roadmap for the integration of RPAS into controlled airspace as well as the ICAO Doc 10019 require RPAS i.a. to comply with instrumental flight rules and to be able to react to ATC instructions. Autonomous operation is not permitted; consequently a human pilot has to control the aircraft remotely. Further, in the scientific literature it has been suggested to lower the pilot-aircraft ratio from currently 2:1 to 1:1 or even further to 1:n. Since the purposes of conventionally piloted aircraft (CPA) and future RPAS are identical, i.e. maneuvering the aircraft through controlled airspace while complying with the same rules, the work domain of a conventional pilot was used as a basis for exploring the work domain of a remote pilot. An abstraction-decomposition-space (ADS) was developed for an A320 aircraft. Aircraft systems were decomposed systematically by categorizing them into the four categories aviate, navigate, communicate and supply & protection for systems according to their respective function. For classification of aircraft systems the current ATA 100 chapters were used. In a next step a contextual activity template was developed. The vertical axis contained the respective purpose related functions of each aircraft system that was included in the ADS. The horizontal axis contained flight phases of a flight from one airport to another in controlled airspace. For each combination of function and flight phase it was determined whether the function was active or inactive. For active combinations decision ladders were developed to explore decision making processes for function related tasks and to identify specific information pilots use for decision making when executing these tasks. In addition, it was determined who of the following executes individual functions, pilot flying, pilot monitoring and automation. It was then investigated how functions could be reallocated between pilot and automation in future RPAS with a pilot-aircraft ratio of 1:1. Furthermore, it was analyzed how the transition to remote aircraft control might affect the availability of information relevant for decision making. The results include different possibilities for function reallocation. One proposed possibility provides automation to execute aviate functions in all flight phases, taking over several functions which the pilot flying would have been in charge of in a CPA. Compared to the conventional pilot, this approach leaves the future remote pilot with increased monitoring activity, especially during take-off and landing phases, while having reduced access to sensory information. The decision ladders suggest that due to the reduced accessibility of sensory information, remote pilots need additional technical equipment in order to gain access to important information that conventional pilots use for decision making.