Design and Assessment of Methods of Attention Guidance for the Sector-Less Air Traffic Management Controller Working Position

Kurzfassung

The objective of this master’s thesis with the title "Design and Assessment of Methods of Attention Guidance for the Sector-Less Air Traffic Management Controller Working Position" is to find adequate solutions of advanced methods of attention guidance. It was found that in sector-less air traffic management the tasks of a controller shift more towards monitoring tasks. This constitutes the problem of maintaining a controller’s situation awareness, which needs to be solved. For this purpose, the thesis takes a general look at the field of attention guidance and how to implement its methods in a meaningful way in a human-machine-interface. Following this introduction in attention guidance the thesis takes a look at the new concept of sector-less air traffic management and the current design of the prototypic controller working position, before going into the actual design of human-machine-interface elements. Finally, the developed designs are discussed and the thesis takes a look into the future. A major result of the document on hand is that it was found that the most suitable attention guidance method for the sector-less air traffic management domain is the visual attention guidance. Thus, the attention guidance elements are mostly designed in a way, which uses visual attention guidance. Nevertheless, there are exceptions, for example, for high priority events or supplemental attention guidance. In conclusion, the thesis on hand comprises different novelties. For example, the use of an eye tracker to assess the current controller’s area of attention and the use of light elements, which are mounted on the frame of the radar screen, are new in the air traffic management domain and have not been used before in this context