The Dual Pilot Active Sidestick Demonstrator (2pasd) for Development and Evaluation of Tactile Cueing Functions in a Multicrew Cockpit

Abstract

Active sidesticks not only feature the ability to modify the stick forces for haptic cueing, but in combination with a fly-by-wire avionic system also to deliberately couple or decouple the inceptors of pilot and copilot through the so called "electronic rod". This is a promising feature in terms of safety and, situational awareness and the ability of control takeover especially during conflicting situations like force-fight between pilot and copilot. But there was no evidence on how to best apply. To explore this and other haptic cueing related questions DLR designed a Dual Pilot Active Sidestick Demonstrator Cockpit (2PASD), a modular flight simulator that features two pilot seats, each equipped with two active sidesticks and active pedals, which can be coupled pair wisely. The paper first describes the purpose, its technical realization and capabilities. The first examples of its use for system development and evaluation are provided. It concludes with an outlook on current development and future use cases.