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This paper presents a method to implement online laboratory sessions for education in Electrical Engineering on subjects related to electrical machines and drives. The assignments for the laboratory sessions consist of: the preparation homework, where students have to study relevant theories; the development of circuit simulations; and the participation on a practical session online. For the latter, the students have to implement remotely various models in a physical setup based on the results of their homework tasks. After taking the assignments, the students should be able to: set up circuit simulations of electrical machines and drives; to implement relevant control of motor drives in a physical setup; and finally, to interpret the differences between the simulation and experiment results. Detailed design of the physical setup, the assignments, the relevant Information and Communication Technology (ICT) facilities are presented and discussed in this paper. An example and the feedback of applying it in a master level course is presented. The experience gained so far shows that the proposed online laboratory sessions can be used as supplementary educational resource to existing online education platforms.

In this paper the design approach is described for an input application, that allows pilots to enter taxi instructions into an Electronic Flight Bag within the currently available infrastructure and current procedures. The goal was to achieve this without adding to either pilot or controller workload, or increasing radio communication. To better understand the design options, and associated information requirements and constraints, the design space was mapped. The mapped space shows the relation between the total number of routes, the number of input options that are presented simultaneously, and the number of entries needed for route input. Using this map, possible route definition concepts were defined, ranging from a one-out-of-all selection, via a hybrid selection/specification, to a completely specification-based approach. The latter two have been implemented and evaluated. It was concluded that the hybrid approach is the most suitable for route input.

An application for entering a taxiroute into an Electronic Flight Bag, using either speech input or manual input, has been investigated. The input concepts are designed such that the number of actions to be performed when using speech input is the same as when using manual input. A previous evaluation of the speech input concept in an undisturbed, single-task environment showed that high route recognition performance is feasible. To compare the concepts in an operationally realistic environment, two experiments were conducted in a fixed-base research simulator. Typical disturbances that are present in the cockpit environment were modeled and used in this simulation-based evaluation/comparison. Time, efficiency, workload, and pilot preference were used as criteria. Eight professional pilots, with flight experience varying from 9 to 27 years, participated. The results indicate a clear performance benefit in terms of speed and efficiency for the manual input, which also yielded a lower workload and was the preferred option of the pilots.

The Ground Control Station (GCS) is a critical element in the control of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). The information provided by the GCS influences the operator's Situational Awareness (SA). In order to explore the consequences of authority on operator SA and overall performance, this research investigated the desired authority of two operator support functions that perform conflict detection and resolution in the time-critical domain. In the experiment, the Level of Authority (LoA) of these two functions was varied. Results show that, independent of the LoA, in many cases, the operator was able to detect a possible conflict before the conflict prediction function became active. This indicated that the operator had sufficient level 3 SA (projection of current state into the future) to detect the need for a tactical action. However, results also show a significant amount of unnecessary operator interventions. Finally, the results show that in many situations the operator did not have enough level 3 SA to come up with a good solution for a possible conflict and performance would have been better without operator intervention.

Future Air Traffic Management systems may lead to a shift from the state based operation that is used today to a trajectory based operation. As a result, the error between where the aircraft will actually be and is computed to be becomes independent of look-ahead time. This might lead to a situation where the time to conflict is long enough so that the control margin of a speed change will be sufficient to solve the conflict. Solving the conflict by only changing speeds is an advantage in operations where a trajectory change is not desirable. A tool could generate a speed advisory to solve the conflict, however the solution is a balance between the extra separation needed and the available control margin. If the controller has enough insight in the separation and the effect of a speed change, the controller has the final decision in this balance. An experiment showed that without explicit support that provides preview on the impact of speed changes on separation, controllers do not have enough insight in the separation and speed margins to generate a valid solution by only changing speed. To support the air traffic controller a new tool was developed to make the speed margins more explicit.

In earlier research, it has been shown that air traffic controllers can benefit from support tools when performing their conflict detection and resolution task. The support tools used in this research vary from alerting the controller when a conflict is detected to automatically generating a conflict resolution. To take advantage of the controllerspsila knowledge and experience the support tools should show the solution space rather than only one computed solution. The solution space shows the controller options to create a conflict avoidance maneuver or displays the information the computed solution is based on. A case study has been performed to identify the information currently used to construct an avoidance maneuver. The study showed that controllers determine the avoidance maneuver by estimating the current and future air traffic situation using extrapolated tracks and experience regarding the location of busy areas. Besides future aircraft positions, the solution space comprises all data that has an influence on the avoidance maneuver. Information in the solution space can be based on prediction with an uncertainty distribution. It is important to show the controller the reliability of the predictions and consequently must be included in the solution space. The research described in this paper aims to develop the data structure needed to integrate the different constraints including the uncertainty distribution. Subsequently, the implementation of the concept in a first prototype is discussed.

The guidance information that is available to the UAV operator typically suffers from limitations of data update rate and system latency. Even when using a flight director command display, the manual control task is considerably more difficult compared to piloting a manned aircraft. Results from earlier research into perspective guidance displays show that these displays provide performance benefits and suggest a reduction of the negative effects of system latency. The current study has shown that in case of limitations of data update rate and system latency the use of a conformal sensor overlay showing a perspective presentation of the trajectory constraints is consistently superior to the flight director command display. The superiority becomes more pronounced with an increase in data latency and a decrease in update rate. The fact that the perspective pathway overlay as used in this study can be implemented on any graphics system that is capable of rendering a set of 2-D vectors makes it a viable candidate for upgrades to current systems.

To study the potential of sensor augmentation concepts for the manual control of Remotely Piloted Vehicles, a simulation-based evaluation environment is needed. In this paper, the basic requirements for such an evaluation environment are addressed. Based on these requirements, several options for realizing the desired environment are identified. It is described which factors have influenced the choices made and how the requirements have been met.

In the past fifteen years, several research programs have demonstrated potential advantages of synthetic vision technology for manned aviation. More recently, some research programs have focused on integrating synthetic vision technology into control stations for remotely controlled aircraft. The contribution of synthetic vision can be divided into two categories. The depiction of the environment and all relevant constraints contributes to the pilot's situation awareness, while the depiction of the planned path and its constraints allows the pilot to control or monitor the aircraft with high precision. This paper starts with an overview of the potential opportunities provided by synthetic vision technology. A distinction is made between the presentation domain and the function domain. In the presentation domain, the benefits are obtained from making the invisible visible. In the function domain, benefits are obtained from the possibility to integrate data from the synthetic vision system into other functions. The paper continues with a number of examples of situation awareness support concepts which have been explored in the current research. After this, the potential contribution of synthetic vision technology to the manual control task is discussed and it is indicated how these potential advantages will be explored in the next research phase.

n analysis of the Flight Safety Foundation shows that approximately 75% of the Approach and Landing Accidents, including Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) occur at airports where precision approach aids are not available or not utilized. A common factor in almost all of these accidents is the presence of reduced visibility conditions. Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) based guidance can be used to increase safety by providing precision approach guidance at those locations where non-precision approaches must currently be flown. In the U.S. alone there are 58 special category airports that lack a precision approach guidance capability. Many of those airports would also benefit from more flexibility in the approach. Synthetic Vision System (SVS) technology can contribute to an increase in safety by compensating for the loss of information caused by reduced visibility conditions. The basis for using synthetic vision in the cockpit was established long before the term was first coined and was used in the context of several military research projects, such as the Pictorial Format Program 1 . About twenty years ago, extensive simulator evaluation using displays that presented a computer-gener ated, spatially integrated depiction of the environment, the planned path and threat areas, was performed. The anticipated advantages pursued in this project comprise a reduction in signature made possible by a reduction in the use of active sensors and an increase in pilot situation awareness (SA) because of the integration of information regarding threat areas. In the early nineties, a proof-of-conce pt demonstrator was realized in which the combined use of database technology, advanced displays and forward-looking sensors has been explored to provide aircraft a nap-of-the-earth capability 2 .

A concept to facilitate the integration of UAVs into controlled airspace using a datalink dialog with civil ATC and a military airspace control system is being pursued. To evaluate potential concepts of operation and the associated functions of the UAV mission management system and to refine the human-machine interface requirements, a UAV mission management simulation environment is being extended. The extensions are performed in three phases. Phase one has been completed and added the capability to perform a datalink-based dialog to the control station. The second phase will add the capability to network the control station with an ATC simulator and the MASE C 2 system. The third phase will add the capability to operate in a network with multiple operator stations, allowing scenarios involving the (partial) handover of control to be evaluated. This paper provides the rationale for the datalink based integration and the current concept for the operator station user interface to support this idea. It discusses the planned simulation setup for phases I to III and the results from phase I.

To explore the potential of integrated data presentation to support a UAV operator in obtaining good situation awareness, an operator station prototype with the basic functions for the mission management of a UAV was developed and implemented. The two main functions of this prototype were to serve as a research tool with which new ideas can be explored and for the further identification of requirements and refinement of functionality. Based on feedback from subject matter experts, the prototype was enhanced with functions that aim to support level 3 situation awareness. To refine the functional requirements, a scenario was designed in which subjects are exposed to a number of events that require the use of these functions. A simulation environment was set up to run the scenario. This paper starts with a discussion of the concept of the UAV operator station. After this, the approach to the simulation is described. Next, the results of the evaluations and the feedback of the participants are presented. Based on this, recommendation and conclusions are provided.

The basic requirement for a Surface Guidance System (SGS) database is to provide the data needed to render an electronic map of the airport layout. The required accuracy and integrity of this data is determined by the intended function(s) of the SGS. Current airport survey efforts aim to provide geospatial data that has an accuracy of better than 5 ft for runways and taxiways. Besides the depiction of the airport environment, an SGS can be used to pictorially integrate routing instructions and other airport related information specified in Notices to Airmen (NOTAMs). The geospatial data used to render a map is not directly suitable to support the routing function. Also, as a result of the use of extremely accurate survey data, the integration of an SGS prototype into a research simulator can highlight previously undetected inaccuracies in the airport database used by the Image Generator (IG) causing unacceptable inconsistencies. In the first part of this paper, two database structures are discussed that allow a routing capability to be included. Following this, three approaches to deal with IG database inaccuracies are presented.