Search

Prior research addressing the integration and interpretation of information presented either on paper or in electronic form has found significant preferences favoring paper-based presentation of text in terms of search times and comprehension (Rice, 1994; Askwall, 1985). When an electronic checklist was used as the source of information in flight training simulations with aviators, fewer subsystem failures were detected by the aviators than when a paper checklist was used (Palmer and Degani, 1991). More recent research, however, has pointed out the advantages of electronic checklists (Boorman, 2000). At this time, no research known to the authors has addressed the performance of pilots using paper vs. electronic forms of the NATOPS (Naval Air Training and Operating Procedures Standards) manual and Pocket Checklist (PCL). The purpose of this evaluation was to compare aircrew performance when using the traditional paper copy of NATOPS and the PCL with that of the prototype Interactive Electronic NATOPS (IE-NATOPS) developed by CHI Systems. This evaluation effort attempted to establish whether or not there are notable differences in resolving problem situations dependent upon the format of the NATOPS and PCL used. Data were gathered at the Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida, using pilots with recent experience in the H-60F rotorcraft. Results are presented in terms of both information access speed as well as time required to solve numerous problem scenarios requiring access to NATOPS information.

This workshop promoted the exchange of information among researchers currently studying unsteady aerodynamics at high angle-of-attack and provided a basis for identification of the major, unresolved issues in this area. Detailed technical presentations were given covering AFOSR's 6.1 Trial in Unsteady Aerodynamics, namely Quasi-Two-Dimensional Unsteady Flows, Three-Dimensional Unsteady Flows and the Control of Unsteady Flows. High angle of attack, Unsteady flows.

"Technology,which has attracted the interest of engineers and scientists in recent times, is the development of micro-unmanned air vehicles (MAVs), with the largest linear dimension no greater than 15 cm. MAVs are a great challenge to scientists and technologists. Current technology is underway to meet the design and development of MAV. So in this paper, a literature survey of various emerging technologies in aerodynamics, propulsion, structures, controls, navigation, communication, and payloads for MAVs, is presented.

"This paper describes the need for an unmanned air vehicle surveillance system performing the job of a low cost satellite system. It discusses the requirements of such a system and outlines a strategy to achieve it. "

"During the last five decades, the world has witnessed tremendous growth in the military aircraft technology and the air defence weapons technology. Use of manned aircraft for routine reconnaissance/surveillance missions has become a less preferred option due to possible high attrition rate. Currently, the high political cost of human life has practically earmarked the roles of reconnaissance and surveillance missions to the unmanned air vehicles (UAVs). Almost every major country has a UAV program of its own and this interest has spawned intensive research in the field of UAVs. Presently, the UAVs come in all shapes and sizes, from palm top micro UAVs to giant strategic UAVs that can loiter over targets for extended periods of time. Though UAVs are capable of operating at different levels of autonomy, these are generally controlled from a ground control station (GCS). The GCS is the nerve centre of activity during UAV missions and provides necessary capability to plan and execute UAV missions. The GCS incorporates facilities, such as communication, displays, mission planning and data exploitation. The GCS architecture is highly processor-oriented and hence the computer hardware and software technologies play a major role in the realisation of this vital system. This paper gives an overview of the GCS, its architecture and the current state-of-the-art in various subsystem technologies.

An interdisciplinary engineering team tasked with building a robot for competitive performance must coordinate and integrate its design decisions to assure a functional and durable final product. This paper details the decision and implementation processes of the 2012 Lunar Excavator at Montana State University. Described are component vetting, implementation, integration, and testing for each of the mechanical, electrical, and computer systems.

The design of Micro Air Vehicles (MAV) is challenging since the aerodynamic efficiency of airfoils and wings decreases at low Reynolds-numbers. While many MAV approaches investigate biological designs, we present an investigation on the aerodynamics of paper airplanes, which fly in the same Reynolds-number range as MAV, but have the advantage of simplicity. We present flow visualizations and force measurements in a water tunnel on the dart paper airplane design.

This paper is a commentary on a small chapter in the recent history of turbomachinery research. It was written to describe the positive influence of an individual, Melvin J. Hartmann, working in a federal research center, on a particular university research program. However, in its final form, it cannot help but shed some light on the long-term effects of small-scale, mission-oriented, federal agency funding of engineering research in universities. Secondarily, it will recall a series of experimental investigations of axial-flow pump configurations, which produced data of possible relevance to current compressor and pump problems.

The Department for Disarmament Affairs, renamed United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs in 2007 (UNODA) Occasional Papers is a series of ad hoc publications presenting, in edited form, papers or statements made at meetings, symposiums, seminars, workshops or lectures that deal with topical issues in the field of arms limitation, disarmament and international security. They are intended primarily for those concerned with these matters in Government, civil society and in the academic community. This publication presents the panel discussion at the 1999 symposium on Missile Development and its Impact on Global Security. Discussions focused on the future of the missile technology control regime (MTCR); no place for missile programmes in South America; missile proliferation and international security; the MTCR, the post-modern State and deterrence; and the missile threat: perceptions and prescriptions.

Provisional Table of Contents, August 2009: A: UAS Modeling, Control and Identification: J. Kim, M. S. Kang, S. Park: Accurate Modeling and Robust Hovering Control for a Quad-rotor VTOL Aircraft D. Schafroth, C. Bermes, S. Bouabdallah, R. Siegwart: Modeling and System Identification of the muFly Micro Helicopter E. Rondon, S. Salazar, J. Escareno, R. Lozano, A. Malo-Tamayo: Vision-Based Position Control of a Two-Rotor VTOL mini UAV B: UAS Navigation, Path Planning and Tracking: C. Goerzen, Z. Kong, B. Mettler: A Survey of Motion Planning Algorithms from the Perspective of Autonomous UAV Guidance K. Yang, S. K. Gan, S. Sukkarieh: An Efficient Path Planning and Control Algorithm for an RUAV in an Unknown and Cluttered Environment A. A. Neto, D. G. Macharet, M. F. M. Campos: On the Generation of Trajectories for Multiple UAVs in Environments with Obstacles E. Koyuncu, N. K. Ure, G. Inalhan: Integration of Path/Maneuver Planning in Complex Environments for Agile Maneuvering UCAVs M. Kontitsis, K. Valavanis: A Cost-Effective Tracking System for Small Unmanned Aerial Systems C: UAS Vision and Vision-Based Systems R. S. Holt, R. W. Beard: Vision-Based Road-Following Using Proportional Navigation S. Huh, D. H. Shim: A Vision-based Automatic Landing Method for Fixed-wing UAVs A. Cesetti, E. Frontoni, A. Mancini, P. Zingaretti, S. Longhi: A Vision-based Guidance System for UAVs Navigation and Safe Landing using Natural Landmarks F. Andert, F. M. Adolf, L. Goormann, J. S. Dittrich: Autonomous Vision-Based Helicopter Flights through Obstacle Gates D: Landing and Forced Landing K. W. Sevcik, N. Kuntz, P. Y. Oh: Exploring the Effect of Obscurants on Safe Landing Zone Identification K. E. Wenzel, P. Rosset, A. Zell: Low-Cost Visual Tracking of a Landing Place and Hovering Flight Control with a Microcontroller A. L. Desbiens, M. Cutkosky: Landing and Perching on Vertical Surfaces with Microspines for Small Unmanned Air Vehicles P. Eng, L.Mejias, X. Liu: Automating Human Thought Processes for a UAV Forced Landing K. Dalamagkidis, K. Valavanis, L. Piegl: Autonomous Autorotation of Unmanned Rotorcraft using Nonlinear Model Predictive Control E: Simulation Platforms and Testbeds: I. Maza, F. Caballero, R. Molina, N. Pena, A. Ollero: Multimodal Interface Technologies for UAV Ground Control Stations: A Comparative Analysis R. Garcia, L. Barnes: Multi-UAV Simulator Utilizing X-Plane J. Saunders, R. Beard: UAV Flight Simulation with Hardware-in-the-loop Testing and Vision Generation F: UAS Applications: I. Maza, K. Kondak, M. Bernard, A. Ollero: Multi-UAV Cooperation and Control for Load Transportation and Deployment S. Erhard, K. E. Wenzel, A. Zell: Flyphone: Visual Self-Localization Using a Mobile Phone as Onboard Image Processor on a Quadrocopter A. H. Goktogan, S. Sukkarieh, M. Bryson, J. Randle, T. Lupton, C. Hung: Using Rotary-Wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for Aquatic Weed Surveillance and Management J. T. Hing, K. W. Sevcik, P. Y. Oh: Development and Evaluation of a Chase View for UAV Operations in Cluttered Environments M. Aksugur, G. Inalhan: Design Methodology of a Hybrid Propulsion Driven Electric Powered Miniature Tailsitter Unmanned Aerial Vehicle.

Designers of commercial aviation flight decks have recently begun to consider ways to reduce or eliminate the use of paper documents in flight operations. Using ethnographic methods we describe the cognitive functions served by the paper-use practices of pilots. The special characteristics of flight deck work give a distinctive quality to pilots' paper-use practices. The complex high-stakes high-tempo nature of pilots' work makes shared understandings essential to safe flight. This means that representation of flight critical information must not only be available to both pilots, but available to the pilots jointly in interaction with one another. The cross-cultural component of our work shows how language and culture color all of the pilots' practices and how interaction with paper objects allows actors to build social identities and social relations.

During the latter half of 1990 the Royal Air Force established a medical evacuation chain in support of the British First Armoured Division during Operation Granby (known as Operation Desert Storm in the USA). Medical contingency plans, formulated prior to embarkation from the UK, foresaw the need for five aeromedical staging facilities sub-deployed throughout the east of the Arabian Peninsula. The early days of the deployment found personnel busy with the construction of tented and hardened facilities and with the establishment of local operating procedures. Many problems were initially encountered, especially with supply, communications and in co-ordinating with collaborating coalition and host nation units. Nevertheless, progress was rapid and non-combatant operations were started within days of arrival. As the ground offensive became more imminent, training took on a sense of urgency. Advanced first aid techniques were taught to all non-medical staff, whereas doctors, nurses and paramedical personnel were taught ACLS and ATLS skills. All studied field hygiene, the hazards of nuclear, chemical and biological warfare, casualty handling, battle psychology and the intricacies of loading and unloading various types of aircraft. By the start of the ground phase of the war the British evacuation chain was fully operational and capable of treating and transferring hundreds of casualties per day. In the event, only about 850 patients were transported down the evacuation chain during the conflict, and less than 10% of these were battle casualties. This paper presents an overview of the British aeromedical evacuation system and discusses, in more detail, the establishment and operation of the busiest aeromedical staging facility at Al Jubail in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.

This paper discusses an algorithm for computing vertical resolution maneuvers to resolve imminent air traffic conflicts in which loss of separation could occur in less than two minutes. Several procedures are used, including rejection of altitude amendments that could cause a conflict, temporary altitudes, step altitudes, and critical leveloff confirmation. These methods were tested on archived data from 100 actual operational errors, which tend to be more difficult to detect and resolve than routine conflicts. Successful resolution was achieved in simulation for 84 of them using vertical maneuvers only. Augmented altitude amendments were then added to the input files to simulate altitude amendments that should have been entered by the controller but were not, or to correct amendments to make them consistent with the pilot’s understanding. The number of successful resolutions increased to 94 of the 100 cases.

The Advanced Extra-vehicular Activity (EVA) team of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Johnson Space Center (JSC) Crew and Thermal Systems Division (CTSD) participated in the Desert Research and Technology Study (RATS) in September 2003, at Meteor Crater, AZ. The Desert RATS is an integrated remote field site te t with team members from several NASA centers (Johnson Space Center; Glenn and Ames Research Centers) and universities (Bowling Green State University, University of Cincinnati, Massachusetts Institute of Technology) participating. Each week of the two-week field test had a primary focus. The primary test hardware for the first week was the I-Gravity Lunar Rover Training Vehicle, or Grover, which was on loan to NASA from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Astrogeology Research Program. The 2003 Grover driving test results serve as a rover performance characterization baseline for the Science, Crew, Operation and Utility Testbed (SCOUT) project team, which will be designing and fabricating a next generation roving vehicle prototype in Fiscal Year (FY) 2004. The second week of testing focused on EVA geologic traverses that utilized a geologic sample field analysis science trailer and also focused on human-robotic interaction between the suited subjects and the EVA Robotic Assistant (ERA). This paper will review the Advanced EVA team's role in the context of the overall Desert RATS, as well as the EVA team results and lessons learned. For information regarding other test participants' results, the authors can refer interested parties to the test reports produced by those Desert RATS teams.

Acronyms ✓ Acceptable Means of Compliance (AMC) ✓ Advisory Circular (AC) ✓ Aircraft Certification Service (AIR) ✓ Aircraft Evaluation Group (AEG) ✓ Airline Administrative Communication (AAC) ✓ Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B) ✓ Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) ✓ European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) ✓ Flight Standards Service (AFS) ✓ Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA) ✓ Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) ✓ Principal Inspector (PI) ✓ Technical Standard Order (TSO) ✓ Temporary Guidance Leaflet (TGL)

The Federal Aviation Administration is making a concerted effort to reduce runway incursions. A 5-day operational evaluation, conducted in October 2000, assessed pilot use of varying types of CDTI devices. Structured and unstructured taxi routes examined how well pilots navigated their aircraft using an electronic surface-map display (north-up, track-up) or a paper surface map. An analysis of 15 hours of communication data was performed to determine how the use of these displays might aid situation awareness and influence operational communications. A Type-of-Route x Type-of-Map ANOVA revealed more problems occurred and more messages were exchanged for structured taxi routes. A statistically significant interaction indicated most problems occurred for the north-up map during structured taxi routes and the number of problems encountered was comparable for the other maps when pilots navigated along unstructured taxi routes. Avionics developers may want to reconsider north-up surface moving map displays airport surface navigation tasks.

Recent advances in the Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) and ground/aircraft data-links provide a basis for the generation of an accurate cockpit navigational map display including data-linked ATC-cleared ground routes. Such an electronic map may have the potential to improve pilots' situation awareness and taxi performance and thereby lessen runway incursions. The objective of this simulator study was to assess the potential improvements in these areas when using an advanced electronic map (compared to using today's paper map) under two outside scene visibility levels. Results showed average taxi speed increased under both good and poor visibilities, by as much as 24 percent, due in part to eliminating the time used for orientation with the paper map. Pilots made only one-third as many errors as well and commented that they believed that the electronic map gave them better awareness. >

One of the United States' greatest military advantages is rapid global mobility. The Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF) provides a crucial supplement to the military's mobility resources in time of war or national emergency. The proliferation of man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS), however, poses a growing threat to the CRAF and its critical airlift capacity. In this study, Lt Col Glen Downing describes the US government's historical and potential future uses of the CRAF during contingency operations. He examines current CRAF policies, the operating environment, and the MANPAD threat, describing the negative consequences of the shoot down of a CRAF airliner. Positing several options to counter the threat, he analyzes each following the parameters of unit cost, operating cost, funding sources, insurability, and crew training. The study concludes with a thoughtful recommendation to the Department of Defense on a course of action to confront the MANPADS threat to the CRAF.

Although the laser was not yet invented Eugen Saenger, one of the most prominent German personalities in the early development of rocket science and technology suggested to use photons for the propulsion of spacecrafts in the fifties. In contrast to current schemes which are basically aimed at laser induced ablation processes, Eugen Saenger started with the idea of using the radiation pressure itself for propulsion purposes. A review of his pioneering work in that area will be supported by numerous historical documents and personal remembrance showing his effort to promote unconventional ideas. The paper also emphasizes how some of the original concepts are being revisited and partly implemented by using today’s laser technology.