Categorization of Select Cockpit Performance Evaluation Techniques

Area of Science:

• Human Factors Engineering
• Aerospace Systems Engineering
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Modern aircraft cockpits are complex systems of systems.
• Existing performance evaluation metrics assess cockpit components' influence on operator task performance.
• A comprehensive review of these metrics is lacking in current literature.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review and categorize existing metrics for evaluating aircraft cockpit systems.
• To identify the influence of cockpit components on human operator performance.
• To address the absence of a holistic review of cockpit evaluation metrics.

Main Methods:

• Metrics and techniques were discussed and presented.
• Categorization into five key areas: ergonomics/anthropometrics, human-computer interaction, data management/presentation, crew resource management/operations, and ingress/egress.
• Literature review and synthesis of existing evaluation techniques.

Main Results:

• Existing metrics can measure cockpit component effectiveness regarding operator performance.
• The review identified five distinct categories for cockpit subsystem evaluation.
• No single, holistic quantitative metric currently exists for comprehensive cockpit design and performance evaluation.

Conclusions:

• The current review is significant and novel but not exhaustive.
• Developing a holistic quantitative metric by integrating existing methods is recommended.
• Future efforts should focus on creating comprehensive metrics for aircraft cockpit design and performance evaluation.