The Impact of Automation Assisted Aircraft Separation on Situation Awareness

  • Authors:
  • Arik-Quang V. Dao;Summer L. Brandt;Vernol Battiste;Kim-Phuong L. Vu;Thomas Strybel;Walter W. Johnson

  • Affiliations:
  • NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, United States of America CA 94035;NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, United States of America CA 94035;NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, United States of America CA 94035;Dept of Psychology, California State University Long Beach, Long Beach, USA CA 90840;Dept of Psychology, California State University Long Beach, Long Beach, USA CA 90840;NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, United States of America CA 94035

  • Venue:
  • Proceedings of the Symposium on Human Interface 2009 on Human Interface and the Management of Information. Information and Interaction. Part II: Held as part of HCI International 2009
  • Year:
  • 2009

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Abstract

This study compared situation awareness across three flight deck decision aiding modes. Pilots resolved air traffic conflicts using a click and drag software tool. In the automated aiding condition, pilots executed all resolutions generated by the automation. In the interactive condition, automation suggested a maneuver, but pilots had the choice of accepting or modifying the provided resolution. In the manual condition pilots generated resolutions independently. A technique that combines both Situation Global Assessment Technique and Situation Present Awareness Method was used to assess situation awareness. Results showed that situation awareness was better in the Manual and Interactive conditions when compared to the Automated condition. The finding suggests that pilots are able to maintain greater situation awareness when they are actively engaged in the conflict resolution process.