so
within the nasa ames research center an
aircraft is taxing to a runway
inside this building a pilot is being
given takeoff clearance
nasa zero seven one two cleared for
takeoff inside this building researchers
are doing experiments in human factors
the relationship between humans and
machines and how they interact
roger bay approach
northwest 526 descending to 5 000
through these doors the sensation of
flight begins
you are inside the cockpit of a boeing
727
the visual scene
the controls
the pilot
the cockpit itself
and the air traffic control system are
all part of a unique research facility
at nasa ames research center
the manned vehicle systems research
facility mbsrf
this boeing 727 is one of two flight
simulators doing human factors research
within the mvsrf
designed primarily for the study of
human factors human to human human to
machine and human to system interactions
the mvsrf provides an illusion of the
real world and makes possible the
accurate observation of flight crew
behavior during normal and abnormal
situations
decision making
workload management
communications
both in cockpit and air to ground
problem solving
all instruments controls and switches
operate as they would in an actual
aircraft
responding to aircraft data and pilot
input
the simulator accurately models changes
to the aircraft both aerodynamic and
environmental
motion is provided by a six degree of
freedom computer-controlled hydraulic
system
all of these elements combine to provide
a flexible research environment capable
of supporting a wide range of
experiments
the advanced concepts flight simulator
is the facility's second flight
simulator and represents a step into the
future
based on the expected technology of the
mid-1990s
the instrument panel contains seven
electronic displays
five with touch sensitive screens
these displays have multiple functions
to control aircraft systems and provide
the majority of information presented to
the pilot
a voice command system allows the spoken
word to control aircraft system
operations
the advanced concepts flight simulator
system has been designed to be flexible
allowing for rapid changes to the
pilot's cockpit environment while
maintaining the simulator's full mission
capabilities
both simulators are equipped with
computer generated out the cockpit
window visual displays which depict dusk
to night scenes of many different
airports and surroundings
both the simulators use a four window
visual system that shows the pilot
forward and side views of the airport
a unique feature of the visual system is
its ability to present a continuous
visual scene while flying from airport
to airport
an air traffic control simulator makes a
very significant contribution to the
realism of the experiments conducted at
the facility
the flight crews not only communicate
either verbally or through data
transmission with the atc controllers
but also hear the normal chatter
associated with controllers talking to
pseudo aircraft pilots controlling other
simulated aircraft flying within their
immediate vicinity
action taken by the pseudo aircraft
pilots and the test subjects in the
flight simulators are seen on the
simulated radar displays operated by the
air traffic controllers in the atc
simulator
three independent controller stations
are provided
the air traffic sectors assigned to the
controller stations are easily changed
to follow the progress of a flight from
takeoff to landing
contact oakland center 125.1
it is the function of the facility to
support research objectives
the experimenter operating station has
been designed to be flexible
it is capable of being modified to meet
individual goals
there are two experimenter laboratory
stations
one for each flight simulator
each station contains the necessary
equipment to communicate with the
simulator operators control the flight
simulator conduct the experiment and
collect data
traffic arriving and parting runway 30
inform approach you have information
bravo
roger 712 heading 0-9-0
the monitoring equipment for data
collection and analysis provides
time-coded recordings of hundreds of
flight parameters
we have a real-world fire we'd like to
return back to san francisco
audio and video recording systems
capture the communications behavior and
performance of each flight crew as well
as the communications of the air traffic
controllers and pseudo piloted aircraft
the data collected is then analyzed in
detail by the researcher to explain how
pilots perform under actual situations
that have been simulated
the mvsrf is an extremely valuable
research tool for those conducting
studies requiring the simulation or
illusion of flight operations
the research being conducted here is
intended to achieve two vital objectives
improved operational efficiency of the
airspace system
and of greater importance improved
aviation safety through the
understanding and reduction of human
error
the nasa ames research center's manned
vehicle systems research facility is
contributing to the nation's present and
future needs in each of these two
important areas
you