Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES
Honeywell is demonstrating to aircraft manufacturers an intuitive autoflight system which integrates the autopilot controls and flight-management system (FMS).
Honeywell says: "It is not the interface which makes an FMS difficult to use, it is the functionality, and that's what we hope to simplify." It describes the system's new control language as "just a concept, not even a prototype".
The new approach redefines the functionality of the autoflight system into a set of actions and targets, matching the way the pilot thinks in operating the aircraft, rather than the pilot having to learn to think like the system.
For example, when reprogramming en route, the pilot would directly input air-traffic-control instructions. A built-in match between clearance logic and system logic means that the pilot does not have to remember arbitrary sequences and commands, reducing what Honeywell describes as "the cognitive workload".
Honeywell believes that the system has inherent safety and operational benefits. Demonstrations have shown that pilots can learn the basic functionality in about 10min, rather than the weeks required to learn how to use a conventional FMS. Increased integration between the glareshield panel and FMS increases head-up time and, because the new functionality does not rely on modes, there is no possibility of mode errors.
All the units of the system use the same logic, so the pilot can think of the flightdeck as a unified system, rather than a collection of individual devices, each with its own logic.
"If you make a mistake inputting, you will get clues from the display," says Honeywell. "If you put in the wrong waypoint, say for somewhere in Alaska and you're in Mexico, then the navigation display will give it away. You can go back through the moves and double-check everything you've done."
Honeywell is also exploring automatic use of datalinks and voice-activated commands.
Source: Flight International
