Search Results

The ever increasing complexity of aerospace design has seen the emergence of Aerospace Design Automation, the study of design of aircraft/aerospace vehicle design systems. Our previous publications have dealt with its foundation, the Aerospace Design Representation Programming Interface (AERO-DRPI). To model the design, process and status data the AERO-DRPI uses data schemas appropriate for a tool and data combination. A data schema enables the definition of semantics and syntax of design, status, and process data. For generic design management, a data schema is required on which all the generic operations are possible. It should also meet all the requirements for generic design management. The generic design management schema should be extendible with minimum data redundancy. A specific design management data schema uses the generic design management schema as its foundation. For a specific design sub-discipline there are specific schemas.

Touch screen technology has experienced significant improvements recently, evolving to several solutions that are rugged enough to be introduced into the cockpit. A practical setup has been worked out consisting of four large PFD/MFD screens and two Touch Screen Control Units (TSCU's) which are positioned at the location of the classic CDU in the cockpit. All display surfaces have multi-touch capability. Apart from serving as a technology demonstrator, the setup will be used as a scientific test bed. The goal of this study is to identify the benefits and optimize the usage of multi-touch screens in a cockpit environment. The focus is on creating a more intuitive operation and increasing the situation awareness. To investigate and demonstrate this, dedicated touch screen gestures were implemented and specialized flight deck applications were developed that facilitate direct manipulation of the flight plan.

For the interior design of a flight simulator, the ergonomic software MDHMS has been used to test different interior layout issues. The MDHMS program includes an accomodation analysis capability which generates a digital sample of the specific target group. This paper shows the data required for this analysis. Since there are just a few reference files available for only parts of the Dutch population, some methods to derive data from related files in order to make the chart complete are presented.