Improved communication for a safer flight
The frequency of air travel is continually expanding which in turn requires further improvements in the safety level of aviation systems. Consequently the occurrence and prevention of human error is a high priority issue when it comes to the design and validation of new technology applications. In light of this, human interaction with innovative technologies was the primary focus of the ISAWARE II project aimed at improving the safety as well as the efficiency of flight operations. Realistic simulations were used to study human operator behaviour in terms of communication between the pilot and the avionics system. An interactive concept was applied and a crew was provided with heightened situation awareness. Advanced software developed for flight simulation was provided by the National Aerospace Laboratory (NLR) in the Netherlands. NLR has developed an Ethernet software integration and communication toolset which can connect various software applications even if they operate on different platforms. This Ethernet communication library has been operation in NLR's flight simulators and research flight test aircraft. Furthermore its design has been improved, upgraded and extended making it suitable for Windows as well as for Unix/Linux platforms.
