Modeling of Helicopter Pilot Misperception During Overland Navigation.

Accession Number

ADA560584

Publication Date

Mar 2012

Media Count

110p

Personal Author

B. T. Cowden

Abstract

This thesis provides a framework to model human belief and misperception in helicopter overland navigation. Helicopter overland navigation is a challenging mission area because it is a complex cognitive task, and failing to recognize when the aircraft is off-course can lead to operational failures and mishaps. A human-in-the-loop experiment to investigate pilot misperception during simulated overland navigation by analyzing actual navigation trajectory, pilots' perceived location, and corresponding confidence levels was designed. Fifteen military officers with prior overland navigation experience completed four simulated low-level navigation routes, two of which entailed autonavigation. Analysis shows that there is not a negative correlation between perceived and actual location of the aircraft, inferring that confidence is not a good indicator of performance. However, there is some evidence of a negative correlation between perceived location and intended route of flight, suggesting that there is a bias towards that intended flight route. If aviation personnel can proactively identify the circumstances in which misperception usually occurs in navigation, they may reduce mission failure and mishap rate. This study can help fleet squadrons and instructional commands improve operations that require low-level flight as well as crew resource management.

Keywords

Actual location
Air navigation
Autonavigation
Bayes theorem
Bayesian modeling
Bias
Computerized simulation
Confidence level
Errors
Expertise effect
Flight paths
Flight simulation
Helicopters
Human-in-the-loop experiments
Intended route of flight
Learning effects
Low altitude
Off course
On course
Out-the-window display
Overconfidence
Overflight
Overland navigation
Perceived location
Perception(Psychology)
Performance(Human)
Pilot misperception
Pilots
Position(Location)
Theses
Time
Topographic maps
Visual navigation
Visual perception


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Source Agency

Non Paid ADAS

NTIS Subject Category

51B - Aeronautics
92B - Psychology
57T - Psychiatry
57A - Anatomy
57S - Physiology
72F - Statistical Analysis
76D - Navigation Systems

Corporate Author

Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA. Dept. of Operations Research.

Document Type

Thesis

Title Note

Master's thesis.

NTIS Issue Number

1222

Contract Number

N/A

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