Aircraft Control Input Verification for Incapacitated Pilots
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Solution Overview
Problem
Aircraft pilots may become incapacitated due to physiological or non-physiological factors, leading to unintentional control inputs that can pose hazards to the aircraft and its occupants, especially when these inputs affect safety-critical systems.
Innovation Solution
An aircraft-based control input tracking system that connects to the aircraft's control systems and pilot monitors, records and compares pilot control inputs to expected procedures, and provides feedback or overrides deviant inputs to ensure safe operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the pilot is assisted by other command crew, then the pilot can be relieved as pilot-in-command, but the incapacitated pilot may still make unintentional control inputs to safety-critical systems
Solution Approach 1:
The system continuously monitors control inputs and provides real-time feedback to the crew when deviant inputs are detected. The monitoring system compares actual control inputs against expected procedural inputs and alerts the crew to discrepancies, enabling timely correction of unintentional control actions while maintaining pilot authority.
Solution Approach 2:
The control input monitoring system acts as an intermediary between the pilot and the aircraft control systems. It intercepts and analyzes control inputs before they execute, identifying deviant inputs and preventing their execution or alerting the crew, thus mediating between pilot intent and system response.
2Speed
If the first officer fails to confirm the position of the thrust levers, then the captain can quickly regain control, but the reduction in thrust is not detected and leads to unsafe takeoff conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The monitoring system performs self-verification of control inputs automatically without requiring manual confirmation by the crew. The system independently tracks, records, and validates control inputs against expected procedures, freeing the crew to focus on flight operations while maintaining precise verification of all control actions.
Solution Approach 2:
The system replaces manual verification procedures with automated electronic monitoring. Instead of relying on crew members to physically check and confirm control positions, the system uses sensors and processors to automatically detect, record, and verify control input positions, providing continuous precise measurement without mechanical intervention.
3Reliability
If the system records and compares all control inputs in real-time, then deviant inputs can be identified, but the system complexity and processing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The monitoring system divides control verification into separate functional modules: input sensing, data recording, comparison logic, and alert generation. Each module handles a specific aspect of verification, allowing the system to process multiple control inputs simultaneously through parallel processing while keeping individual components relatively simple and maintainable.
Data Source
AI summary
An aircraft-based system for tracking and verifying control inputs from potentially incapacitated pilot stores to memory expected control input sets, e.g., control procedures for controlling an aircraft through segments of a flight plan. When pilot monitors indicate a state of potential incapacitation of a pilot (e.g., fatigue, unresponsiveness, hypoxia), the control input tracking system records any control inputs submitted via the flight deck controls by the incapacitated pilot, reviewing each recorded control input compared to expected control inputs (e.g., for the current flight segment). When a recorded control input sufficiently deviates from the corresponding expected control input (e.g., such that aircraft safety or mission criticality may be affected), the pilot and/or flight crew may receive feedback alerting to the deviant control input (e.g., which may be overridden or which may require confirmation prior to execution).