Emotion-Aware Robotic Pilot Feedback for Reduced Crew CRM

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Solution Overview

Problem

Reduced crew environments in piloting or control environments, such as aircraft, can lead to unbalanced crew resource management due to robotic pilots' inability to effectively communicate and connect with humans emotionally, lacking the critical component of emotional awareness.

Innovation Solution

An emotionally intelligent robotic pilot system that measures physiological signals from users, generates emotional parameter values, and produces natural language statements using an emotional analyzer model and natural language processing, incorporating user calibration data, environmental data, and vehicle activity data to provide support and maintain balanced CRM.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If a robotic pilot is used to compensate for reduced crew, then productivity is improved, but crew resource management balance deteriorates due to lack of emotional communication

Engineering Contradiction:

ImproveproductivityVSAvoidcrew resource management balance

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The robotic pilot incorporates sensors to detect physiological signals (heart rate, galvanic skin response, pupil dilation) and provides feedback through natural language processing, creating a closed-loop communication system that enables emotional awareness and responsive interaction

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces an emotional intelligence system as an intermediary between the robotic pilot and human user, translating physiological signals into emotional understanding and enabling effective communication despite the robotic nature of the system

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Ease of operation

If existing robotic pilots perform manual control tasks, then ease of operation is improved, but emotional awareness deteriorates due to inability to connect at emotional level

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveease of operationVSAvoidemotional awareness

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The patent replaces traditional mechanical control interfaces with an emotional intelligence-based communication system that uses physiological signal detection and natural language processing to achieve more effective human-robot interaction

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

Data Source

PatentUS11787062B2Emotional intelligent robotic pilot

Publication Date: 2023.10.17 THE BOEING CO

AI summary

A system for providing pilot or controller support in a reduced crew transport environment may include a set of sensors configured to collect a set of measurements of a set of physiological signals of a user. The system may further include an emotional analyzer model usable to generate at least one emotional parameter value corresponding to the set of measurements. The system may also include a natural language processing model usable to generate a natural language statement corresponding to the at least one emotional parameter value for output to the pilot.