Touchscreen Pilot Input Capture for Flight Data Recorders
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing aircraft data recorders do not capture comprehensive information on pilot actions and interactions with onboard systems, leading to incomplete insights during retrospective investigations, and voice data is often degraded by noise from vibrations and turbulence.
Innovation Solution
A system comprising a touchscreen interface with a touch panel and a control module that captures spatial and metadata associated with user inputs, integrating this data with flight data recorders to store it in a time-ordered sequence for comprehensive analysis.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If traditional flight data recorders and cockpit voice recorders are used, then basic flight data and audio are captured, but comprehensive information on pilot actions and system interactions is not captured
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple data sources including flight data recorder, cockpit voice recorder, and touchscreen interface data into a single integrated data capturing system. This merging allows comprehensive capture of pilot actions, system interactions, and contextual information without requiring separate complex systems for each function.
Solution Approach 2:
The flight data recorder is enhanced to serve multiple functions: traditional flight parameter recording, voice data capture, and touchscreen input monitoring. This multi-functionality allows the system to capture comprehensive pilot actions and system interactions through a single versatile device rather than multiple specialized systems.
2Loss of information
If cockpit voice recorder is used to capture pilot communication, then voice data is recorded, but the data is degraded by noise from vibrations and turbulence
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces touchscreen interface elements as an intermediary communication channel between pilot and system. This intermediary allows pilots to input commands and receive system status information without relying solely on voice communication, thereby reducing the impact of vibration and turbulence noise on critical information exchange.
3Measurement precision
If detailed touchscreen input data is captured and stored, then comprehensive analysis of pilot actions is enabled, but data storage requirements and processing complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments touchscreen input data into distinct categories including spatial coordinates, timestamp, input type, and system response. This segmentation allows for organized storage and efficient processing of detailed pilot actions, enabling comprehensive analysis while managing data complexity through structured organization.
Solution Approach 2:
The system captures not only pilot touchscreen inputs but also system responses to those inputs. This feedback loop creates a complete data set showing both pilot actions and system reactions, enabling precise analysis of pilot-system interactions while maintaining manageable data volumes through focused capture of relevant interaction pairs.
Data Source
AI summary
Aircraft systems and methods are provided for capturing user inputs during operation. An aircraft system includes a user interface and a flight data recorder coupled to the user interface. The user interface includes a user input device to receive a user input and a control module coupled to the user input device to capture data associated with the user input and output the data. The flight data recorder receives the data associated with the user input and stores the data associated with the user input device in a time ordered sequence.