Voice Ribbon Interface for Flight Deck Command Verification

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Solution Overview

Problem

Voice activated flight deck systems face challenges in ensuring crew situational awareness and accurate interpretation of voice commands, with risks of false positives and lack of visual cues for available functions, which can lead to interruptions and decreased CRM efficiency.

Innovation Solution

A voice activatable flight deck system that includes a display device, database, and voice recognition system, providing a user interface ribbon with machine interpretations of voice commands, suggesting available values, and offering visual and aural feedback to confirm or correct commands, while indicating which crew member issued the command to enhance situational awareness.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If voice commands are used to access flight deck functions, then direct access to off-screen elements is improved, but crew situation awareness and CRM efficiency deteriorate due to lack of visual cues and potential misinterpretation

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedirect access to functionsVSAvoidcrew situation awareness

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The system provides visual feedback by displaying a ribbon with the machine's interpretation of the voice command, allowing the crew to verify accuracy before execution. This feedback loop resolves the contradiction by maintaining direct voice access while restoring visual confirmation to preserve situation awareness.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

Solution Approach 2:

The visual ribbon acts as an intermediary between the voice command input and system execution. It mediates the interaction by presenting the interpreted command for verification, thus bridging the gap between hands-free operation and visual awareness.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Loss of time

If voice commands are used for flight deck operations, then heads-down time is reduced, but the risk of false positives and misinterpretation increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveheads-down timeVSAvoidcommand interpretation accuracy

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of timeVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary verification by displaying the interpreted command in the ribbon before execution. This preliminary action allows the crew to correct misinterpretations before they become errors, resolving the contradiction between speed and accuracy.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

Visual and aural feedback confirms the machine's interpretation of the voice command, allowing the crew to verify accuracy. This feedback mechanism reduces the risk of false positives while maintaining the time efficiency of voice activation.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

3Ease of operation

If voice commands are used to interact with flight deck systems, then direct access to functions is improved, but visual cues for available functions are eliminated

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvefunction accessibilityVSAvoidvisual function availability

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The visual ribbon serves as an intermediary that provides visual information about the interpreted command without requiring the crew to look at detailed function menus. It shows what the system understood from the voice command, maintaining function accessibility while providing necessary visual cues.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Data Source

PatentEP3979066B1Methods and systems for using voice commands and a smart scratch pad to tune a radio in a voice activated flight deck

Publication Date: 2023.11.15 HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL INC

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AI summary

A voice activatable flight deck system including a voice recognition and processing system for receiving and processing input voice commands and determining machine commands for the voice activatable flight deck system. The system generates a voice ribbon specifying voice commanded and suggested values for attributes associated with the voice command.