Avionics: optimal cockpit display design to improve safety 16/11/2010 SUMMARY: The development of a single display cockpit will enhance operational safety, raise efficiency and reduce cost.
The futuristic command station of Star Trek's USS Enterprise may soon have a rival with the ODICIS project, developed by a consortium of 4 large companies (Alenia Aeronautica, Alitalia, Diehl Aerospace and Thales Avionics), 1 SME (Optinvent), 1 research centre (IMEC) and 3 universities (Technical University of Denmark, Technological Educational Institute of Piraeus and University of Malta) drawn from 7 EU member states. Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock would surely appreciate a single seamless display cockpit providing a high level of system flexibility and user interaction. Optimal use of the available cockpit surfaces and continuity of information should also be achievable through the development of a Human Machine Interface concept, which is now being researched and tested. The project also promises to improve operational safety and efficiency while reducing aircraft development costs. The first objective is to meet the technically demanding task of developing a large, seamless and curved avionics display - a kind of giant, ultra-sophisticated iPad. This involves both technical (optics and graphic generation) and operational (pilot-machine interface) challenges. The design of the display will accommodate as much as possible user requirements while exploiting and enhancing aircraft possibilities. Once a satisfactory display is available, appropriate forms of interaction will be defined and implemented. At that stage a complete technically operational prototype of a single display cockpit will be available. The concept of use that stimulated the idea of a single display cockpit will be tested, reviewed and refined on the prototype. Evaluations of human factors will seek to determine the safety and efficiency gains produced by this novel cockpit concept based on use of a single display. Throughout the duration of the project (May 2009 - Sept. 2011), the ODICIS consortium will dialogue via workshops with aeronautical sector representatives in an External Experts Advisory Group. Finally, a roadmap towards a single display cockpit product will be issued at the end of the project. Contact: Loïc BĂŠcouarn (Project manager) loic.becouarn@fr.thalesgroup.com Johanna Dominici (Dissemination manager) PRESS4TRANSPORT is funded by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Research under the Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (FP7)
johanna.dominici@fr.thalesgroup.com https://www.odicis.org/
PRESS4TRANSPORT is funded by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Research under the Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (FP7)