Date of Award

Summer 8-1993

Document Type

Thesis - Open Access

Degree Name

Master of Aeronautical Science

Department

Graduate Studies

Committee Chair

John T. McGrath

Committee Member

Leslie Kutnpula

Committee Member

James Blanchard

Abstract

This study evaluated the effects that heads-up mounted TCAS displays had on pilot response and workload. Pilot response was evaluated by: (a) response time to a traffic advisory, and (b) number of missed traffic alerts. Workload assessment was accomplished in accordance with NASA's Task Load Index (TLX). Subjects were all licensed pilots with a minimum of a private pilot license and an instrument rating. A total of 32 subjects were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups utilizing HUD-mounted, and conventional, TCAS displays respectively. Performance data was collected during computer-simulated flights, while subjective workload levels were reported at the end. It was found that HUD-mounted TCAS displays yielded better performance results (p=0.05), while resulting in significantly less workload.

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