Improved tunnel display for curved trajectory following - Experimental evaluation

Improvements of a previously developed tunnel display for curved trajectory following have been experimentally evaluated. A fixed-base simulator study has been carried out in which eight pilot subjects flew a simplified linearized trim model of a large transport aircraft along eight different curved and descending approach trajectories under various experimental conditions. The purpose was to evaluate an new predictor guidance scheme based on an actively driven predictor reference window. The results show that, for the larger prediction times, the new guidance scheme yielded a superior performance as compared to the original configuration in which a nonactive predictor reference window was used. Corner cutting was eliminated, resulting in a highly improved positional accuracy in transitions from straight to curved trajectory sections and back. Furthermore, cross track errors resulting from low-frequency disturbances were greatly reduced as a result of the integral control action imparted to the predictor reference window, without affecting the task difficulty. (Author)