Designing monitoring and alerting systems for electric and hybrid-electric aircraft is a considerable challenge. Researchers are tackling problems by applying human-centered design methods and using configurable Virtual Reality + Motion flight simulators.
The market for electric aircraft is steadily growing. Companies are designing and manufacturing electric and hybrid aircraft for short-range conventional and vertical flight, enabled by innovation in battery and electric propulsion system technologies. Some electric aircraft use retrofitted electric propulsion systems. Other designs, including eVTOLs, are clean-sheet designs that use Distributed Electric Propulsion (DEP) systems.
eVTOL aircraft are continually evolving, reminiscent of the early days of pioneering, powered flight by the Wright Brothers and competitors. eVTOLs are not constrained by heavy engines or transmission gearboxes, electric motors can be placed anywhere on the wings, if the aircraft has them, the fuselage and/or the tail.
But DEP requires new control concepts, displays, and monitoring and alerting systems to maintain pilot situational awareness. Just like the Wright Brothers, accidents and incidents in early development and testing of these new vehicles have provided valuable lessons. Already, it has been possible to identify causal and contributory factors.
Operating these new electric and hybrid aircraft focuses the pilot’s attention on energy management to a far greater degree than before. Given the lower energy densities of current batteries compared to conventional fuels, designers have had to do more with less, making aerodynamic efficiency and weight-saving innovations crucial. The failure modes and effects for DEP are also far more complex than for a single engine. The loss of a propeller and/or motor in a DEP system can generate instability in pitch, roll and yaw – simultaneously.
Managing such a failure is highly complex for a human operator and requires stabilization systems and software to maintain safe flight. In such scenarios, adequate pilot awareness is needed so that if control is augmented or handed over completely, the pilot can manage the situation.
Ground testing of these new systems may be complex. Flight testing presents new challenges to flight crew, including the management of in-flight failures of these novel propulsion systems.
Stabilization systems, automation and AI will play increasingly important roles in future aircraft. Nevertheless, the transition from uncrewed to crewed flight testing requires an increased focus on Human-Centered Design (HCD), an approach that places real people at the center of problem-solving. HCD is needed in every phase of the design. Robust and reliable human machine interfaces are critical for safe flight.
Flight simulators able to accurately represent the real aircraft can be used to evaluate the performance and flying qualities of an aircraft and test failure modes in a safe environment. Future pilot training will also benefit from
high-fidelity modeling and simulation.
Understanding the human operator’s requirements is crucial for developing the safe, electric and hybrid-electric aircraft of the future. With increasing demand for electric and hybrid-electric aircraft to enhance mobility, research that uses human-centered design methods and flight simulators will help inform future cockpit design strategies to achieve acceptable levels of safety in this new emerging aviation sector.
