FlyTact : A tactile display improves a helicopter pilot's landing performance in degraded visual environments
conference paper
Helicopter landings are more challenging in 'brownout' conditions, in which sand and dust is stirred up by the rotary wing aircraft, obscuring visibility. Safe brownout landings require new sensor and display technologies to provide the pilot with information on helicopter motion. In this respect tactile displays are promising: The pilot can maintain visual references as much as possible while 'feeling' the crucial helicopter speed and altitude information. The Royal Netherlands Air Force and TNO developed a tactile display to provide the helicopter pilot with information on groundspeed and altitude during landings in degraded visual environments like brownouts. The tactile display was tested in flight trials with a Cougar helicopter. The test pilot performed brownout-like landing manoeuvres faster, more accurate, better controlled, and with less mental effort when altitude and/or groundspeed information was presented on the tactile display. © 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.
Topics
helicopter controltactile displayDisplay devicesHelicoptersLandingSensor networksAccurateDisplay technologiesFlight trialshelicopter controlHelicopter motionsMental effortsRotary wingsRoyal netherlands air forcestactile displayTactile displaysTest pilotsVisual environmentsMice (computer peripherals)
TNO Identifier
241070
ISSN
03029743
ISBN
3540690565 ; 9783540690566
Source title
6th International Conference on Haptics: Perception, Devices and Scenarios, EuroHaptics 2008, 10 June 2008 through 13 June 2008, Madrid, Conference code: 73947
Pages
867-875
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