Pilot Vehicle Interfaces with Smart Avionics Systems

A new design goal for pilot vehicle interfaces (PVIs) has recently been widely acknowledged - that of transitioning the primary role of the pilot to one of systems manager, rather than systems operator and information integrator. This general goal needs translation into a set of practical guidelines for designing PVIs to “smart” avionics systems. This paper presents a set of five high level design goals for smart PVIs. These are: a) anticipate communication requirements, b) negotiate pilot's agenda, c) regulate information “attensity”, d) discuss abstract constructs, and e) implement pilot's intent. These goals are intended to provide a unifying conceptual architecture from which specific guidance concerning the broad range of PVI design issues can be derived.