This paper describes how intelligent agents can simulate human operators to aid in the analysis and design of complex systems. The paper presents two examples of adapting the Crew Activity Tracking System (CATS) to function as an intelligent agent. The first is a model-based design application, in which CATS agents perform the task of air traffic controllers in order to test a new operational c...

BACKGROUND Flight-related neck/shoulder pain is frequent among military helicopter pilots and crew members. With a lifetime prevalence of 81% for pilots and 84% for crew members, the prevalence of neck pain is considered high compared to the general population. The aim of this study was to investigate whether a specifically tailored exercise intervention would reduce the prevalence and incidenc...

Airline crew scheduling is a comparably well-studied field in Operations Research. An increasing demand for higher crew satisfaction arises; especially after most relevant cost factors have been optimized to their greatest extent, mostly with secondary or little regard on quality-of-life criteria for the involved crew members. One such criterion is team-orientation. Independent from the chosen ...

Future technologies will enable carriers to collect additional flight data for Flight Operational Quality Assurance. This paper describes how analysis of these data using model-based activity tracking can automatically assess the causes of detected deviations to support safety-enhancement efforts. The paper describes the activity tracking methodology implemented in the Crew Activity Tracking Sy...

This study was designed to validate the utility of a commercial portable clinical blood analyzer (PCBA) in ground-based studies and on the space shuttle. Ionized calcium, pH, electrolytes, glucose, and hematocrit were determined. Results agreed well with those from traditional laboratory methods, and the PCBA demonstrated good between-day precision for all analytes. In-flight analysis of contro...

EXTENDED ABSTRACT In this work, we present a real-time 4D conflict detection and conflict avoidance algorithm in enroute traffic. The algorithm is based on identifying potential conflicts and generating flight patterns across the flight envelope of an aircraft using probabilistic search strategy. Generating flyable trajectories in air congestion and in face of obstacles such as natural objects,...

OBJECTIVE The study was designed to investigate the effectiveness of a manipulation derived from social categorization and social identity theory to promote greater cabin crew willingness to engage in intergroup communication and teamwork in airline operations. BACKGROUND Failures of communication and teamwork between airline crew have been implicated in a number of airline crashes. METHOD ...

This study was conducted at NASA Ames Research Center as a part of a larger research project assessing the impact of captain's personality on crew performance and perceived stress in 24 air transport crews (5). Three different personality types for captains were classified based on a previous cluster analysis (3). Crews were comprised of three crewmembers: captain, first officer, and second off...