Testing a Nonveridical Aircraft Collision Avoidance System 2008-01-2261

Map displays are veridical representations of realistic information. State spaces are nonveridical representations of arbitrary n-dimensional information. In this experiment, flight performance using a map-based cockpit display of traffic information (CDTI) was compared to performance augmented by a state space-based 4D collision avoidance system (CDTI+4CAS). 4CAS displayed state information about the safety of ownship maneuvers and their available maneuver time. Twelve general aviation pilots each flew eight scenarios, trying to deviate as little as possible from course while still maintaining standard enroute separation from traffic. The CDTI+4CAS condition showed performance superiority over the CDTI-only condition for five of five dependent measures of maneuver efficiency, four of four measures of maneuver safety, and six of nine measures of workload. Human factors issues are discussed.