A display concept for UAV autoland monitoring: rationale, design and evaluation

In manned aviation, the main reason for the development of an autoland capability was to be able to land in reduced visibility. For over thirty years already, the ILS Cat III autoland system provides aircraft with the capability to land under zero visibility conditions. For unmanned aircraft, the main reason for developing an autoland capability is to reduce the mishap rates associated with the landing. This raises the question whether there still is a role for the human operator during the landing, and if so, what this role is. Factors that influence the answer comprise the integrity and reliability of the autoland function and its dependency on operator consent. A UAV autoland concept is discussed that relies on the involvement of a human operator as a conformance and integrity monitor. An analysis of the suitability of a conventional display format and an advanced, perspective display format to support the conformance and integrity monitoring task is presented. In addition, the level of operator involvement is addressed. Finally, an evaluation of the two display concepts and two levels of operator involvement is presented. Results show advantages for the perspective display format with the integrity monitoring task. Differences for the level of operator involvement were less pronounced.