Future Systems Simulator — Laimis Narsutis

Future Systems Simulator (FSS)

Working with pilots, flight dynamics experts I was tasked with designing a modular interface that would be used to test future flight scenarios

Project
Cranfield University
Rolls-Royce Aviation

Date
2020

Activities
Accessibility
User Research
User Testing
Interface strategy
UI Design

Recognition
iF Award 2021 (Product UX)

Accelerating the future of aviation

The FSS is a highly reconfigurable modular flight simulator in which pilots can explore the potential impact on future flight decks from near-term changes, such as smarter, more autonomous engines and revolutionary technologies, such as electric, fuel cells and hybrid propulsion.

Design Process

Understand

Control of an aircraft today is essentially about decision making based on the information available. While automation has helped to reduce a pilot’s workload. A vast majority of decision making takes place at an automatic level by the aircraft.

History: The B17 Fatal Flaw

Why were B17 pilots retracting landing gear (causing damage), but C47 pilots were not?

The look and feel of these two controls were almost exactly the same and they were in very close proximity. Simply changing the feel of the controls fixed the issue.

Very subtle changes in the way information and feedback is presented to the pilot can have a profound impact on their performance.

Today: Complex decision making

Control of an aircraft today is essentially about decision-making based on the information available. While automation has helped to reduce a pilot’s workload. A vast majority of decision-making takes place at an automatic level by the aircraft.

Observe

Paying attention to existing patterns in layout and colour will ensure the interface is intuitive.

Pilot Journeys

Gulfstream G450 had been used as our reference aircraft due to its state of the art systems visual interface.

Systems Knowledge

A guided pilot workflow of an engine start-up sequence allowed us to gain a better understanding of the complexity of all the systems within the aircraft.

Concepts

Physical-to-Digital

FSS all touch-screen interface explores future display and interaction possibilities. Without the presence of physical controls, all-new interactions had to be designed and tested. Wireframing the cockpit layouts and various conditions allowed us to test all possible options.

Ergonomics

The interface design and component position are directly influenced by the physical space around the pilot. We created a modular 1:1 scale rig for testing the physical ergonomics.