AOPA Pilot Magazine - September 2018 - 76

MITRE ENGINEER Jason Giovan-

nelli fills in as an air traffic
controller in the IDEA Lab's
virtual control tower (above).
The pilot of a Piper Aztec compares his expected clearance
email with the clearance issued
by clearance delivery (far
right). A recent test evaluated
clearances delivered by mobile
devices.

Department, leads
a team that has
been working since
2 0 1 5 o n a p ro j ect it calls Digital
Co-Pilot. MITRE is a
not-for-profit organization that conducts
research for the FAA
and other government agencies, and it
has contributed heavily to new aviation technology.
Digital Co-Pilot's objective is to provide pilots with
information they need, when
they need it, in a format that
is not distracting-and to infer
what the pilot wants to do. The
concept includes speech recognition, which allows the pilot
to ask for information, like
an aeronautical Siri or Alexa.
Pollack wanted to begin the
Digital Co-Pilot research five

years ago, but it wasn't funded
at the time. "It probably was a
blessing in disguise," he says,
because some underlying technology didn't exist and others,
such as voice recognition, were
nowhere near as good as they
are today.
Taxiing onto a runway at
Manassas (Virginia) Regional
Airport, Pollack begins the takeoff roll. "Digital Co-Pilot knows
we're on the runway. It will give

IDEA LAB GRADUATES
You may use some of these technologies today
Do you use Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast In to access weather
and other flight information in the cockpit? MITRE developed the universal
access transceiver beacon radio, which is the basis for all 978 MHz UAT datalinks. "We built the first UAT beacon radio for both ADS-B In and Out," MITRE's
Matthew Pollack said. ADS-B hardware manufacturers can license MITRE's UAT
technology on a nonexclusive basis, or develop their own from the standards.
Runway environment taxiway paint markings such as the runway position
holding marker-"As pilots, we all know them as the zipper," Pollack said-were
co-developed by MITRE, the FAA, and industry. The lab conducted human
factors testing in its flight deck simulators, and then tweaked the design to
maximize effectiveness.
In a similar way, the lab was involved in the change from green to green and
amber alternating taxiway lead-on lights. "We did a lot of the human-in-the-loop
studies into what's the most effective configuration of taxiway centerline lights,"
he said. "Pilots followed the green lights past the hold short line.
"We do a lot of things with airspace redesign, specifically in the metroplexes," Pollack added, including recent changes to the Dallas-Fort Worth and
Washington, D.C., terminal airspace to make arrivals and departures as efficient
as possible. MITRE will run controllers and ATC management through various
scenarios to determine the best design options.
In the mid-1970s, MITRE worked with the FAA and Lincoln Labs to develop the traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS). It was involved in the
placement of weather cameras in Alaska, and how pilots use that system. It's
also worked with RTCA on development of standards for cockpit displays
and traffic displays. Many standards are the result of collaboration between
the FAA and industry stakeholder groups that often include AOPA, EAA, and
other organizations.
In addition to Digital Co-Pilot, current work includes mobile predeparture
clearances and integrating small unmanned aircraft systems into the National
Airspace System.
-MC
76 | AOPA PILOT September 2018

distance-remaining callouts." It
also offers an advisory that local
weather conditions are deteriorating, and confirms that the
altimeter is properly set.
"Conditions at Manassas
now IFR," the virtual voice
intones. A compact audio interface connects Pollack's iPad to
the audio panel, allowing him
to hear the Digital Co-Pilot's
aural alerts-and Digital
Co-Pilot to hear and recognize
his voice instructions.
"If you can get ahead of the
airplane-and get ahead of the
pilot-you can break that accident chain," says Pollack, an
active GA pilot who owns a
Piper Aztec and is especially
interested in weather. It's hard
to look at 30 METAR reporting
stations and see how they're
changing over time, but software can do that quickly, he
said. The goal is to assist the
pilot by providing appropriate information-not to tell the
pilot what to do, he added.
As his flight progresses,
the software offers the automatic terminal information
service radio frequency at an
appropriate distance from
the destination airport, and
then the tower frequency.
"It's always trying to stay one
step ahead. Ten steps ahead is
too far," Pollack said. "Most of
these alerts will go away when
the condition no longer warrants them." Or the pilot can
swipe them away.

AOPA Pilot Magazine - September 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - September 2018