Thales Avionics 2020 Cockpit concept

[Triton]

Video of Thales Avionic 2020 Cockpit concept unveiled at Paris Air Show 2013.

http://youtu.be/iqSD9Mpyeqc

http://youtu.be/wkwD5tMZs1A

 

[jsport]

Thank you sir for posting..

 

[Triton]

It appears that touch-screen glass cockpits, similar to the Thales Avionics 2020 Cockpit concept, are the shape of things to come.

"Planes Likely to Switch to Touch-Screen Controls"
by Andy Pasztor
June 19, 2013

Source:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323836504578553683470849540.html

LE BOURGET, France—In the not-too-distant future, airliner cockpit panels are likely to resemble giant iPads, as the current dizzying array of knobs and switches gives way to touch screens adapted from consumer devices.

If implemented quickly enough, new designs unveiled this week at the Paris International Air Show here would mean that by the end of this decade airline pilots will issue basic airborne commands—from changing course to controlling engines—by tapping or dragging icons across screens, people in the industry said.

The tabletlike displays also are envisioned to provide graphical cues for planes on airport taxiways. Once airborne, pilots will be able instantly to call up and expand navigation charts on the same screen, incorporate air-traffic control messages and, with a single swipe, automatically ensure safe spacing from nearby aircraft.
A Paris Flyover

The evolution reflects the goal of "making displays more intuitive, more integrated and significantly more user-friendly," said Denis Bonnet, the head of innovation for Thales SA's HO.FR -1.18% cockpit-design center. The French company's two largest U.S. competitors are moving in the same direction.

"Pilots are much more accustomed to interfacing with machines" through interactive screens, said Carl Esposito, a senior executive with Honeywell International Corp. "That's the way the world is."

Dropping its longstanding reluctance to introducing touch screens on airliners, Honeywell this week said it won the contract to supply a limited system on the newest commuter jets slated to be built by Brazil's Embraer EMBR3.BR -1.98% SA.

Even after the shift, pilots would still rely on a joystick or yoke to move flight controls to change direction and altitude. But if the concept spreads, most routine flying tasks, as well as troubleshooting for malfunctions, would be performed without pilots pushing buttons.

To simplify training for a new breed of computer-savvy pilots, "the system is exactly what you would expect to see based on everyday devices," Mr. Bonnet said.

Thales showcased its latest concept, dubbed Avionics 2020, amid industry interest in next-generation cockpits and a visit to its mock-up Monday by French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault.

Rockwell Collins Inc., COL +0.48% also bullish on the benefits of touch screens, sees them as part of a broader competitive strategy. With manufacturers "selling planes into the global marketplace," language in drop-down menus "easily can be changed to the country of choice," said Kent Statler, who runs Rockwell's commercial businesses.

Such features currently are available only in the cockpits of a few top-of-the line fighter jets and in limited applications on general-aviation aircraft. Rockwell is seeking U.S. regulatory approval for touch-screen displays on the Beechcraft King Air, a twin-engine, propeller-driven, general-aviation model.

But Mr. Statler said his company has firm commitments to install touch-screen systems on several future business-jet models. "We think they will migrate up" to large jets, he said, as will artificial-vision systems that allow pilots to look out the cockpit window but see a virtual image of nearby terrain and runways in low visibility. Helicopters also are widely seen as strong contenders for the technology.

For suppliers, the idea entails huge manufacturing advantages. "It allows us to reduce the size and complexity of the overhead panels," said Mr. Bonnet of Thales.

Industry experts also see challenges, including the difficulty of using even supersize touch screens during severe turbulence. Mr. Bonnet and others said that hurdle could be overcome by providing pilots with separate, removable touch pads and pointers that minimize problems from jostling.

There also are questions about ensuring that emergency commands aren't lost. "You probably don't want to bury the engine fire-extinguisher function deep in a menu," said Honeywell's Mr. Esposito.

Other challenges are more ergonomic. In most large commercial jets, with extensive banks of instruments and displays in front and around pilots, their seats typically are located too far back to be able comfortably to reach primary screens.

 

[Hobbes]

The big problem with touchscreens is that you can't use them without looking at them. This means they're useless/dangerous for time-sensitive tasks and tasks where you need to be looking out the window instead of at the dashboard.

 

[Grey Havoc]

The technology for tactile touchscreens and the like does exist, but is still pretty uncommon and therefore (in part) expensive.

 

[Triton]

"Thales Introduces Future Cockpit Avionics Concept"

Source:
http://www.aviationtoday.com/av/military/2013-Paris-Air-Show-Highlights_79533.html#.UcSqUZyO6dk

Thales introduced the international aviation community to its future cockpit avionics concept on the first day of the Paris Air Show, the "Avionics 2020" cockpit.

The cockpit is evolved from the one display for a cockpit interactive solution (ODICIS) demonstrator that Thales unveiled at the 2011 Paris Air Show. Avionics 2020 is a next-generation cockpit with customization options for airlines and operators, touchscreen displays with NextGen and Sesar functionality and a feature that allows pilots to adjust aircraft takeoff and climb profile for optimal CO2 emissions and fuel burn.

Also included in the 2020 cockpit are I4D operations, which allow pilots to better sequence air traffic with time constraints at metering point to each aircraft converging to a certain point, and digital-taxi functionality, enabling real-time uplink of taxi routes with controller-pilot data link communications (CPDLC).

Pilots will also be able to drag data across cockpit displays with the touchscreen functionality, and can use the cockpit's Airborne Separation Assistance Systems (ASAS) to adjust aircraft speed relevant to spacing for other nearby aircraft. The displays merge data from the aircraft's most critical avionics and non-avionics systems, similar to the merge capabilities of some the latest fighter jet cockpits, such as the French Rafale fighter cockpit, which was also designed by Thales.

"We are showing the world that a cockpit designed around more seamless interaction between the pilot and the electronics is no longer a purely intellectual concept, but a viable commercial application which, as more and more functionalities and tasks are added to a pilot’s workload, will become essential for the future of air transport," said Denis Bonnet, head of innovation for the cockpit competence center at Thales.

 

[Triton]

The big problem with touchscreens is that you can't use them without looking at them. This means they're useless/dangerous for time-sensitive tasks and tasks where you need to be looking out the window instead of at the dashboard.

Would a pilot need to change the display during these tasks? Wouldn't there also be presets and automation to allow the pilot to change these screens quickly? It this any more distracting than banks of analog switches and indicators?

 

[Triton]

The technology for tactile touchscreens and the like does exist, but is still pretty uncommon and therefore (in part) expensive.

Are these touchscreens required to be much more robust than the touchscreens of the current generation of consumer computing devices such as the Microsoft Surface?

 

[Grey Havoc]

The technology for tactile touchscreens and the like does exist, but is still pretty uncommon and therefore (in part) expensive.

Are these touchscreens required to be much more robust than the touchscreens of the current generation of consumer computing devices such as the Microsoft Surface?

They're supposed to be as robust or near enough to make no difference.

 

[Arjen]

The big problem with touchscreens is that you can't use them without looking at them. This means they're useless/dangerous for time-sensitive tasks and tasks where you need to be looking out the window instead of at the dashboard.

Would a pilot need to change the display during these tasks? Wouldn't there also be presets and automation to allow the pilot to change these screens quickly? It this any more distracting than banks of analog switches and indicators?

Touch screens have no tactile feedback, on-screen controls can only be found by looking at the screen. When time is critical, this can slow you down enough to cause major discomfort. The F-22 cockpit has touch screen interfaces that have to be looked at to be operated; some of these are placed in side consoles that force the pilot to look down in the cockpit when he wants to use them. Pilot distraction because of poor cockpit ergonomy has been suggested as one of the causes of a fatal F-22 crash.

 

[Osaka]

The big problem with touchscreens is that you can't use them without looking at them. This means they're useless/dangerous for time-sensitive tasks and tasks where you need to be looking out the window instead of at the dashboard.

Would a pilot need to change the display during these tasks? Wouldn't there also be presets and automation to allow the pilot to change these screens quickly? It this any more distracting than banks of analog switches and indicators?

Touch screens have no tactile feedback, on-screen controls can only be found by looking at the screen. When time is critical, this can slow you down enough to cause major discomfort. The F-22 cockpit has touch screen interfaces that have to be looked at to be operated; some of these are placed in side consoles that force the pilot to look down in the cockpit when he wants to use them. Pilot distraction because of poor cockpit ergonomy has been suggested as one of the causes of a fatal F-22 crash.

This was also my thinking on the matter, though there have been applied examples of touch-screens which don't seem to be totally awful in the form of finger-wells to stabilize the hands (eg Gulfstream's G600 Touchscreen Symmetry flight-deck) -- though what I don't really understand is what meaningful advantage these systems offer over a well designed inceptor-software-cockpit implementation.

I think the Rafale had the right idea.

Its middle display being columnated for infinity like the HUD when displaying tactical information. What this translates to is your eyes aren't refocusing from navigation to tactical information which cuts down on eye-strain and improves legibility of information under high strain.

Couple this with a grip design with two hand positions for the throttle HOS/TAS where hand position relates directly to the specific tasks being performed and it also solves the crowning problem that the F35's inceptor design runs into in terms of its available real-estate due to its refusal to re-use the functionality from its inceptor grips for certain functions contextually.

I can see touchscreens *maybe* making sense in a flight-deck where the analysis/response times to phenomenon are measured in the tens of seconds, rather than seconds but you're always going to need practical reliable backups.