SBIR-STTR Award

Spatial disorientation (SD) and the subsequent loss of situation awareness account for a significant percentage of fatal mishaps in aviation. SD typically occurs when visual references are compromised, and the pilot's vestibular and somatosensory (tactile) sensations no longer provide accurate gravity vector information due to changing acceleration and gravitational forces. Under these conditions, a pilot must rely on instrumentation to fly the aircraft, often with information that appears to be contrary to what their body is sensing. The objective of this proposed SBIR effort is to develop a new generation tactile sensory display to enhance pilot special awareness in all phases of flight. This Tactile Situational Awareness System (TSAS) will comprise of a processor integrated with current aircraft sensors, and a garment housing a number of vibrotactile transducers (Tactors). EAI proposes various approached to reducing the size and improving the performance of current generation tactors, so that they can produce a strong vibratory stimuli with amplitude control across a wide frequency range. EAI will also address the overall system design and integration, including controller, processor and software mapping for the TSAS process.

Keywords:
Tactile, Actuator, Situational Awareness, Tsas

Army Aviation has a current and future need for a solution to improve helicopter pilot Situational Awareness (SA), especially in Degraded Visual Environments (DVE). The US Army has been developing improved man-machine interfaces that increase pilots awareness of spatial orientation, including the use of non-visual tactile cueing technology for orientation information. Known as the Tactile Situation Awareness System (TSAS), a series of flight tests at Ft Rucker and Ft Eustis have shown the potential of TSAS to improve aircrew spatial awareness and reduce aircrew workload, especially in DVE. This proposal addresses the design and implementation of the next-generation tactile display system that overcomes the limitations of the existing TSAS system, as a solution for the DoD Operational Needs Statement. The aviation solution, designated eTSAS2, maintains all of the benefits of the original eTSAS but will be developed into a FAA certifiable format.