Modern aircraft provide continuous information about their mechanical and operational conditions. Flight instructors lack objective tools to understand the cognitive demands experienced by student pilots. Eric Savage, an assistant professor of practice in Purdue Polytechnic's School of Aviation and Transportation Technology, is developing a flight simulator study to address this gap. He wants to examine how pilots' cognitive and physiological responses change as the demands of flying increase.
The work follows Savage's selection for the inaugural Galea Discovery Program through OpenBCI. His project is one of 10 selected globally for the program's first cohort.
“We are trying to add a set of 'human performance instruments' to the simulator,” Savage said. “An airplane already gives us enormous amounts of information about its condition. Yet, we have far fewer objective instruments for understanding the changing conditions of the human being operating it.”
Savage is developing an initial study built around a standardized general aviation flight simulator scenario. He plans to observe pilots with different levels of experience as they fly the same mission. The planned scenario includes routine flight portions and periods where demands on the pilot increase.
Researchers will collect physiological and behavioral measurements alongside flight performance data. This data will allow them to compare how pilots with different levels of training and experience respond to the same changes in workload.
The proposed study uses OpenBCI's Galea system to collect critical biophysiological markers. This wearable biosensing platform collects several types of data simultaneously. These measurements include electrical activity in the brain, cardiovascular response, changes in the skin, muscle activity and eye behavior. This wearable biosensing platform collects several types of data simultaneously. These measurements include electrical activity in the brain, cardiovascular response, changes in the skin, muscle activity and eye behavior.
Researchers could compare a pilot's assessment of task difficulty directly against the simulator and flight data. The research does not aim to replace experienced instructor judgment. Savage instead wants to determine if these physiological measurements provide meaningful additional information to support training decisions.
“I am not expecting Galea to produce a single gauge that suddenly says, 'This pilot has reached the limit,'” Savage said.
Savage will instead look for patterns across multiple signals as cognitive demand increases. His goal is to investigate an emerging research concept he calls a “cognitive operating envelope.” This framework could eventually provide a clearer picture of the margin between the demands placed on a pilot and the pilot's available mental capacity.
The project is currently in the study development and protocol refinement stage. Savage is working on the simulator scenario, selecting measurements, and preparing for the human-subjects approval process. The team must verify the synchronization of the Galea measurements and the simulator telemetry before beginning human trials.
Savage leads the aviation research initiative. Sogand Hasanzadeh, an associate professor of civil and construction engineering in Purdue's College of Engineering, collaborates on the neuroergonomics and research methodology aspects of the project. Hasanzadeh's expertise complements Savage's background in aviation operations and human factors. Two doctoral students will support the physiological data collection and analysis.
“Aviation has become extraordinarily precise at defining the operating envelopes of aircraft,” Savage said.
Human performance during changing or demanding conditions is understood with far less precision. Savage views the initial simulator study as a starting point. Future research could move into higher-fidelity Boeing 737 and Airbus 319 simulators, more demanding operational scenarios, and multi-crew cockpit environments. Undergraduate and graduate students may also have opportunities to assist with simulator operations, data collection, processing, and analysis as the research develops.
“We are trying to establish an interdisciplinary capability for studying the human operator with the same experimental rigor that aviation has traditionally applied to aircraft development,” Savage said.
