Control theoretic concept for intuitive guidance of pilots during taxiing

Several international air traffic management (ATM) research programs are currently investigating new guidance technologies to cope with the increasing traffic both in the air and on the ground. The programs show that it is mandatory to introduce a spatial and temporal guidance of aircraft from gate to gate. While the current research programs recommend the use of autopilots during the en-route phase, an automated guidance system for taxiing exhibits some major disadvantages. The proposed concept of keeping the pilot in the loop during taxiing avoids the need for additional aircraft equipment. Instead, we suggest using the taxiway light elements which are already installed at most hub airports but are not used to their full extend. Currently only spatial guidance, known as "follow-the-greens", is implemented. The proposed concept augments the purely spatial guidance by a temporal component through dynamically triggering the taxiway light elements. The number of lit lights is calculated using methods of automatic control. Therefore a mathematical model of the plane and pilot has been identified in a measurement campaign with airline pilots in a fixed base research flight simulator. Different controller types were implemented and evaluated in a second measurement campaign in corporation with fourteen airline captains.