A unified system to provide crew alerting, electronic checklists and maintenance using IVHM

Within the world of civil and military aircraft, crew alerting and maintenance functions have traditionally been provided by two separate and distinct systems, each supported by procedural checklists. While both systems provide similar functionality, they serve different audiences and have been architected differently more due to tradition than necessity. In the manned spaceflight sector, the differentiation is even greater, utilizing primarily manual (human) processes augmented by limited computer automation. NASA is now actively investigating integrated vehicle health management (IVHM) techniques to improve the safety and maintainability of space vehicles. IVHM has the potential to merge traditional crew alerting, procedural checklists and maintenance into a unified system applicable to aircraft and human-rated space vehicles. Attempting such a combination presents significant challenges, most notably obtaining cultural acceptance and certification approval. The benefits of a unified system, however, far outweigh these challenges. This work examines the feasibility of implementing such a system, and offers approaches to address the various challenges that may be encountered along the way.