In 2019, the Institute of Aerospace Technologies and QuAero Ltd embarked on a collaborative R&I project to develop innovative technology to assist commercial airline pilots during aircraft ground operations, with the objective of making aircraft taxiing easier and safer. After almost two and a half years of research, development and testing, this technology – which relies on an active control sidestick – was integrated in the Institute’s fixed-base research flight simulator in preparation for a series of evaluations with end users of the proposed technology.
While the aircraft is moving between the gate and the runway, pilots can control the aircraft’s speed and direction using the active sidestick. The aircraft’s speed is adjusted by deflecting the sidestick forwards or backwards while its heading is changed by deflecting the sidestick sideways. The speed can be varied between 0 and 30 knots, where 30 knots is the typical maximum taxi speed of commercial aircraft.
One of the nice features of the proposed technology is that the pilot does not need to apply a continuous force on the sidestick to maintain a particular speed; instead, he/she can let go of the sidestick and control algorithms will automatically adjust the throttle and/or brakes to keep a constant speed. This is functionally equivalent to cruise control in a car and the pilot can take over control at any time.
Another key function of the proposed technology is that the distance between the aircraft and the taxiway centreline (aka the cross-track error) is constantly monitored and, in the event of a deviation from the centreline, a force signal is sent to the sidestick to ‘nudge’ the pilot in the direction of the centreline in order to ensure that the aircraft remains on track.
Following a call for volunteers, the technology described above was evaluated during Q3/Q4 of 2021 with the participation of 20 commercial airline pilots (11 Captains and 9 First Officers), with flying experience ranging from 570 hours to 22,500 hours. Each session consisted of 10 taxi scenarios: eight scenarios in which the evaluation pilot used the active sidestick to taxi the aircraft, and two scenarios in which the pilot used the conventional method of taxiing.
The qualitative and quantitative results of the evaluations showed that the proposed technology has the potential to reduce pilot workload and increase safety during taxiing, particularly in low visibility operations. The research team now intends to present the full results of the evaluations at the 2022 AIAA Aviation Forum.
In 2020, the project consortium filed a patent application in the UK to protect the IP generated in ACSAGO. This was followed by the filing of a PCT application in 2021. The UK patent application is currently in its examination phase.
A public dissemination event in relation to ACSAGO will be organised at the Esplora Interactive Science Centre later on this year. Make sure to follow the social media channels of the Institute of Aerospace Technologies and QuAero for more updates and information.
ACSAGO (R&I-2017-032-T) is financed by the Malta Council for Science & Technology, for and on behalf of the Foundation for Science and Technology, through the FUSION: R&I Technology Development Programme.