- Federal Aviation Administration
WJH Technical Center,
Building 28,
ACY International Airport, NJ 08405 - +1-609-485-4191
Ben F Willems
Fedearal Aviation Administration, Human Factors Branch, Department Member
- Aviation, Human Factors, Eye tracking, Mental workload measures, Heart rate variability, EEG, and 32 moreEEG Signal Processing, EEG/MEG Source Localization, Air Traffic Management, Air traffic control, Air traffic simulation, Air Traffic Flow Management, Cognitive Ergonomics, Ergonomics, Brain Imaging, Workload Characterisation, Mental Worload, Human Perception and Performance, Human Computer Interaction, Biomechanics, Perception, Communication, Taxonomy, Human Factors in Aviation, Non Verbal communications, Eye Movements (Psychology), Autonomous Cognitive Agents, Cognitive Modeling, Cognitive Architectures, Multi-Agent Systems and Autonomous Agents, Computational Human Performance Modeling, Cognitive Engineering, Autonomous Agents; Cognitive Architecture; Beliefs and Goals, User Modeling, Intelligent Tutoring Systems, Visual Fatigue, Situation awareness, and Medicineedit
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Research Interests: Human Computer Interaction, Situation awareness, Human Factors, Team Situation Awareness, Radar, and 11 moreDecision Support Systems, Aviation Safety, Air Traffic Management, Aviation Psychology, Decision support system, Air traffic control, Automation, SITUATIONAL AWARENESS, Workload, Air Traffic Controller, and Control Management
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What performance level must automation reach to be a net benefit to the user? This paper presents a meta-analysis of 34 data points taken from 12 studies in the human factors literature, each representing the effect of an imperfect... more
What performance level must automation reach to be a net benefit to the user? This paper presents a meta-analysis of 34 data points taken from 12 studies in the human factors literature, each representing the effect of an imperfect automation aid on system performance, relative to baseline. Bayesian regression analysis indicated a consistent relationship between automation reliability (i.e., overall percent correct) and performance, with values greater than 67% associated with performance gains. The credible interval for this crossover point ranged from 55 to 75%. There was also a consistent effect of d’, with a crossover point of 1.47 and a credible interval from -0.04 to 2.22. However, we urge caution in using these values as a benchmark criterion, due to the sizeable uncertainty in the crossover estimates and the variability in how researchers compute false alarm and reliability rates. The question “How good is good enough?” likely does not have a single domain-general answer, with the automation performance threshold varying across task domains and other variables.
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The Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) is designed to transform the existing air traffic system and introduce new procedures to accommodate increased traffic levels. This simulation evaluated three potential procedures... more
The Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) is designed to transform the existing air traffic system and introduce new procedures to accommodate increased traffic levels. This simulation evaluated three potential procedures using two simulated en route controller workstation systems. The Baseline system modeled the workstation planned for use in the field after 2010. The Future En Route Workstation (FEWS) added features and functions to the Baseline system to further support the management of high traffic levels and procedure use. When using the FEWS system, the participants managed more aircraft, held traffic less, and reported lower workload than when using the Baseline system. When the participants worked with Area Navigation (RNAV) procedures that included both lateral and vertical conformance constraints, they managed more aircraft and issued fewer voice clearances than when they worked with RNAV procedures that included only lateral constraints. We did not find additional benefits for the other two delegated aircraft procedures.
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ABSTRACT One of the key enabling technologies required to achieve the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA’s) Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) goals is Data Communication (Data Comm) between controllers and pilots. It... more
ABSTRACT One of the key enabling technologies required to achieve the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA’s) Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) goals is Data Communication (Data Comm) between controllers and pilots. It reduces voice communication congestion and errors. A concern about Data Comm is that it can fail. Our en route simulation experimental results showed that controllers talked with pilots more frequently after failure compared to the same scenario without failure. Workload also increased, but the difference was not statistically significant. We did not find any significant increase in the frequencies of clearances issued after failure. The participant controllers responded that partial and system failures were detrimental to their performance. They commented that the aircraft failure symbol needed to be more pronounced and that they would need help after partial and total system failures in heavy traffic. We present recommendations to alleviate the problems from Data Comm failure.
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While previous research in the air traffic control (ATC) communications area has generally concentrated on controller-pilot communications, this program of research focuses on controller-to-controller communications. At the air route... more
While previous research in the air traffic control (ATC) communications area has generally concentrated on controller-pilot communications, this program of research focuses on controller-to-controller communications. At the air route traffic control center (ARTCC), teams of two controllers, R-side and D-side, are required to communicate on a continuing basis to coordinate the duties of their sector. As modernization of the ATC system progresses, questions arise concerning the effects these changes will have on intra-enroute sector team (EST) communications. In anticipation of technology changes, the Federal Aviation Administration commissioned a series of studies investigating intra-EST communication. This initial study details the design and subsequent field testing of the Controller-to-Controller Communication and Coordination Taxonomy (C4T). The taxonomy is designed to capture the following general communication categories: Topic, Format (grammatical form), and Expression. The final taxonomy resulting from this research contains 12 ATC topics (i.e., Traffic, Altitude, etc.). Communication Grammatical Format contained 5 subcategories: Question, Answer, Statement, Command, and Command Answer. Communication Expression consisted of 3 subcategories: Verbal, Nonverbal or a combination of Verbal and Nonverbal, referred to as Both. A field study at an ARTCC was conducted with subject-matter experts coding intra-EST communications using the taxonomy described. Field observations were made at 18 different sectors between the hours of 07:00 and 019:00 based on moderate to high traffic levels. Descriptive statistics detail the results of the taxonomy's use in a field setting. Testing and further refinement of the taxonomy allows its use in both field and controlled experimental settings, provides a tool for training individuals to code C4T communications, and enables the establishment of a C4T baseline to investigate changes in communication patterns as modernization continues in the enroute ATC environment.
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Some air traffic control researchers have reported that the relationship between aircraft count in the sector and controller workload is nonlinear. Other researchers have reported it linear. However, they did not manipulate the number of... more
Some air traffic control researchers have reported that the relationship between aircraft count in the sector and controller workload is nonlinear. Other researchers have reported it linear. However, they did not manipulate the number of aircraft separately in their experiments. In our experiment, we gradually increased traffic levels within each experimental run. Our controllers used three different workstation systems with and without data communication. The linear and power models described the relationship well. The proportion of workload variance explained by aircraft count was well above 50%. With these models, we predict controllers could handle about four (13%) more aircraft with data communication than without it with the Display System Replacement (DSR) system that is currently used at Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCCs).
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ABSTRACT PB - Human Factors and Ergonomics Society
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This document is available to the public through the National Technical Information
This document is available to the public through the National Technical Information
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Improving the current Air Traffic Control (ATC) system with new technologies such as decision support systems (DSTs) is necessary to accommodate continued growth in air traffic. These new technologies will potentially move ATC Specialists... more
Improving the current Air Traffic Control (ATC) system with new technologies such as decision support systems (DSTs) is necessary to accommodate continued growth in air traffic. These new technologies will potentially move ATC Specialists (ATCSs) from tactical to more strategic control. How this change will affect ATCS situation awareness (SA) is unknown. To assess SA real-time on operational hardware and software is both a technical and human factors challenge. This paper describes the measurement of SA, including a new instrument, in an experiment that investigated the effect of traffic level, automation, and ATCS position. Sixteen ATCSs from Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCCs) within the United States volunteered. We attached the Situation Awareness Verification and ANalysis Tool (SAVANT) to hardware used in operational facilities and probed ATCS real-time. The results of the experiment showed that the implementation of an online SA assessment instrument on operational har...
Research Interests: Human Factors in Aviation, Near Infrared, Prefrontal Cortex, Air traffic control, Brain, and 13 moreHumans, Near Infrared Spectroscopy, Neuroimage, Human Performance, Human Machine Interface, Workload, Mental workload measures, Ecological Validity, Functional Neuroimaging, Mental Workload, Task Performance and Analysis, Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, and Medical and Health Sciences
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Abstract: The Separation Management Project is part of the Federal Aviation Administrations (FAA) Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) Plan. Human factors researchers from the FAA's William J. Hughes Technical... more
Abstract: The Separation Management Project is part of the Federal Aviation Administrations (FAA) Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) Plan. Human factors researchers from the FAA's William J. Hughes Technical Center conducted a human-in-...