Pictorial representation of ATC instructions for airport surface operations: design and evaluation

To reduce the likelihood of incidents and accidents caused by unfamiliarity with the airport layout, the baseline for a guidance and navigation display for surface operations was established and evaluated in a previous project. The current project, which is the subject of this paper, addresses an enhancement to this concept, which aims at reducing the likelihood of misinterpretation of taxi instructions. It focuses on two specific challenges: Integration of the communication functionality in the existing prototype and design of the pilot-vehicle interface that provides a pictorial representation of the instructions from air traffic control. Both the design and evaluation are discussed