Pilots’ Workload in the Cockpit with Onboard Tangible Information System

With the improvement of aircraft’s cockpit automation level, human-computer interaction is becoming increasingly important. Nowadays, the display of flight instruments is highly integrated, and pilots’ workload is also increasing. Improper handling of workload by the flight crew during the execution of flight missions is one of the important reasons for human errors. In the rapid development of intelligent technology, we need adaptive, intelligent, personalized, and higher-level automation technology systems. The intelligent onboard tangible information system (OTIS) adopted by this research was used to replace electronic flight bag (EFB). Different from step-by-step troubleshooting against operating procedures, this system can communicate in real-time with aircraft systems, quickly locate aircraft faults, help pilots quickly execute programs, reduce the time of interaction information with the system, and improve search efficiency. This study conducted a comparative simulation flight experiment based on the A320 simulator to explore the differences in workload levels between pilots using traditional EFB and OTIS. The experiment used physiological indicators, NASA-TLX (NASA-Task Load Index) ratings, and task performed time to characterize the workload of pilots. Firstly, a difference test was conducted to explore whether there were significant differences in objective and subjective indicators of pilots handling the same abnormal scenario under EFB and OTIS; Secondly, the data were compared to further determine the levels of pilots’ workload. The reduction of pilots’ workload can preliminarily verify the rationality of OTIS. It proves that OTIS can effectively reduce pilots’ workload. This study can provide a reference for the design of OTIS for the future cockpit.