Other functions - flight critical systems research (fcsr) statement of work (SOW) task title: assessing verification and validation processes for automation with respect to vulnerabilities to loss…

Other functions - flight critical systems research (fcsr) statement of work (SOW) task title: assessing verification and validation processes for automation with respect to vulnerabilities to loss of airplane state awareness 1.0 background NASA's aviation safety program is conducting research directed at proactively identifying, developing, and maturing tools, methods, and technologies for improving the overall safety of new and legacy aircraft. Research is organized into three project areas: (1) system-wide safety and assurance technologies (ssat), (2) vehicle systems safety technologies (vsst), and (3) atmospheric environment safety technologies (aest). This SOW specifically addresses long-term technical challenges in both the ssat and vsst projects. Ssat, assurance of flight critical systems development of verification and validation (v & v) techniques to establish confidence that new technologies are safe and provide a cost-effective basis for assurance and certification of complex civil aviation systems. Ssat, assuring safe human-systems integration enable the development of robust human-automation systems by incorporating known limitations of human performance into analysis tools. Vsst, improved crew decision making and response in complex situations demonstrate capabilities that enable pilots to better understand and respond safely to complex situations. Vsst, safe and effective aircraft control under hazardous conditions develop integrated guidance, control, and system technologies that enable safe and effective crew/system aircraft control under hazardous conditions. More specifically, within the assurance of flight critical systems challenge of ssat, there is a sub-challenge related to the verification and validation of authority and autonomy (a & a) constructs. Authority, in the context of aircraft operations, refers to having the right, or power, to exercise controls that will change the position, velocity, and/or attitude of an aircraft. Autonomy refers to a function or system that can operate independently of pilot or controller intervention. For current aircraft operations, pilots and air traffic controllers are the authorities; however, they may, and do, delegate authority to automation for selected activities or functions (e.g., auto-land systems). In these cases, the pilot and/or air traffic controller is responsible for monitoring the performance of the automation to assure IT performs its intended function, and to reclaim authority should IT fail, or otherwise DE-couple per its design logic. This paradigm has worked well and has been demonstrated to be safe for many situations due largely to established v & v processes for systems and procedures, as well as training. However, there remain situations that these processes cannot account for, or predict. The purpose of the research that this SOW contributes to is to study one class of such situations those involving loss of airplane state awareness by the flight crew and air traffic controllers. 2.0 scope / objective: the scope of this effort is to examine methods for assessing whether, and how, operational constructs properly assign authority and autonomy in a safe and coordinated manner with particular emphasis on assuring adequate airplane state awareness by the flight crew and air traffic controllers in off-nominal and/or complex situations. One outcome should be recommendations for improving design standards and v & v techniques to ensure that there is transparency of both authority transition mechanics (e.g., mode transitions and DE-coupling), and their consequences. The objective of this task is to deliver a final report that documents the following: (1) current processes used by the industry to conduct v & v activities to assure that airplane state awareness is maintained in cases where automated systems have been delegated the authority to change airplane state; (2) results of an analyses of t