COCKPIT DISPLAYS

Situational Awareness:
The knowledge and understanding of all factors which
affect or will affect the function one is responsible for
performing.
In aircraft operation this includes:
Attitude
Altitude
Airspeed
Power
Position
Nearby Traffic etc.etc.
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Situational Awareness:
In the early days of aviation, situational awareness was,
in some cases literally obtained by the seat of the
pants.
Attitude was determined by reference to the horizon
Airspeed could be estimated by the sound of the air
flowing by the struts and wires
Power could be estimated by the sound of the engine
Navigation was done by reference to maps and visual
observation of the ground

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Situational Awareness:
The development of enclosed cockpits and the
requirements of all weather flying resulted in the
requirement for instruments which would provide the
information needed in a visual form.
Early instruments were either mechanical or
electromechanical.
Power, for the those mechanical instruments which
required power, was provided by small air driven
turbines.

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Organization of Instruments
Instruments are divided into three groups in order of
priority
Primary
Secondary
Tertiary

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Primary Instruments
are those directly applicable to the immediate control
and navigation of the aircraft i.e.
Attitude
Navigation

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Primary Instruments
In aircraft with dedicated instruments (non electronic)
these are arranged in the Basic T

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Secondary Instruments
Engine Instruments
Turbine/fan speed
Exhaust Temperature
Fuel
Quantity/Flow Rate
Electrical System
Voltage/Frequency/Current/Battery Temperature
Note: Referred to infrequently
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Tertiary Instruments
Engine Instruments
Turbine/fan speed
Exhaust Temperature
Fuel
Quantity/Flow Rate
Electrical System
Voltage/Frequency/Current/Battery Temperature

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Ideally the information on a display should be obvious,
unambiguous and require no interpretation
Two Aspects of Displays
Display Technology
What are the requirements for displays
How do various display technologies compare
Display design
What to display
How to display it (symbology, analog, digital)
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Instruments can be divided into two classes:
Electromechanical or mechanical
Electronic
Electromechanical
Usually either a dial with pointer(s)
or a meter movement, (left/right, up/down)

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COCKPIT DISPLAYS
Dial Altimeter

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VOR/ILS Indicator (Meter Movement)

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COCKPIT DISPLAYS

The most advanced electromechanical displays combined

several functions with the probably most complicated
being the Sperry ADI (Attitude Director Indicator)

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Problems with electromechanical displays
Limited capability for intuitive display
Most can display only one parameter
Each display function requires some real estate (space)
on the instrument panel
Most indicators are needed for only a small percentage
of the time. e.g. at start-up or in emergencies

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Pressure to Reduce Cockpit Crew Size
Prior to the mid 1980s most aircraft with more than 2
engines required a 3-person crew
Captain, First Officer and Flight Engineer

The flight engineer was primarily concerned with

monitoring the engines and the fuel system

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COCKPIT DISPLAYS
Flight Engineers Position on a Boeing 727

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To reduce costs, the airlines wanted to eliminate the flight
engineer position
This required moving the FEs instruments to the main
instrument panel, which was already very crowded.
Fortunately, at this time, the technology for digital displays
was maturing and EFIS (Electronic Flight Information
Systems) were developed.

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COCKPIT DISPLAYS
Note: CRTs had been used in cockpits for many years for the
display of radar information, however, digital processors
fast enough for the generation of symbolic and graphical
images were not available until the late 1970s
EFIS technology allows almost any information to be
displayed at any given time.
Since most instruments (especially engine instruments) are
needed only occasionally, the EFIS reduces considerably
the amount of space required.
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EFIS technology allows almost any information to be
displayed at any given time.
Since most instruments (especially engine instruments) are
needed only occasionally, the EFIS reduces considerably
the amount of space required.
The first aircraft to use EFIS were the Boeing 757 and 767
(1982) and the Airbus A310 (1983)

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COCKPIT DISPLAYS
Typical Arrangement requires 6 Displays

Pilot
Primary
Flight
Display

Engine
Indications and
Crew Alerting
System

MultiFunction
(or Navigation)
Display

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Copilot
Primary
Flight
Display

MultiFunction
(or Navigation)
Display

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Primary Flight Display (PFD) Showing a subset of displays

Radar Altitude
Selected Airspeed
V1 and VR

Altitude Section

Airspeed
Section
Rate of Climb

Compass

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Navigation Display (ND) Showing a subset of displays

Next
Waypoint
Track
(Magenta)

Heading

Aircraft

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Display Technologies
Requirements
Viewing angle
Since it is not possible to place all displays in front of the
pilot, some displays must be viewed from an angle
Also, it is advantageous for the each pilot to see the others
display for cross-check purposes
Normally 60 horizontally and 35 vertically

Resolution
Sufficient to allow display of smallest symbols (0.5mm
line width)

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Display Technologies
Requirements
Resistance to wash out (loss of contrast at high
ambient light levels
Ambient light in cockpit varies from brilliant sunshine at
altitude to almost complete darkness at night

Ability to vary brightness

Ruggedness
Small Volume/Weight

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Display Technologies
Technologies in use:
Incandescent
Plasma
LED (Light Emitting Diode)
CRT (Cathode Ray Tube)
LCD (Liquid Crystal Display)

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Display Technologies
Incandescent
The first alphanumeric display
technology
Seven segments made of filaments
which glow when current is passed
through them
Variable intensity colour changes
from white to reddish as intensity
decreased
Inefficient, hot at high intensity

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SEVEN
SEGMENT
ALPHANUMERIC
DISPLAY

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Display Technologies
Plasma
Orange light emitted from ionized
neon gas
High voltage (90V) applied to
electrodes
Gas ionized, emits light as electrons
return to unexcited state

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Display Technologies
Plasma
Disadvantages
High voltage (90V) required to ignite plasma (special
circuitry necessary)
Intensity not easily controlled
Plasma is either on or off
Intensity can be controlled by pulsing at varying duty cycles

High Intensity

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Low Intensity

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COCKPIT DISPLAYS
Display Technologies
Plasma

Plasma Displays on Comm/Nav

Control Heads

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Display Technologies
LED (Light Emitting Diode)
LEDs are reverse-biased diodes which emit light of a
colour determined by the energy gap between the
conduction energy band and the valence band of the p
type material in the diode
For display purposes, arrays of individual LEDs are
imbedded in a substrate.
Uses:
Alphanumeric displays (7 segment)
Linear instrument displays
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Display Technologies
Example of Linear LED indicator

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EGT

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Display Technologies
CRT (Cathode Ray Tube)
Cathode Gun
The cathode (negative electrode) is heated to a very
high temperature at which it emits clods of electrons
These electrons are accelerated to a high speed by an
anode (positive electrode) and are formed into a beam
by magnetic lenses
The beam then travels through the tube and hits the
screen which is coated with a phosphor

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Display Technologies
CRT (Cathode Ray Tube)
Screen
The beam then travels through the tube and hits the
screen which is coated with a phosphor.
The phosphor molecules absorb the energy from the
electrons and then return to their lower energy state
by emitting light photons.
The colour of the light emitted is a function of the
composition of the phosphor

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Display Technologies
CRT (Cathode Ray Tube)
Screen
The beam then travels through the tube and hits the
screen which is coated with a phosphor.
The phosphor molecules absorb the energy from the
electrons and then return to their lower energy state
by emitting light photons.
The colour of the light emitted is a function of the
composition of the phosphor

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COCKPIT DISPLAYS
Display Technologies
CRT (Cathode Ray Tube)

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Display Technologies
CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) Display Control
The point at which the beam strikes the screen is
determined by two magnetic deflection coils which
deflect the beam up/down and left/right by an amount
determined by the current supplied to them
Thus a spot can be directed to any part of the screen
by controlling the current through the deflection coils
The intensity of the light spot is controlled by the
voltage on the accelerating anode

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Display Technologies
CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) Colour Displays
Each individual point in the screen is called a pixel
(pix = picture, el = element)
In a monochrome CRT there is one phosphor dot per
pixel
In a colour CRT there are three phosphor dots per pixel
and three electron guns
Red, Green, and Blue

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Display Technologies
CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) Colour Displays
A mask is located in the tube so that the beam from the
Red gun can reach only red phosphor, and likewise for
the green and the blue guns

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Display Technologies
CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) Colour Displays
In Trinitron tube (Sony) guns are aligned horizontally,
the mask is a series of vertical slits and the phosphors are
arranged in vertical stripes

B
G
R

R
G
B

TOP VIEW

-More Phosphor
-Brighter Display
-Easier to maintain alignment

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Display Technologies

CRT (Cathode Ray Tube)

Advantages
Full Colour
Graphics Display Capability
Good resolution (determined by density of phosphor dots)
Sunlight readable
Dimmable
Reasonably power efficient
Relatively Inexpensive
Wide Temperature Range
Proven Technology
Wide Viewing Angle

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Display Technologies
CRT (Cathode Ray Tube)
Disdvantages
Requires several power supplies
Requires very high voltage
Generates high magnetic fields which can radiate
Relatively Heavy
Requires significant depth behind the instrument panel
Can be susceptible to external magnetic fields

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Display Technologies
AMLCD (Active Matrix Liquid Crystal Display)
Light is a form of electromagnetic radiation and hence has the property
of polarization
Most light is randomly polarized
Some materials have the property of transmitting light of only one
polarization (e.g. most crystals)
This is due to the fact that crystal molecules are arranged in a regular
lattice structure
If light of one polarization (say vertical) impinges on a crystal of
orthogonal polarization (in this case horizontal), the light will be
blocked.
Thus, if we have a crystal whose polarization can be controlled, we
have a light switch

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Display Technologies
AMLCD (Active Matrix Liquid Crystal Display)
As the name suggests, a liquid crystals molecules are arranged in a
lattice structure but, because it is liquid, the structure is not rigid as in
the case of a normal crystal
The alignment of the lattice structure at a boundary can be determined
by
The direction of shallow grooves in the surface of the boudary and
The electric field present at the boundary
Thus an electrically controlled light switch can be constructed as
follows

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Display Technologies
AMLCD (Active Matrix Liquid Crystal Display)
Liquid crystal is usually twisted 90
Front and back filters polarities are also at 90
In unenergized state, cell passes light
When voltage is applied, molecule untwists
and thus blocks light
Cell can be reflective
Mirror at back reflects ambient light
Cell can be transmissive
Backlit (flourescent light)

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Display Technologies
AMLCD (Active Matrix Liquid Crystal Display)
For displays, arrays of cells are required (3 cells per pixel)
Each cell is controlled by a thin film transistor (TFT) which in turn is
controlled by two address lines (vertical and horizontal)
A matrix of cells (e.g. 1024 x 768) is addressed by 1024 vertical lines and
768 horizontal lines. (times 3 for colour)
These lines permit each cell to be turned on or off as the array is scanned
This is the same scheme that computer memories use.

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Display Technologies
AMLCD (Active Matrix Liquid Crystal Display)
Advantages
Low power consumption
Cool running
Flat not much depth behind instrument panel
Disadvantages
Viewing angle not as great as CRT
Cost (low yield)
Temperature Range (slow below 10C, destroyed below -40 C)

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Display Technologies
AMLCD (Active Matrix Liquid Crystal Display)
Despite the disadvantages, AMLCDs are being installed in new aircraft
(Boeing 777)
Operators are reluctant to replace CRTs because of the cost but CRT
repair facilities are becoming phased out and spares are becoming
scarcer

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Display Technologies

Colours
Television and Computer Monitor displays demand a full range of
colours and thus each pixel colour can be set for any of 256 intensities.
Thus each pixel can take on any of 256x256x256 = 16,777,216 tints.
Aircraft displays do not need this complexity and only 8 colours are
used

Black (all pixels off)

White (all pixels on)
Red only
Blue only
Green only
Cyan (Green + Blue)
Magenta (Red + Blue)
Yellow (Red + Green)

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Display Technologies
Colours
Thus no individual intensity control is needed

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Head Up Displays (HUD)
Motivation
Originally for fighter aircraft for which it is important
for the pilot to be able to look out of the cockpit and yet
monitor aircraft systems at the same time
Civilian Application (pioneered by Alaska Airlines)
Cat II + Instrument Approaches
Pilot must transition from processing information from
instruments to processing information from visual cues in low
visibility
Can take several seconds which can result in a go-around
Head up display allows pilot to look forward through the
windshield and still fly by instruments

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Head Up Displays
Implementation
Image is generated on a CRT (or LCD) display
It is then passed through a lens which focusses the
image at infinity (so that the pilots eyes do not have to
refocus to see the runway
A semi-transparent mirror in front of the pilot then
reflects the image so that it is superimposed on the view
out the cockpit window

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Head Up Displays

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Head Up Displays Regional Jet

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Head Up Displays Pilots View

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Head Up Displays
Advantages
Decreases the possibility of missed approaches in low
visibility conditions
Normally Autoland is required for Cat II certification
Bombardier Regional Jet certified for Cat II in Europe
through the use of HUD

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Input Devices
Electronic Displays require operator input to
Input data
Select appropriate screens
Select modes of operation for systems

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Input Devices
Typical current input devices are
Switches
Levers
Push buttons
Touch screens
Future input devices may include
Voice recognition (being introduced in F35)
Neurological?

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Input Devices
Requirements for input devices
Intuitive positions i.e. label should not be needed
e.g.
for undercarriage lever moving lever up for gear up
For switches up/right = ON (not necessarily intuitive,
cultural?)

Feedback necessary to indicate that desired action has

taken place
e.g.
Tactile (pressing button should results in an action that can
be felt)
Sound
Light

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Input Devices
Layout
Controls for similar functions should be grouped
together. E.g. hydraulic controls/electrical system
controls
Pushbuttons and switches should be located so that it is
unlikely that the wrong selection is made
Also they should be far enough apart so that it is unlikely
that two buttons will be pressed at the same time

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Input Devices
Touch Screens
These input devices could be useful for the same reason
that EFIS has become popular: most switches and
buttons are used only rarely and thus occupy space
which could be used for other purposes.
Various technologies are available: Some are

Resistive
Surface acoustic wave
Capacitive
Infrared

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Input Devices
Resistive input
Transparent resistive and conductive sheets are
incorporated over the screen
Sheets are separated by a thin space
When object touches screen, two voltage dividers are
formed:

The currents through the resistors is a function

of the coordinates of the touch point and are
used to measure them

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Input Devices
Capacitive Input
Similar to Resistive Input
An electric charge is placed on the surface of the screen
When the finger (or other conductive object) touches tha
screen, some of the charge is conducted away.
Voltage sensors at each corner of the screen measure the
change in charge and compute the position of the
conducting object
NOTE:
Will not work if object is not conductive (e.g. gloved hand)

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COCKPIT DISPLAYS

Voice Recognition Systems

These systems are being developed primarily for fighter
aircraft to allow additional means of controlling aircraft
systems
Fighter pilots usually have both hands busy on the
sidestick controller and throttle levers.
Initially aimed at housekeeping functions such as EFIS
display selection, comm frequency selection and
transponder Squawk codes
Not immediately apparent if this would be useful in
commercial environment

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