Force on the stick

How do people steer a plane or drive a car? That’s the key question for researchers at the Human Machine Interaction Laboratory (HMI Lab) at Aerospace Engineering. 

Test subjects are asked to keep a cross on a moving dot while computers measure their reaction speed, precision and strength. The installation can also be used as a simulator in which pilots can be introduced to new supporting technologies that they could come across in cockpits of the future.

The lab was originally set up as an aircraft simulator, until research simulator Simona (Simulation, Motion, Navigation) largely took over that role. The left side of the installation is fitted with a steering wheel and pedals instead of a stick so that driving can also be simulated. 

All the screens and hardware are controlled by six computers. These computers perform their calculations, each with their own update speed, varying between 100 (screens) and 2000 times per second (stick). Two computers provide images of the surroundings. Others power the primary flight screen and the navigation screen, keep track of data (data logging), measure and control the stick, foot pedals and the steering wheel. The in-house developed operating program, Dueca (Delft University Environment for Communication and Activation), ensures that all the computers are in sync with each other and that simulation programs run just as easily on the six HMI Lab computers as on the Simona or a laptop.

“The research topics always come from outside TU Delft,” says Dr Daan Pool, assistant professor in the Control & Simulation section. As an example, he mentions the study into haptic feedback on the stick (in this case, a side stick). Accident analyses have shown that pilots sometimes don’t know when they’re getting into trouble. Exerting a force on the stick, in this case with pneumatics, is a direct way to inform the pilot when the aircraft is approaching its limit. Doctoral candidate Dirk van Baelen is researching the effectiveness of this method. It’s similar to Nissan’s accelerator pedal that pushes back if you’re approaching the vehicle in front too quickly. This technique was also tested in this installation.

“Many ideas for supporting technologies in aviation now end up in cars,” says Pool. An example is lane assist, which makes sure that cars stay between the white lines. But things tend to happen a lot faster in cars than in planes, and not everyone is happy that the wheel does its own thing. That’s why a lot of research still needs to be done to find the best possible balance between man and vehicle.