Functional Visualizations of a Hydrogen-Electric Aircraft Propulsion System for Supporting Pilot Decision-Making

Cognitive Work Analysis (CWA) and Ecological Interface Design (EID) were used todesign a novel flight deck display for a regional turboprop aircraft that is being retrofitted with aHydrogen Aircraft Powertrain Storage System (HAPSS). This research addresses the challengesof managing cognitive complexity in next-generation aviation systems, focusing on designinginterfaces based on system constraints which are modeled through the Abstraction Hierarchy(AH). Visualizations were discussed in interviews with subject matter experts highlighting theneed for further matching the mental model of the pilot by addressing simplicity, workload, anduse case representations on the display. The iterative process included static and dynamic displaytesting and focused on three flying scenarios. Future research should involve controlled humanin-the-loop experiments with a larger participant pool to discuss, iterate, and test the proposeddisplay designs.