Integration of an Exocentric Orthogonal Coplanar 360 Degree Top View in a Head Worn See-Through Display Supporting Obstacle Awareness for Helicopter Operations

The objective was the development of an HMI for helicopter obstacle awareness and warning systems in order to improve the situational and spatial awareness as well as the workload of helicopter pilots. The related work concerning obstacle awareness and warning systems, situational awareness, orthogonal coplanar and perspective representations plus previous work done by DLR was depicted and discussed. The two main aspects of the developed HMI concept were explained, i.e., the combination of the exocentric orthogonal coplanar top view with the egocentric perspective view, and secondly three ways for the integration of the obstacle awareness display inside a head-worn see-through display. The developed HMI concept was applied to two helicopter offshore operations and its specific obstacle situation. The first operation is a hoist operation at the lower access point of an offshore wind turbine. The second regards the landing operation on an offshore platform. From a technical point of view, especially concerning available sensor technologies, helicopter might be fitted with obstacle awareness systems in future. The HMI design is still under investigation in order to support the pilot in a holistic and balanced way.