This industry survey documents the symbols for navigation aids, airports, lines, and linear patterns currently in use by avionics manufacturers and chart providers for depicting aeronautical charting information. Nine avionics display manufacturers and four chart providers participated. The information provided by avionics manufacturers is shown only on electronic displays whereas the information from chart providers is shown on paper charts and may also be shown on electronic displays. The first section of this report provides background information, including Federal Aviation Administration...

This report describes a study designed to address four research questions about symbology for electronic displays of charting information. The main research question was whether pilots could identify a set of test symbols. Three other research questions were addressed regarding: (1) labels for navigation aid symbols, (2) grouping navigation aids into families, and (3) line style conventions on paper charts and electronic moving map displays.

This document, which is based on information from March 2007, provides an overview of Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) systems and capabilities, with particular focus on the systems' human interface. It updates the April 2005 EFB Industry Review (Yeh and Chandra, 2005). The information in this document will be useful to anyone interested in the EFB market, including the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), customers, operators, manufacturers, and researchers. The report is divided into three sections. The first section briefly reviews EFB research conducted by the Volpe Center over the past...

The Volpe Center has developed a set of five tools that can be used to evaluate Electronic Flight Bags(EFBs) from a human factors perspective. The goal of these tools is to help streamline and standardize EFB human factors assessments by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). This document introduces all of the Volpe EFB assessment tools, which are for use by any FAA or industry evaluator. This report contains descriptions of the tools and practical information on when and how to use each tool. It is not necessary to be a human factors expert to use the tools, and the tools can be...

This report presents the findings of two studies related to the design of symbology for electronic displays of navigation information. Experiment 1 addressed whether symbols have key features that are necessary for recognition, i.e., symbol stereotypes. Experiment 2 tested symbol-feature rules, which define a consistent way to design symbols, to determine if pilots could learn and apply them. The resulting guidelines were provided to the Federal Aviation Administration, industry, and the International Civil Aviation Organization and are documented in this report. Suggestions for evaluating...

The Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) market has accelerated rapidly in the past few years. The purpose of this industry review is to provide a primer on who is involved in the industry and what their efforts are. This informal summary of EFB technology provides a picture of the current state of EFB development as of February, 2005. This document is an update to a 2003 EFB industry review (see Appendix A of Chandra, Yeh, Riley, and Mangold (2003)). This review provides information about EFB systems, software/content, and hardware that are currently on the market or in active development. This...

Electronic Flight Bags (EFBs) are coming into the flight deck, bringing along with them a wide range of human factors considerations. In order to understand and assess the full impact of an EFB, designers and evaluators require an understanding of how the device will function and be used by crews, how the device will interact with other flight deck equipment, and how training and operating procedures will be affected. The purpose of this report is to identify and prioritize guidance on these topics so that designers and evaluators can make informed choices. Much of the guidance in this...

This report presents the findings of a short-term empirical study on human factors issues related to the selection of symbology for fly-over and fly-by waypoints on aeronautical charts.

This document is intended to facilitate the development of FAA advisory material for evaluation and operational approval of EFBs. The document will also be accessible to users and avionics manufacturers for use in system design and development. Version 1 of this human factors document covers system considerations and three EFB functions in detail. The initial set of functions discussed in Version 1 are electronic documentation, electronic checklists, and flight performance calculations.