Human Factors Engineering in Designing the Passengers' Cockpit of the Malaysian Commercial...

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Presented at the 4th

International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety conferenceon 19-21 May, 2010 in Huntsville, USA, organized by European Space Agency.

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HUMAN FACTORS ENGINEERING IN DESIGNING THE PASSENGERS’

COCKPIT OF THE MALAYSIAN COMMERCIAL SUBORBITAL

SPACEPLANE

Norul Ridzuan Zakaria(1), Adrian Mettauer(2), Jalaluddin Abu(3), Mohd Roshdi Hassan(4)

Anwar Taufeek Ismail(5), Jamaluddin Othman(6), Che Zhuhaida Shaari(7),Nasri Nasron(5)

(1) Space Future Consulting, Taiping, Malaysia, [email protected](2) Swiss Propulsion Laboratory, Langenthal, Switzerland, [email protected]

(3) Space Tourism Society, Los Angeles, USA, [email protected]

(4) University Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia, [email protected]

(5) Space Tourism Society Malaysia Chapter, Shah Alam, Malaysia, [email protected](6) University Technology MARA, Shah Alam, Malaysia, [email protected]

(7) Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands, [email protected]

ABSTRACT

The design of the passengers’ cabin or cockpit of commercial suborbital spaceplane is a new and exciting

frontier in human factors engineering, which emphasizes

on comfort and safety. There is a program to develop

small piloted 3 seats commercial suborbital spaceplaneby a group of Malaysians with their foreign partners, and

being relatively small and due to its design philosophy,

the spaceplane does not require a cabin, but only a

cockpit for its 2 passengers. In designing the cockpit,

human factors engineering and safety principles are given

priority. The cockpit is designed with the intention to

provide comfort and satisfaction to the passengers

without compromising the safety, in such a way that thereare passenger-view wide angled video camera to observe

the passengers at all time in flight, “rear-view”, “under-the-floor-view” and “fuselage-view” video cameras for

the passengers, personalized gauges and LCDs on thedashboard to provide vital and useful information during

the flight to the passengers, and biomedical engineered

products which not only entertain the passengers, but also

provide important information on the passengers to the

ground crews who are responsible in the comfort and

safety of the passengers.

The passenger-view video-camera, which record the

passengers with Earth visible through the glass canopy as

the background, not only provides live visual of the

passengers for safety reason, but also provide the mostpreferred memorable video collection for the passengers,

while other video cameras provide the opportunity to

view at various angles from unique positions to both the

passengers and the ground observers. The gauges and

LCDs on the dashboard provide access to the passengers

to information such as the gravity, orientation, rate of

climb and flight profile of the spaceplane, graphical

presentation of the spaceplane in flight, and live videofrom the onboard video cameras.

There is also a control stick for each passenger to activelycontrol the orientation and image magnification of the

video cameras.

The passengers themselves are considered as physicallypart of the cockpit, and therefore specifically developed

biomedical apparels worn by the passengers and provide

biomedical data of the passengers are connected to the

onboard and ground computers to provide maximum

comfort and safety to the passengers. The safety

principles and understanding that the passengers are

actually part of the cockpit becomes the basis for the

design of the cockpit.

In general, the ergonomics of the cockpit is to bepractically and psychologically provide comfort,

entertainment, safety and satisfaction to the passengers.

This paper discusses the human factors engineering and

safety principles applied in designing the ergonomic

cockpit of the Malaysian commercial suborbital

spaceplane. It describes particularly the design of the

dashboard with personalized gauges and LCDs, and

biomedical products, which not only enable thepassengers to be effectively part of the cockpit, but also

becomes stylish apparels worn by the passengers.

1. DEVELOPMENT OF SUBORBITALSPACEPLANE CONCEPTUAL DESIGNS IN

MALAYSIA

Malaysia is among the few countries in the world where

there are ongoing government astronaut program and a

non-government space tourism program. The government

astronaut program had sent an astronaut to the

International Space Station on October 2007, while thenon-government space tourism program can be traced to





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with only 2 rocket engines and VTOL (vertical take-off

and landing) capability, produced by the synchronized

utilization of a lift fan and 2 vectoring nozzles of its

single jet engine.

Figure 4. Top, side and rear views of MXI suborbital

spaceplane conceptual design with lift fan and vectoring

nozzles of its jet engine and other components. The lift

fan is connected to and powered by the single jet engine.

The nozzles are directed downward to combine and

synchronize with the lift fan for VTOL.

As with MX, Swiss Propulsion Laboratory is given the

responsibility to design and develop the rocket

propulsion system for MXI, which consist of a pair of

rocket engines.

The single jet engine has 2 nozzles placed horizontallyside by side for the stability of the spaceplane during

VTOL. The nozzles will be directed downward for

VTOL, and rearward for conventional jet flight.

A lift fan at the front of the jet engine and the center of gravity of the spaceplane is coupled to the jet engine

through a shaft. During VTOL, the jet engine transfers its

power to the lift fan through this shaft.

The power produced by the jet engine is effectively

distributed using the lift fan and the nozzles, and the

output from the lift fan and the nozzles are balanced toproduce a steady lift forces. During conventional jet

flight, the lift fan is deactivated by decoupling it from the

jet engine.

This method of producing and controlling lift force forVTOL is similar to that of F-35 Lightning II fighter jet.

Figure 5. The Lift fan and vectoring nozzle of the jet

engine of F-35 Lightning II. The lift fan is connected to

and powered by the single jet engine.

The main reason the spaceplane is provided with VTOL

capability is to enable the spaceplane, which will onlycarry very limited fuel and capable of only flying for half

an hour, to operate from platforms located at exoticlocations. These locations, when viewed from an altitude

of 100km will look bright and colorful and therefore

most probably will be the preferred view of Earth to the

space tourists or passengers aboard the spaceplane (5).

Such proposed locations are coral reefs and snow capped

mountains with lakes and variety of vegetation as such

locations will look bright and colorful from space (5).

Other proposed locations are large dynamic geographicalevents such as a smoking volcano and landscapes with





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very obvious and contrasting features and large popular

historic sites such as the great pyramids in Egypt (5).

Details of interesting features in views will be visible as

the spaceplane can carry high magnification and

resolution onboard cameras.

Figure 6. View of the pyramids in Cairo, Egypt from thealtitude of 100km. The details of interesting features in

view such as the pyramids in this view can be visible

using high magnification and resolution onboard

cameras.

MXI will be able to operate from a helipad aboard an

exclusive ocean liner or a platform specially built at those

exotic locations to enable its passengers to view such

features on Earth from space.

Both MX and MXI will be small suborbital spaceplanesfocusing to provide their passengers the opportunity of viewing interesting features of Earth’s surface from

space, since looking at Earth will be the most enjoyableactivity aboard a spaceflight (6).

Development and operation of VTOL suborbital

spaceplanes for space tourism similar to MXI will

significantly change the existing trend in space tourism

industry, where currently there is an emphasis in the

development and operation of spaceports with runways.

The concept of VTOL spaceplane will redefine thecharacteristics and requirements of spaceport as the

major component of space tourism industry, as new andmore economic VTOL spaceports will emerge at new

locations. The concept will create more creative space

tourism packages and more innovative and technological

designs of passenger suborbital spaceplane. It will create

new opportunities and trends in the industry.

2. DESIGNING THE PASSENGERS’ COCKPIT

OF THE MALAYSIAN COMMERCIAL

SUBORBITAL SPACEPLANE

On MXI conceptual designs, the place where the

passengers are seated is known as cockpit instead of cabin, because the concept employed is, that the

passengers of the spaceplane will be actively controlling

several functions at all time during the flight, giving them

the sense of being in control of the spaceplane and the

place where the 2 passengers are seated also looks morelike a cockpit than a cabin in respect to its size, design

and continuity with the pilot’s cockpit.

Emphasis is given to the design of the passengers’

dashboard, since the dashboard is the most visible

component in the cockpit as it is where the gauges and

LCDs are and will be used by the passengers to entertainthemselves and interact with the spaceplane and ground

control.

Furthermore, there were already efforts by other

organizations trying to develop suborbital spaceplanesthat were focusing on the seats rather than dashboards in

the interior design of their proposed spaceplanes (7).

2.1. The Human Factor Engineered Dashboard

The design of the dashboard proposed for MXI wasinspired by the design of the unique dashboard of the

Chevrolet Corvette C2 classic sports performance car.

Figure 7. The dashboard of Corvette C2.

The left and right sides of the car’s dashboard is

symmetrical if the steering wheel and gauges on the

driver’s side are removed, producing a conceptual designof a symmetrical dashboard suitable for 2 passengersseating side by side.

When an LCD and gauges are added to the left and right

side of the dashboard, it will become an effectivedashboard to accommodate 2 passengers at a time, where

each passenger will have access to vital information

regarding the spaceplane and its flight available on the

LCDs and gauges.





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Figure 8. The symmetrical dashboard proposed aboard

MXI for 2 passengers sitting side by side inspired by the

dashboard of Corvette C2.

Ability of the passengers to freely access the vital

information of the spaceplane and the flight will makethem feel more comfortable and increase their level of

confidence.

The symmetrical design of the dashboard enables the

information available to the passengers to bepersonalized to each of them even though all the

information will be made available to both passengers.

This is done by having 2 sets of identical LCDs and

gauges for each passenger. The LCDs and gauges on the

dashboard provide enough visual information to both

passengers to make them feel very well informed and

aware of all current development and status of thespaceplane and flight.

Each passenger will be able to view graphical

presentation of the flight profile and orientation of thespaceplanes and also live video recording of images by

the onboard video cameras on the LCD. The images

displayed on the LCD depend on the menu chosen by the

passenger.

MXI will carry several video cameras at various parts of

its fuselage and wing to record live images during its

flight for the entertainment and safety of the passengers.

These images will be fed to the LCDs for the passengersto view them and will also be transmitted to the ground

stations for flight safety monitoring.

There will be a pair of video cameras dedicated to record

the rear view of the spaceplane. Another pair of video

cameras will record the view under the spaceplane to

provide “under-the-floor-view”. Yet a pair of video

cameras will be installed at each end of the wing directed

towards the fuselage to record the view of the fuselage of

the spaceplane with space as the background.

All these cameras will be in pairs because each passenger

will control its own cameras. Each passenger will control

the orientation and image magnification of the camerasusing a control stick similar to that used by a pilot.

These cameras will have high magnification and

resolution as they will be very important to enable the

passengers to see the details of the features in view.Visual and oral explanation of such features will also be

made available.

A wide angled video camera will be installed inside the

cockpit dedicated to record the wide-angled video of the

passengers during the flight. This live video will be made

available to the ground crews who are responsible on thecomfort and safety of the passengers, while the recorded

version will be the most preferred memorable video

collection for the passengers since the video will beclearly showing the passengers during the flight with

Earth visible through the windows as the background.

To enable the images of the passengers and Earth to be

captured, the wide-angled video camera will be installed

in front and above the passengers.

All the live videos recorded will be able to be viewedduring the flight by the passengers on the LCDs. Each

passenger will be able to view his or her video of choice

at a time.

To enhance the feeling of being in charge of the flight tothe passengers, each passenger will be using a controlstick to choose the menu on the LCD and control the

onboard cameras. The control stick will be at the side to

provide total view of the dashboard in front of each

passenger like that of F-16 fighter jet.

Figure 9. The cockpit of F-16: The control stick is on the

right-hand side of the pilot's seat.





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The heart beat data will be fed to the computers which

will analyze the data and conclude the state of heart and

physical of the respective passenger. This information

will be made available to the ground crews who are

responsible to the comfort and safety of the passenger.

To avoid interference and misinterpretation of data since

the 2 passengers will be sitting closely side by side, each

passenger’s watch will only receive a unique frequency

from each respective heart beat transmitter.

Besides being a heart beat monitor, this watch also

function as a camera. The lens of the camera is installed

and directed forward in such a way that enables an

effective photo and video recording by the passenger who

wears the watch. The lens can also be pointed upward

for self image recording.

An LCD on the dial of the watch shows the live or

recorded photos and videos. During the watch mode, the

video camera is switched off and the LCD as thebackground on the dial is slightly darkened for the hands

and heartbeat counter in black economic mode to bevisible. During camera mode, the LCD will be showing

the photos and videos as the background on the dial,

while the hands and heartbeat counter will be digitally

projected in white to be clearly visible.

Figure 11. The conceptual design of the proposed heart

beat monitor watch with camera.

Digitally projected hands are preferred instead of numbers to ensure the watch is stylish and trendy.

The camera mode will be useful during the flight when

the passengers wish to make personalized photo or video

recording. The passengers can effectively made the

recording of the dashboard with their names as the

astronauts and information such as operational time,

exterior temperature, gravity, atmospheric pressure,

oxygen level, altitude and other graphical information

and live recorded images, or the view of Earth through

the window.

An advantage of using the watch as a camera is that the

watch can be worn either on the left or right wrist, so that

the passenger on the left can wear the watch on his or herleft wrist and effectively does the video and photo

recording of the views available on his or her left and

front, while the passenger on the right can wear the watch

on his or her right wrist and conveniently record the

views on his or her right and front.

The recorded videos and photos will be unique and

priceless memory of the spaceflight available to be

shown at any time on the watch to impress anybody.

Therefore, the watch will also be fashionable impressive

bio-medical apparel to be worn even on the ground. It

will remain as a souvenir to each passenger.

3.2. Other Bio-Medical Apparels

Other bio-medical apparels for the passengers proposed

to be paired with the cockpit of the spaceplane are handgloves and shoes. Both apparels will be equipped with

sensors to detect the quantity and changes in perspiration

and skin temperature. This information will provide data

to conclude the level of physical stability of the

passengers.

4. TRAINING OF THE PASSENGERS

With the philosophy that the passengers are physically

part of the cockpit, the training of the passengers

becomes a major and an important element in the designof the cockpit, because the design and the training aredirectly related to each other.

The passengers will be trained and tested until they are

familiar with the functions and operations of all the

LCDs and gauges. The training will enable them to gain

to the maximum of the functions and operations of theLCDs and gauges without facing the problem of

cognitive overload.

Simulators will be used extensively to create the closest

to real challenge and familiarization to the passengers,

where they will be familiarized with the control stick, asthey will use the control stick in many operations.

The passengers will also be trained until they become the

experts in controlling and maintaining their physical and

mental well-being, which will be monitored by the bio-medical apparels they will be wearing during the training

and flight. Such training is to ensure that the bio-medical

apparels will be very effective.





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The right and significant training is very important as it

will increase the comfort, safety and effectiveness of the

cockpit.

5. CONCLUSION

There is a suborbital spaceplane research program by

Malaysians with foreign partners known as M-R2D2

(Malaysian Research for Rocketplane Design and

Development) which has produced 2 conceptual designs

of suborbital spaceplane known as MX and MXI. In bothdesigns, priority is given to the view of Earth to be seen

by the passengers rather than zero-gravity to be

experienced by them. MXI is a small suborbital

spaceplane conceptual design with VTOL capability to

enable it to operate at exotic locations without runway.

Its VTOL capability is provided by a lift fan and a pair of

vectoring nozzles of its single jet engine, while its rocketpropulsion consists of a pair of rocket engines. Human

factor engineering is the most important element in

designing its cockpit. The concept employed includes acombination of familiarity, entertainment, comfort,

appreciation, bio-medical science, and safety whileemphasis is given to the design of dashboard and bio-

medical apparels. For familiarity and entertainment, a

dashboard of a well known and popular classic car is

used as the basis for designing the dashboard, which is

designed and equipped in such a way to create the sense

of being in control of the spaceplane and spaceflight tothe passengers through the application of personalized

LCDs, gauges and control stick. The sense of being

important and appreciated is further enhanced by the

application bio-medical products such as the proposed

heart beat monitor watch with camera which providescomfort, entertainment and safety to the passengers. Tofurther increase the comfort and safety of the passengers

and effectiveness of the human factors engineering in the

design of the cockpit, the passengers will be well trained

and prepared in using them.

6. REFERENCES

1. Ridzuan Zakaria, N. Zahari, R. Abd Majid, A A.

Othman, J. (May 2007). Symbiotic Relationship

between the Astronaut Program and Space Tourism

Development – A Third World Perspective, 2nd

International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety.

2. Ridzuan Zakaria, N. (February 2003). Pengenalan

Ekonomi Angkasa (Introductory Space Economics),

Institut Kajian Angkasa Malaysia (Malaysian

Institute of Space Studies), Taiping, Malaysia.3. IAASS Newsletter July 2009, p12.

4. Ridzuan Zakaria, N. Ismail, A T. Othman, J. Mohd

Nor, M J. Hassan, M R. Esa, M. Malakan, R.

Norulhuda, N. & Jalaluddin, M N. (February 2008).

Commercial Suborbital Spaceflight as a Tool to

Promote Interest of Space Travel in Developing

Countries, 12th

International Space University

Annual Sympossium.

5. Aini, N (July 2009). Learning Space Tourism and

Suborbital Spaceplane on a Trip to the Alps, SpaceTourism Society Malaysia Chapter. p7.

6. Ashford, D (August 2009). An Aviation Approach to

Space Transportation, The Aeronautical Journal,

Volume 113 No 1146, p504.

7. http://www.hobbyspace.com/AAdmin/archive/SpecialTopics/Events/2010/Resources/WorldNewSpace-

SA-10.pdf ,p11.

8. Aragon, C.R. (2005), Improving Aviation Safety with

Information Visualization: A Flight Simulation

Study, CHI 2005: ACM Conference on Human

Factors in Computer Systems.

7. SOURCES OF ILLUSTRATIONS

1. Ridzuan Zakaria, N. Zahari, R. Abd Majid, A A.Othman, J. (February 2003). Pengenalan Ekonomi

Angkasa (Introductory Space Economics), InstitutKajian Angkasa Malaysia (Malaysian Institute of

Space Studies), Taiping, Malaysia. (Figure 1).

2. Space Tourism Society Malaysia Chapter (Figure 2,

3,4,8,10,11).

3. www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?89

961-Indian-Armed-Forces/page221. (Figure 5).4. Ancient Egypt and Mediterranean Society, Taiping,

Malaysia (Figure 6).

5. http://www.web-cars.com/corvette/1963-5.php

(Figure 7).

6. http://www.militaryparitet.com/html/data/ic_news/162 (Figure 9).

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