The Phase I portion of GAPATS, a Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) effort, established the foundation for an expert system that gives any general aviation pilot better situational awareness (immediate safety improvements in high workload situations) and provides higher proficiency with a lower training investment. This system was a practical implementation of research results from a four-year NASA-sponsored project that developed artificially intelligent software algorithms for identifying and interpreting flight profiles, while simultaneously issuing advisories for aircraft systems management.

The purpose of the Phase II effort was to achieve a validated General Aviation Pilot Advisor and Training System engineering prototype, implemented according to commercial software standards and Federal Aviation Agency issues of certification. Phase II built on outstanding progress made during Phase I and basic technology being transferred from previous NASA research (1989 to 1994). The goal of this phase was to develop and validate a commercially acceptable engineering prototype system, preparatory to FAA certification in the next phase of the project.

Objectives

The objective of the Phase I portion of the GAPATS project was to transfer NASA technology to general aviation aircraft, emphasizing smaller, reciprocating engine aircraft needs where the greatest gains in safety and utility appear achievable. The Phase I goals are summarized in the following list.

	Characterization of the system’s necessary functionality.
	Creation of a flexible software architecture for GAPATS.
	Identification of the knowledge database necessary to efficiently implement and integrate these capabilities up through flight demonstrations in Phase II.

This technology lends itself to potential commercial application of low-cost, computerized expert systems to improve the ease of use for single-engine, single-pilot aircraft. Proposed is a cockpit system that interacts with the pilot in order to reduce the time and cost it takes to obtain and maintain safe operational skills. The system will also reduce pilot errors in flight.

GAPATS employs Artificial Intelligence (AI) to determine flight operations being performed by the pilot and aircraft. Based on AI algorithms and pilot input, the system provides the pilot with a critique of present performance and procedural advice, without adding to pilot workload, and increases safety, efficiency, and operational precision. GAPATS employs the most modern software engineering techniques: object-oriented design/programming, parallel software architectures, and fuzzy logic.