CENTER/TRACON AUTOMATION SYSTEM: DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION IN THE FIELD

Beverly D. Sanford, Kelly Harwood, Sarah Nowlin, Hugh Bergeron,
Harold Heinrichs, Gary Wells, and Marvin Hart


Abstract

Technological advances are changing the way that advanced air traffic
control automation should be developed and assessed.  Current standards
and practices of system development place field testing at the end of
the development process, during system production and deployment.  This
delays our understanding of the true characteristics of the system;
that is, its emergent properties as a consequence of implementation in
the operational environment, how the tool is used and the myriad
interactions and interdependencies between system components.  While
such practices may have been suitable for manual control systems, where
requirements for hardware and personnel can be neatly separated and
defined, they are becoming quickly outdated for systems that are
harnessing advanced information technology.  Current understanding of
such systems is limited and criteria for safe and effective system
performance are largely undefined.  If field testing is delayed until
the late stages of development, solutions to design problems run the
risk of being technology driven with development relying on
decontextualized guidelines of human-computer interaction.

Field testing conducted early in system development affords
investigation of the users' experience with the system in the context of
their work domain.  It provides the opportunity to understand the
implications for system design of the interdependencies between the
physical environment (lighting; workplace layout), task domain
(goals/functions of the domain) and work activities (social aspects of
team coordination; sources of motivation and job satisfaction).  The
richness and complexity of these context-based factors and the
relationships between them are not accessible through design guidelines
or standards.  Guidelines and standards cannot provide insight into
effective design solutions when system performance is highly contingent
on context [1, 2].  System validation through early field testing
promotes the development and validation of a tool as a problem solving
instrument [3], thereby increasing the likelihood of a match between the
system's capabilities and its context of use[4, 5].

The FAA TATCA Program recognizes the importance of context through early
field testing for the development of advanced ATC automation.  It is
using rapid prototyping and early field exposure as part of the
Center-TRACON Automation System (CTAS) development process, using
on-site system evaluations with active controllers and representative
traffic flows and conditions.  Field testing is regarded as integral to
the development process and iterates until a match is achieved between
the system and context for its use.  A primary objective of the TATCA
Program is the evolutionary refinement of CTAS for the purpose of
bringing system functionality to a level of usefulness and stability.
This approach deviates from traditional approaches to ATC system
development and will expedite a possible national deployment of CTAS.
Embracing the context of the ATC domain is particularly important
because of our limited knowledge of controller/team job performance and
the stringent requirements for maintaining ATC system continuity and
safety during system transition [6].

This paper describes the development and assessment process that has
been applied for CTAS at Denver Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC)
and Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON).  CTAS is described first,
followed by an overview of the development and assessment process.
Descriptions are also provided of progressive assessments, how TMA is
used in the field, and how scenarios, shadow exercises and structured
interviews are used during assessments.  The methods used for
interpreting and analyzing data, as well as drawing inferences and
identifying implications, are also discussed.  Finally, the training
process is described.