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Student Activities
Technology to the Rescue: Promoting Safer
Skies
 There
is a collaborative, interdisciplinary effort underway at Clemson
that uses advanced technology to improve human performance in aircraft
inspection. Imagine being able to train technicians using an interactive
simulation of their actual working environment. Leading this multidisciplinary
effort is Anand Gramopadhye, who was recently named chair of industrial
engineering.
“With
high-fidelity virtual reality (VR) simulations,” says Gramopadhye,
“we can realistically mimic a wide-bodied aircraft hangar
environment in the laboratory and can actually place the trainee
in this situation.” Their performance is then evaluated to
detect defects and provide training for improving performance.
The
multi-year project is funded by various federal agencies, including
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Federal
Aviation Administration), and the National Science Foundation. The
team is made up of researchers from various disciplines: Andrew
Duchowski from computer science; Brian Melloy, Mike Leonard and
Joel Greenstein from industrial engineering; and Carey Castle of
the Aircraft Maintenance Technology Program at Greenville Technical
College.
This fall, the Clemson team moved VR from the lab to the classroom
where a system is being used to teach aircraft maintenance technicians
at Greenville Tech.
According
to Gramopadhye, “We are confident that our work will have
a strong, positive impact on aviation safety.”
Anand
Gramopadhye (right) and Andrew Duchowski (left) are part of a team
developing high-fidelity VR simulations that allow trainees to be
“placed” in a wide-body aircraft. Integrated within
this environment is state-of-the-art eye-movement technology which
tracks the trainee’s eyes, allowing the monitoring of scan-paths.
This information can be given as feedback to the trainee.
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