The Navy has a requirement to address the problem of having USN and UMC pilots use of paper manuals and perform hand calculations in-flight. This approach is time consuming and might cause mission problems. The introduction of Electronic Kneeboard (EKB) technologies to support aircraft mission operations provides a digital age solution to address this problem. We will design a cross-platform software development suite for the EKB that provides 60-80% reusable code for all Apps in a framework designed to support all mobile operating systems APIs for any future EKBs, should the Navy decide to change or use different hardware devices in the future. This cross-platform software development suite will include tools to conduct automatic testing/evaluation of the Apps developed in the environment against a common GUI design criteria which ranks critical human-machine interfacing, cognitive capabilities, and situational awareness factors. This Phase I effort includes the characterization of these critical human interface design factors and a proof-of-concept demonstration of the App development environment for an iOS based hardware device, using one or two representative App requirements. All Phase I work will serve as the foundation and blueprint for the Phase II prototype system.
Benefit: The cross platform development software suite developed from this project could be used across the Department of Defense as well as any commercial aviation industry to provide fast and efficient application development. This technology can be used to cut development cost tremendously across the DOD when it comes to mobile development for the future of internet of things in the aviation community.
Keywords: Electronic Kneeboard, Electronic Kneeboard, Cognitive Psychology, software development suite, Graphical User Interface, iOS, Apple iPad, cross-platform development
