The computer in the cockpit----什

飞行舱里的自动驾驶系统

经济学人 March, 2019

青澄青果  翻译

One way to tell who made the aircraft you are boarding is to steal a glimpse of the cockpit. A traditional control yoke in front of the pilots suggests a Boeing; a joystick beside each seat, an Airbus. Pilots argue about which system is better, neither is considered safer than the other. Each exemplifies a different approach to a problem that manufacturers of not just aircraft but also cars, trains and ships must grapple with as long as human operators handle increasingly automated machines.

登上一架飞机时想知道制造商是谁你只需偷瞄一眼驾驶舱。老式操纵杆安在飞行员座位前的是波音制造；如在座位侧面的则是空中客车。 飞行员们经常争论哪个操纵系统更好，不过对于哪个更安全从无定论。随着驾驶员需要操纵越来越自动化的交通工具，飞机、汽车、火车、轮船，各路制造商都必须解决一个问题，波音和空客各自的操纵系统不过是针对此问题的不同解决方式。

The challenge of what engineers call the "human-machine" interface" has tragically gain attention after the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 on March 10th. Eyewitnesses reported that shortly after departing Addis Ababa, the aircraft climbed and dived repeatedly. Similarities were drawn with a fatal crash in Indonesia in October last year. That time, a pilots of a Lion Air MAX 8 struggled, also soon after take-off, with an automated safety system that erroneously tried to prevent the aircraft from stalling by lowering its nose.

上述提到的难题被工程师们称为“人机界面”，由于此次3月10日的埃航空难再次引人注目。据目击者称在起飞后不久飞机反复攀升俯冲，让人联想起来出现相同问题的去年10月坠毁的狮航航班。当时狮航波音MAX-8也是在起飞后不久，由于自动控制系统为阻止失速不断迫使机头冲下而导致了惨剧。

Although authorities around the world have grounded the model, Boeing insists that it is airworthy. The company is updating the MAX's automated flight-control software to make it easier for pilots to assume manual control. Boeing and Airbus both pack their planes with computers that do most of the flying. Each, though, espouses a different philosophy on how a pilot reacts to them, says Mudassir Lone of Cranfield university in Britain. Boeings are designed to make the pilot feel like the aviator in charge. Although the control yoke looks and feels like something from the analogue era, the way it behaves-including shaking when approaching a stall- is created digitally by a computer. Airbus's joystick is seldom used besides take-off and landing. A sound alerts the pilot to trouble; in an Airbus, he is more supervisor than airman.

虽然目前全球已经停飞该机型，波音却坚称所生产的飞机是适航的。波音仍在升级MAX的自动驾驶软件便于飞行员更易重新人工掌控。波音和空客都在飞行器上安装了计算机系统来执行大部分的飞行职能。不过对于人机关系的处理却体现出了不同理念。波音意在使得飞行员感觉自己就是驾驶员。所以驾驶杆的设计仍然是传统的模拟信号模式，而实际上即使是失速时感觉到的颤抖不过都是计算机数字化的处理结果。空客的操纵杆除了飞行起降基本没有什么用场，遇到问题时发出的警告，却在不时提醒飞行员他是指挥官而非飞行员。

Switching from automatic to manual is not straightforward. Flight-control systems may not disengage entirely. Instead, they might continue to assist the pilot in an attempt to prevent a dangerous manoeuvre. When things do go wrong, it is critical that pilots follow the correct procedures, which are different for each model of aircraft. Pilots learn these and carry checklists spelling them out. Proliferation of systems necessitates frequent retraining. To make life easier for pilots, the MAX 8 employs a system that makes it feel to them like older, more familiar versions of the 737. But this adds another layer of complexity.

人机控制转换并非直接完成的。自动飞行系统不会马上脱离，反而会继续帮助飞行员一段时间以避免错误的操控。当出现问题时，飞行员切记必须严格按照正确的操作规程驾驶，这些规程与以往机型完全不同。飞行员需要牢记这些规程并且随身携带。新系统不断推陈出新，需要对于飞行员时常回炉培训。为了让飞行员感觉不那么突兀，MAX8系统的设计让人感觉还是老样子，和他们熟悉的737一样，这却使问题进一步复杂化。

Incidents are not confined to aviation. In Washington, DC, automated trains have large been out of service since 2009, when a faulty circuit made a stationary train invisible to the safety system on the one behind it. The driver was unable to brake in time; the resulting crash killed nine people. Ships may soon face similar problems. Some ferries and offshore support vessels have already replaced ship's wheels with computer assisted joysticks. A series of accidents involving self-driving cars may have been caused by sensor's failure to recognise objects in the road, and drivers failing to respond fast enough.

事故层出不穷，不仅仅发生在航空领域。自从2009年华盛顿就停止了大部分自动驾驶火车。当时一个电路问题导致后方列车上的安全系统忽视了一辆停在前方的火车，司机发现状况后无法及时刹车，引发了撞车事故，直接导致9人死亡。轮船也随之面临同样的问题。一些渡船和近海船只都换上了自动驾驶操纵杆，取代了轮舵。一些自动驾驶汽车的感应部件出了问题，因无法识别路上障碍也导致了车祸，而当时司机都无法及时做出快速反应。

Studies have shown that when people have to wrest control from an automated system, it can take them around five seconds to grasp what is happening. The monotony of monitoring a semi-automated vehicle may reduce vigilance by provoking what psychologists refer to as "passive" fatigue. Such concerns have led some car-makers to consider skipping semi-automation and go straight to something closer to full autonomy, cutting people out of the loop. That would remove the human-machine interface-but not human's machine-induced fears.

研究表明从机器到人为操控的转换，人们往往需要5秒钟的反应时间才明白所发生的情况。操纵半自动交通工具的单调乏味会导致心理学家所称的“被动式”疲劳，而让人丧失警觉。所以一些汽车制造商打算跨越半自动驾驶而直接研发全自动驾驶汽车，这样就可以把人屏蔽在外来能解决人机界面所存在的问题。不过悬而未决的是机器导致的恐惧会仍然存在。