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DiCoP (Digital Co-Pilot)

Within the collaborative project DiCoP AerosSys and the Institute of Flight Guidance are developing and testing a digital co-pilot for speech assistance in single-pilot operations.

In both private and commercial aviation, the technical equipment on board an aircraft is continuously gaining in complexity and systems are being progressively digitalized. Growing external stimuli, such as changing airspace structures or an increased volume of traffic through aircrafts and drones, result in a heavy workload and enormous responsibility for the pilots. The transfer of certain tasks and the provision of information by a human co-pilot decrease the pilots’ stress levels and ensure safety in the air. Nevertheless, most flights, especially in private aviation and small business aircraft, are legally performed with only one person in the cockpit. With the development of the intelligent speech assistant GOOSE as a digital co-pilot, this safety gap should be closed within the DiCoP project.

Project goals

The scientific and technical aim of DiCoP is the development, implementation and testing of a speech-based digital co-pilot which can be utilised in a personalised manner in different kinds of aircraft cockpits.

GOOSE supports the flight planning and preparation as well as the debriefing after the flight. It also acts as an assistant and a navigation aid during the flight. Safety monitoring thereby runs continuously in the background. In the event of an imminent dangerous situation, GOOSE informs the pilot independently. As an informative system, it places human beings at the centre of aircraft guidance. In the cockpit, GOOSE actively and reactively assists, but without taking the control away from the pilot.

A subgoal of DiCoP is the setting-up of a high-performance and portable hardware based on a board computer. Building on this, the software will be developed with artificial intelligence. For the very first time, complex auditory dialog systems and an intuitive interaction with the hardware and the aircraft will be made possible. This will provide the pilot with simple access via speech to the increasingly complex technical equipment within the cockpit.

The social and psychological goal of the project is the determination of criteria, according to which the pilot accepts GOOSE as a fully valued assistant with responsibility for human lives in the air and on the ground.

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