Modern aircraft are capable of recording hundreds of parameters during flight. This fact not only facilitates the investigation of an accident or a serious incident, but also provides the opportunity to use the recorded data to predict future aircraft behavior. It is believed that, by analyzing the recorded data, one can identify precursors to hazardous behavior and develop procedures to mitigate the problems before they actually occur. Because of the enormous amount of data collected during each flight, it becomes necessary to identify the segments of data that contain useful information. The objective is to distinguish between typical data points, that are present in the majority of flights, and unusual data points that can be only found in a few flights. The distinction between typical and unusual data points is achieved by using classification procedures. In this dissertation, the application of classification procedures to flight data is investigated. It is proposed to use a Bayesian classifier that tries to identify the flight from which a particular data point came. If the flight from which the data point came is identified with a high level of confidence, then the conclusion that the data point is unusual within the investigated flights can be made. The Bayesian classifier uses the overall and conditional probability density functions together with a priori probabilities to make a decision. Estimating probability density functions is a difficult task in multiple dimensions. Because many of the recorded signals (features) are redundant or highly correlated or are very similar in every flight, feature selection techniques are applied to identify those signals that contain the most discriminatory power. In the limited amount of data available to this research, twenty five features were identified as the set exhibiting the best discriminatory power. Additionally, the number of signals is reduced by applying feature generation techniques to similar signals. To make the approach applicable in practice, when many flights are considered, a very efficient and fast sequential data clustering algorithm is proposed. The order in which the samples are presented to the algorithm is fixed according to the probability density function value. Accuracy and reduction level are controlled using two scalar parameters: a distance threshold value and a maximum compactness factor. / Ph. D.

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 20-23, 2003 / Riviera Hotel and Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada / The Interactive Analysis and Display System (IADS) provides the test engineer with enhanced test-data processing, management and display capabilities necessary to perform critical data monitoring in near real-time during a test mission. The IADS provides enhanced situational awareness through a display capability designed to increase the confidence of the engineer in making clearance decisions within a Mission Control Room (MCR) environment. The engineer achieves this confidence level through IADS’ real-time display capability (every data point) and simultaneous near real-time processing capability consisting of both time and frequency domain analyses. The system displays real-time data while performing interactive and automated near real-time analyses; alerting the engineer when displayed data exceed predefined threshold limits. The IADS provides a post-test capability at the engineer’s project area desktop, with a user interface common with the real-time system. The IADS promotes teamwork by allowing engineers to share data and test results during a mission and in the post-test environment. The IADS was originally developed for the government’s premier flight test programs. IADS has set the standard for MCR advancements in data acquisition and monitoring and is currently being integrated into all the existing MCR disciplines.

Zapisovač letových údajů je zařízení určené pro zaznamenávání letových dat z různých senzorů v letadlech. Analýza letových údajů hraje důležitou roli ve vývoji a testování avioniky. Testování a hodnocení charakteristik letadla se často provádí pomocí testovacích manévrů. Naměřená data z jednoho letu jsou uložena v jednom letovém záznamu, který může obsahovat několik testovacích manévrů. Cílem této práce je identi kovat základní testovací manévry s pomocí naměřených letových dat. Teoretická část popisuje letové manévry a formát měřených letových dat. Analytická část popisuje výzkum v oblasti klasi kace založené na statistice a teorii pravděpodobnosti potřebnou pro pochopení složitých Gaussovských směšovacích modelů. Práce uvádí implementaci, kde jsou Gaussovy směšovací modely použité pro klasifi kaci testovacích manévrů. Navržené řešení bylo testováno pro data získána z letového simulátoru a ze skutečného letadla. Ukázalo se, že Gaussovy směšovací modely poskytují vhodné řešení pro tento úkol. Další možný vývoj práce je popsán v závěrečné kapitole.