REGENT Detect & Avoid Symbology
Overview
REGENT Craft is the developer and manufacturer of a new form of coastal transportation: the seaglider. REGENT seagliders are advanced wing-in-ground-effect (WIG) vehicles that operate just above the water's surface, utilizing a cushion of air for flight. These seagliders stand out from traditional WIGs due to their intermediate foiling mode, which enhances maneuverability in crowded harbors and improves wave tolerance. Seagliders take inspiration from both the maritime and aviation industries and put them together.
For my graduate capstone course at Tufts University, I was selected to join a group of students to partner with REGENT to develop symbology for a new detect and avoid (DAA) system to alert seaglider personnel of potential threats. Throughout the semester, my group conducted research about maritime and aviation regulations and symbology, ran user interviews with current captains and pilots, and created the symbology for future crew members. We worked closely with REGENT to ensure our symbology aligned with their goals for their new craft. The project culminated with a list of symbols that were sent to REGENT and are now in use for the seaglider.
This project allowed me to apply my graduate studies to the transportation industry through an impactful manner that will enhance DAA symbology in the future. I continued to develop user research and design skills that have expanded how I understand the field through a semester long collaborative project.
Our final presentation can be seen here.
Roles:
User Researcher
UI Designer
Time:
12 Weeks
Methods:
User & Market Research
Surveys & Interviews
Task Analysis
User Mapping
Journey & Empathy Maps
Whiteboarding
Wireframing
User Testing
Prototyping
Tools:
Figma
Google Suite
iMovie
Background
One of the key challenges for REGENT seagliders is the risk of collisions with other vessels. Unlike trains and planes, which rely on centralized control systems for collision avoidance, seagliders operate in the maritime environment where no such system exists. Instead, they stay in accordance with the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGS), which require watch-keepers on vessels to avoid collisions. To address this, seagliders will be equipped with advanced sensor fusion technology to detect potential obstacles and communicate the necessary actions to the captain through an intuitive interface. The goal is to ensure that the perception system provides clear and understandable guidance to prevent collisions, even at the high speeds at which seagliders operate.
Approach
We started this project by first researching existing detect and avoid (DAA) systems in both the maritime and aviation fields to get some inspiration as well as a better understanding of the flexibility we had in terms of regulations. While overall achieving the same goal, these systems vary in how they present information to their users and what information they prioritize.
Systems we investigated include:
Radar and Automatic Radar Plotting Aid (ARPA)
Automatic Identification System (AIS)
Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS)
Sea.AI
Manual Visual Observation
After completing our research, we first needed to establish our stakeholders to ensure we considered those who would be more involved than others. We divided our stakeholders into three different types: primary, secondary, and tertiary.
Our stakeholder diagram can be seen below.
REGENT seaglider captains–the crew that will be piloting the craft–will come from both aviation and maritime backgrounds. While both fields bring background knowledge valuable for seaglider operation, the two domains have radically different approaches to collision detection and avoidance. The crew will receive seaglider–specific training, but any interface must accommodate the assumptions that both user groups will bring. In order to get a better understanding of these differences, we used various research techniques to including task analyses and journey maps.
Through our journey maps, we were able to get a better understanding of the nuanced differences in the backgrounds between those and the maritime and aviation fields.
Our journey maps can be seen below.
We developed initial wireframes that took inspiration from our research, user journeys, and task analysis. In these wireframes, we focused more on visualization instead of functionality. We aimed to develop screens that showcased the essential information for the user without being too intrusive.
Our wireframes focused on two types of screens: an AR camera view as well as a top-down map view. While both views offer the same information, the information is present in different ways that allow users to understand what they are seeing in case one view confuses them or they want a different way to see it. The camera view focuses on showcasing what the actual vessels look like while the map focuses on the holistic view of the current route.
For our wireframes, we developed three types of symbols for vessels depending on their threat level:
Green Rounded Rectangle: Informational Advisory
Yellow Box Corners: Caution Notification
Red Full Box: Directive Warning
Green and yellow symbols do not require action, but red symbols require the operator to follow the information that they are presented with. In this situation, the arrows point left meaning the operator should turn the seaglider left.
Once we completed our wireframes, we conducted two rounds of user testing with experts from both maritime and aviation backgrounds. This testing consisted of cognitive walkthroughs and formal data acquisition with both quantitative and qualitative responses.
After showing users both rounds of our wireframes with variations, our main changes in our final designs addressed feedback including:
Adding “Turn Right” instructions directly above the red box for directive warnings
Changing the yellow box corners to a regular yellow box.
These changes allow for a clearer visualization of the interface and how to mitigate potentially dangerous situations.
See below for images of our final design and summary of our user tests.
Summary
Working with REGENT allowed me to expand on my previously limited knowledge of transportation fields; along with learning more about maritime and aviation regulations. Additionally, I gained more knowledge about how symbols themselves significantly impact the way users interact with interfaces, and how these symbols can prevent dangerous situations.
Additionally, working in this project with others who had previous experience in the transportation field provided me the opportunity to learn more about how I adapt when in a space with less experience, and furthermore I can ensure I am contributing to the same extent.
I hope you enjoyed learning about my REGENT Detect & Avoid Symbology project. If you would like to hear more about this project, please do not hesitate to reach out!