Luminance Determination of CPA and PBAs in Aircraft Cockpits Based on Ergonomic Research

Abstract

This paper reports on the experiments undertaken to determine the luminance of control panel assembly (CPA) and push button annunciate (PBA) in cockpits when operated in low and high ambient environment. Referring to the varying ways of commercial airplanes are illuminated, different levels of luminance are chosen to be tested. Psychology scales that measure comfort and legibility when under illumination are used as the two main evaluation indexes, which reflecting the performance of CPA and PBAs with different luminance levels according to the observers’ evaluation scores. 21 observers participated in the study, in which they were asked to give certain assessment. The results suggest that for both fully dark environment and the environment that only has light from the working displays, 0.4fl is the preferable luminance for CPA. For PBAs of different colors, the preferable luminance range is also different.