Internship Stealth Monitoring: Assessing Human Performance by Video

Functie

Workload management, fatigue, and emotional (self-)control is a significant, but often under-reported problem in both civilian and military aviation operations. In order to be able to intervene in time, it is important that the operator is monitored real-time, in a valid and non-intrusive manner. Although technological developments have taken off during the last decades, both civil and military aviation lags somewhat behind other sectors.

Description
At NLR, the current developments in objective, non-intrusive assessing and/or detection of workload and fatigue, both within aviation and other sectors (such as automotive and transport) were recently summarized. A special interest lies within the assessing with the use of a video feed, due to its broad applicability and non-intrusiveness. Many examples are available online (Github) but lack the validity and scientific context. Therefore, the Stealth Assessing project offers an internship which combines the exploratory research of non-validated techniques in an environment of experts in Operator Performance, Fatigue and Training. The internship aims to deliver results around Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 4-5

Tasks to be foreseen

• Research the current developments and technologies regarding real-time monitoring of operators.
• Development of an application which is capable of monitoring workload, fatigue, and/or emotion with the use of camera(s).
• Write structured code to enable reusability.
• Write a structured report about the outcomes of the tasks.
• Present the outcomes of the study at NLR.

The duration of this assignment is negotiable but will most likely be approximately 3 – 6 months depending on the scope of the project. The preferred starting date is a soon as possible.

Profiel

Requirements

• A motivated (bachelor or master) student in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Human Factors Engineering and Biomedical Engineering or equivalent.
• Good python skills, and preferably experience with OpenCV and MediaPipe.
• Experience or affinity with computer vision.
• Good communication, organisational and writing skills.
• Fulltime (or at least 80%) availability.

Arbeidsvoorwaarden

About NLR
We offer an inspiring high-tech aerospace-oriented working environment and an informal culture with room for personal initiatives. NLR is a leading international research centre for aerospace. Its mission is to make air transport safer, more efficient, more effective and more sustainable. Bolstered by its multidisciplinary expertise and unrivalled research facilities, NLR provides innovative and comprehensive solutions to the complex challenges of the aerospace sector. NLR’s Stealth Monitoring group works within the department of Simulation and Training and has a wide range of both academic and practical knowledge. Also, close contact is kept with the operator performance and human factors (HF) experts of the Safety and Health department. Operator-in-the-loop studies are performed in both real-life and simulator setting to measure performance of personnel in an operational setting and to study the effectiveness of mitigation measures. Assessments include aspects such as (crew) workload, (team) situation awareness, usability, visual perception, vigilance, and fatigue.

Internship allowance
NLR pays each intern an internship allowance of € 583,13 gross per month based on 40 hours per week. This amount applies to Dutch interns, foreign interns who study at a Dutch educational institution and trainees from within the EU.

Solliciteren

You can apply for this internship by sending your motivation letter and CV to Maykel.van.Miltenburg@nlr.nl.