Tactical Display for Soldiers
Tactical Display for Soldiers

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 1997-01-17

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 0309175119

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This book examines the human factors issues associated with the development, testing, and implementation of helmet-mounted display technology in the 21st Century Land Warrior System. Because the framework of analysis is soldier performance with the system in the full range of environments and missions, the book discusses both the military context and the characteristics of the infantry soldiers who will use the system. The major issues covered include the positive and negative effects of such a display on the local and global situation awareness of the individual soldier, an analysis of the visual and psychomotor factors associated with each design feature, design considerations for auditory displays, and physical sources of stress and the implications of the display for affecting the soldier's workload. The book proposes an innovative approach to research and testing based on a three-stage strategy that begins in the laboratory, moves to controlled field studies, and culminates in operational testing.

Quantitative Analysis of the Mental Workload Demands of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle Drivers Using Physiological, Subjective, and Performance Assessments
Quantitative Analysis of the Mental Workload Demands of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle Drivers Using Physiological, Subjective, and Performance Assessments

Author: Elizabeth A. Khol

Publisher:

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 344

ISBN-13:

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"United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) Operators and vehicle Commanders are specially trained United States military Warfighters that have the demanding task of operating or working onboard Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) All Terrain Vehicles (M-ATVs). Their missions encounter significant mental demands resulting from fatigue, highly stressful situations, and interactions with Government Furnished Equipment (GFE). Excessive mental demands can be the primary factor leading to compromised vehicle communication, missed improvised explosive device (IED) detection, and increased incidents of vehicle roll-over. Research has demonstrated the consequences of mental overloading including increased errors, performance decrements, distraction, cognitive tunneling and inadequate time to appropriately process information. The objectives of this thesis were to evaluate the extent to which task-related factors impact the mental workload of Warfighters and to evaluate the consistency among the three categories of mental workload metrics. The 14 participants studied in this research were Marine Corps personnel who had heavy vehicle driving experience. Physiological, subjective and performance measures were collected during a four-segment course that progressed in difficulty and analyzed across all participants to assess changes in mental workload. It was found that task-related factors impacted the mental workload of Warfighters. The subjective metric was able to capture changes in workload more accurately than biosignals. Due to technical problems with the biosignal data, comparison of consistency across metrics was inconclusive. The subjective workload ratings were significantly different between course segments and experience levels. The experiment resulted in workload ratings that increased by as much as 94% between segments and were 18% higher among novice drivers. This study showed that mental workload fluctuates while driving in a stressful situation, despite training and experience, and consequently, detection performance will be impacted which could have very adverse consequences. There is the need for additional research to have a better understanding of the true impact of mental workload on MRAP vehicle drivers, especially in an operational environment."--Abstract.

Heavy Vehicle Driver Workload Assessment
Heavy Vehicle Driver Workload Assessment

Author: Battelle Memorial Institute

Publisher:

Published: 1996

Total Pages: 152

ISBN-13:

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This report contains a review of available task analytic data and protocols pertinent to heavy vehicle operation and determination of the availability and relevance of such data to heavy vehicle driver workload assessment. Additionally, a preliminary consideration of development of safety-relevant criteria was pursued, and relevance of a review of the relationship between risk-taking behavior and workload was examined. Task analysis data included American, Canadian, and European sources which varied substantially in format and content, and were largely oriented to support training and certification. A variety of protocols including activity analysis, interviews and commentary, driving or protocol analysis, critical incident technique, subjective workload ratings, visual allocation measures, on-the-road driver-vehicle performance monitoring, safety criticality ratings, and rankings were identified. No fully developed methodologies or criteria were found by which to predict accident rates based on workload level, but actuarial, visual allocation of resources, and lanekeeping approaches were presented.

Workload and Stress of Crews Operating Future Manned Vehicles
Workload and Stress of Crews Operating Future Manned Vehicles

Author:

Publisher:

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 23

ISBN-13:

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This study examined workload and stress of crews operating future manned vehicles during virtual and live simulation and varied threat conditions. The effects, for live simulation only, of autonomous driving, crew position, and driving speed on workload and stress were also examined. Because of the small number of participants, only descriptive statistics were used. Results suggest that for the task of operating a vehicle and searching for and discriminating between dismounted noncombatants and enemy forces, live simulation was more stressful. The two levels of threat for enemy forces did not seem to substantially affect workload or stress, perhaps because the task loads under the two threat levels were not sufficiently different. Autonomous driving did not reduce workload or stress, particularly for the driver. Higher stress levels in the autonomous driving condition suggests that the implementation of autonomous driving in the CAT (Crew Integration and Automation Test Bed) vehicle was not appropriate for a scouting mission that required a precise level of speed control. There was also evidence of the gunner offloading work to the driver during autonomous driving. The gunner had higher workload (and to a lesser extent stress) than did the driver, especially in the higher threat condition where the gunner's responsibilities were greater. Higher speed driving also resulted in higher stress and workload.