The Influence of Ship Motion on Manual Control Skills,
Abstract
The effects of ship motion on a range of typical manual control skills were examined on the Warren Spring ship motion simulator driven in heave, pitch and roll by signals taken from the frigate HMS AVENGER at 13 m/s (25 knots) into a force 4 wind. The motion produced a vertical rms acceleration of .024 g, mostly between .1 and .3 Hz, with comparatively little pitch or roll. A task involving unsupported arm movements was seriously affected by the motion; a pursuit tracking task showed a reliable decrement although it was still performed reasonably well (pressure and free-moving tracking controls were affected equally by the motion); a digit keying task requiring ballistic hand movements was unaffected. There was no evidence that these effects were caused by sea-sickness. The differing response to motion of the different tasks, from virtual destruction to no effect, suggests that a major benefit could come from an attempt to design the man-control interface on board ship around motion resistant tasks. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 1980
- Accession Number
- ADA095853
Entities
People
- E. C. Poulton
- H. Du Ross
- P. D. Mcleod
- W. N. Lewis