Gloved Operator Performance Study
Abstract
This study is to determine whether greater minimum spacing is required between push buttons for gloved operation than for bare-handed operation. Seventy-two undergraduate students served as subjects in groups of 12, one group for each of the six hand-wear conditions. The six hand-wear conditions consisted of one bare-handed group and five glove groups. Each of these five groups wore one of the following glove types: a butyl and cotton glove assembly, a butyl and nomex glove assembly, a leather and wool glove assembly, a fire-fighting glove, or a thin vinyl glove. Subjects performed two button-pushing tasks. One task was self paced, allowing subjects to determine response times. The other task was machine paced, allowing subjects decreasing amounts of time to respond. Subjects performed these tasks on three different panels containing nine buttons each. The three panels varied by spacing between the buttons. One panel contained buttons 13 mm apart, another 19 mm apart, and another 25 mm apart. Results from the self-paced task indicate that subjects responded faster on the 13-mm and 19-mm panels than on the 25-mm panel. This suggests that the 13-mm spacing is adequate for speed of operation for gloved operators. Error data and machine-paced time data neither support nor contradict this result. Results also indicate that subjects with larger hands tend to score faster times with more errors in the machine-paced task. This effect does not seem to be because of gender differences.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 1992
- Accession Number
- ADA256894
Entities
People
- Glen Anderson
- Jan Berkhout
- Michael Granaas
- Michelle Mccleerey
Organizations
- Human Engineering Laboratory