Acquisition of control skill with delayed and compensated displays

• Published in: Human factors Vol. 37; no. 3; p. 652
• Main Author: Ricard, G L
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.09.1995
• Subjects: Adaptation, Psychological; Adolescent; Adult; Aircraft - instrumentation; Aviation - education; Computer Graphics; Computer Simulation; Ergonomics; Feedback; Female; Humans; Male; Psychomotor Performance; Task Performance and Analysis; Time Factors; User-Computer Interface
• ISSN: 0018-7208
• DOI: 10.1518/001872095779049363

The difficulty of mastering a two-axis, compensatory, manual control task was manipulated by introducing transport delays into the feedback loop of the controlled element. Realistic aircraft dynamics were used. Subjects' display was a simulation of an "inside-out" artificial horizon instrument perturbed by atmospheric turbulence. The task was to maintain straight and level flight, and delays tested were representative of those found in current training simulators. Delay compensations in the form of first-order lead and first-order lead/lag transfer functions, along with an uncompensated condition, were factorially combined with added delays. Subjects were required to meet a relatively strict criterion for performance. Control activity showed no differences during criterion performance, but the trials needed to achieve the criterion were linearly related to the magnitude of the delay and the compensation condition. These data were collected in the context of aircraft attitude control, but the results can be applied to the simulation of other vehicles, to remote manipulation, and to maneuvering in graphical environments.