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At least 91 records · Page 5

CID overview

On December 1, 1984, NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) conducted the first remotely piloted air-to-ground crash test of a transport category aircraft. The Full-Scale Transport Controlled Impact Demonstration (CID) was the culmination of 4 years of effort by the two agencies. NASA and the FAA had many objectives during the joint planning and execution of the Controlled Impact Demonstration. The structural loads experiment was very successful. Ninety-seven percent of the channels were active at impact. The data is still being assessed. Only a portion of the data is presented here; approximately 80 channels of data are available. Analysis of the remaining data is in progress. Interior photography was also very successful. One hundred percent of the cameras functioned. The film contains unique information on the development of fire and smoke in the interior of the aircraft. From a human tolerance point of view, the CID was simulation of a survivable crash.

Hayduk, R. J.↗

Space station architectural elements model study

The worksphere, a user controlled computer workstation enclosure, was expanded in scope to an engineering workstation suitable for use on the Space Station as a crewmember desk in orbit. The concept was also explored as a module control station capable of enclosing enough equipment to control the station from each module. The concept has commercial potential for the Space Station and surface workstation applications. The central triangular beam interior configuration was expanded and refined to seven different beam configurations. These included triangular on center, triangular off center, square, hexagonal small, hexagonal medium, hexagonal large and the H beam. Each was explored with some considerations as to the utilities and a suggested evaluation factor methodology was presented. Scale models of each concept were made. The models were helpful in researching the seven beam configurations and determining the negative residual (unused) volume of each configuration. A flexible hardware evaluation factor concept is proposed which could be helpful in evaluating interior space volumes from a human factors point of view. A magnetic version with all the graphics is available from the author or the technical monitor.

Taylor, T. C.↗

3D X-Ray Luggage-Screening System

A three-dimensional (3D) x-ray luggage- screening system has been proposed to reduce the fatigue experienced by human inspectors and increase their ability to detect weapons and other contraband. The system and variants thereof could supplant thousands of xray scanners now in use at hundreds of airports in the United States and other countries. The device would be applicable to any security checkpoint application where current two-dimensional scanners are in use. A conventional x-ray luggage scanner generates a single two-dimensional (2D) image that conveys no depth information. Therefore, a human inspector must scrutinize the image in an effort to understand ambiguous-appearing objects as they pass by at high speed on a conveyor belt. Such a high level of concentration can induce fatigue, causing the inspector to reduce concentration and vigilance. In addition, because of the lack of depth information, contraband objects could be made more difficult to detect by positioning them near other objects so as to create x-ray images that confuse inspectors. The proposed system would make it unnecessary for a human inspector to interpret 2D images, which show objects at different depths as superimposed. Instead, the system would take advantage of the natural human ability to infer 3D information from stereographic or stereoscopic images. The inspector would be able to perceive two objects at different depths, in a more nearly natural manner, as distinct 3D objects lying at different depths. Hence, the inspector could recognize objects with greater accuracy and less effort. The major components of the proposed system would be similar to those of x-ray luggage scanners now in use. As in a conventional x-ray scanner, there would be an x-ray source. Unlike in a conventional scanner, there would be two x-ray image sensors, denoted the left and right sensors, located at positions along the conveyor that are upstream and downstream, respectively (see figure). X-ray illumination may be provided by a single source or by two sources. The position of the conveyor would be detected to provide a means of matching the appropriate left- and right-eye images of an item under inspection. The appropriate right- and left-eye images of an item would be displayed simultaneously to the right and left eyes, respectively, of the human inspector, using commercially available stereo display screens. The human operator could adjust viewing parameters for maximum viewing comfort. The stereographic images thus generated would differ from true stereoscopic images by small distortions that are characteristic of radiographic images in general, but these distortions would not diminish the value of the images for identifying distinct objects at different depths.

Fernandez, Kenneth↗

A long term model of circulation

A quantitative approach to modeling human physiological function, with a view toward ultimate application to long duration space flight experiments, was undertaken. Data was obtained on the effect of weightlessness on certain aspects of human physiological function during 1-3 month periods. Modifications in the Guyton model are reviewed. Design considerations for bilateral interface models are discussed. Construction of a functioning whole body model was studied, as well as the testing of the model versus available data.

White, R. J.↗

Ongoing Work: A Prototype Dataset for Low-flying Autonomous Medical UAS Operations

This paper presents ongoing work to create a dataset for low-flying autonomous medical UAS operations, focused on human stance recognition. This is an exploration of the viability of airborne classification for the Drone as a First Responder (DFR) concept in which a UAS arrives at the scene of an incident before emergency response personnel can get there and provides some level of situational awareness for the personnel arriving to the scene. Future incarnations could also see the UAS administer some level of care to injured parties at the scene. The data set, focused on detecting human stance, being developed here is the result of 30 test flights at NASA Langley Research Center in early 2024. In addition to flights where the participant (an anthropomorphic testing device or human) is alone in the viewing area holding a particular stance, two emergency scenes have been fabricated and collected through video - ``bike crash'' and ``difficult camping''. These test flights include four human participants. The contribution of this work upon completion will be a publicly available data set for the development of classification engines focused on human stance, and in the future, even triage.

Uncrewed Aerial Systems↗

A full-color wide-field-of-view holographic helmet-mounted display for pilot/vehicle interface development and human factors studies

The application of advanced display concepts and helmet-mounted display (HMD) technology to air-to-air combat in highly maneuverable aircraft is discussed. The concepts considered include control authority, aircraft attitude, and energy maneuverability, and an HMD system designed for simulation studies is described. The human factors issues involved are addressed.

Burley, James R., II↗

Stereo study as an aid to visual analysis of ERTS and Skylab images

The author has identified the following significant results. The parallax on ERTS and Skylab images is sufficiently large for exploitation by human photointerpreters. The ability to view the imagery stereoscopically reduces the signal-to-noise ratio. Stereoscopic examination of orbital data can contribute to studies of spatial, spectral, and temporal variations on the imagery. The combination of true stereo parallax, plus shadow parallax offer many possibilities to human interpreters for making meaningful analyses of orbital imagery.

Vangenderen, J. L.↗

Stereo study as an aid to visual analysis of ERTS and Skylab images

The author has identified the following significant results. The parallax on ERTS and Skylab images is sufficiently large for exploitation by human photointerpreters. The ability to view the imagery stereoscopically reduces the signal-to-noise ratio. Stereoscopic examination of orbital data can contribute to studies of spatial, spectral, and temporal variations on the imagery. The combination of true stereo parallax, plus shadow parallax offer many possibilities to human interpreters for making meaningful analyses of orbital imagery.

Vangenderen, J. L.↗

Humans to Mars: The Greatest Adventure in Human History

The reasons for a human mission to Mars are many and include (1) World technological leadership, (2) Enhanced national security, (3) Enhanced economic vitality, (4) The human urge to explore new and distant frontiers, (5) Scientific discovery (how did Mars evolve from an early Earth-like, hospitable planet to its present inhospitable state? Is there life on Mars?) (6) Inspiring the American public and the next generation of scientists and engineers (following the launch of Sputnik I by the USSR on October 4, 1957, the U. S. and the rest of the world witnessed a significant increase in the number of students going into science and engineering), (7) Develop new technologies for potential non-space spin-off applications, and, (8) Enhanced national prestige, etc. Other reasons for colonizing the Red Planet are more catastrophic in nature, including Mars as a safe haven for the survival of the human species in the event of an impact with a large asteroid (remember the demise of the dinosaurs 65-million years as a result of an asteroid impact!). Some have also suggested that the colonization of Mars may be a solution to the global exponential population explosion on our planet! A human mission to and the colonization of the Red Planet requires multi-disciplined expertise in many areas including engineering, technology, science, human health and medicine and the human psychological and behavior. To capture the relevant areas of needed expertise, we have invited a group of more than 70 U. S. and foreign experts in these areas, including astronauts, scientists, engineers, technologists, medical doctors, psychologists and economists to share their views and thoughts on a human mission to Mars.

Levine, Joel S.↗

Vestibular and Non-vestibular Contributions to Eye Movements that Compensate for Head Rotations during Viewing of Near Targets

We studied horizontal eye movements induced by en-bloc yaw rotation, over a frequency range 0.2 - 2.8 Hz, in 10 normal human subjects as th ey monocularly viewed a target located at their near point of focus. We measured gain and phase relationships between eye-in-head velocity and head velocity when the near target was either earth-fixed or head-fixed. During viewing of the earth-fixed near target,median gain was 1.49 (range 1.24 - 1.87) at 0.2 Hz for the group of subjects, but decl ined at higher frequencies, so that at 2.8 Hz median gain was 1.08 (r ange 0.68 - 1.67). During viewing of the head-fixed near target, median gain was 0.03 (range 0.01 - 0.10) at 0.2 Hz for the group of subjec ts, but increased at higher frequencies, so that at 2.8 Hz median gai n was 0.71 (range 0.28 - 0.94). We estimated the vestibular contribution to these responses (vestibulo-ocular reflex gain, Gvor) by applyin g transient head perturbations (peak acceleration> 1,000 deg's(exp 2) ) during sinusoidal rotation under the two viewing conditions. Median Gvor, estimated < 70m after the onset of head perturbation, was 0.98 (range 0.39 - 1.42) while viewing the earth-fixed near target, and 0. 97 (range 0.37 - 1.33) while viewing the head-fixed near target. For the group of subjects, 9 out of 10 subjects showed no sigificant diff erence of Gvor between the two viewing conditions ( p > 0.053 ) at all test frequencies. Since Gvor accounted for only approximately 73% of the overall response gain during viewing of the earth-fixed target, we investigated the relative contributions of non-vestibular factors. When subjects viewed the earth-fixed target under strobe illumination , to eliminate retinal image slip information, the gain of compensato ry eye movements declined compared with viewing in ambient room light . During sum-of-sine head rotations, while viewing the earth-fixed target, to minimize contributions from predictive mechanisms, gain also declined Nonetheless, simple superposition of smooth-pursuit tracking of sinusoidal target motion could not fully account for the overall r esponse at higher frequencies, suggesting other non-vestibular contributions. During binocular viewing conditions when vergence angle was s ignificantly greater than monocular viewing (p < 0.001), this gain of compensatory eye movements did not show proportional change; indeed, gain could not be correlated with vergence angle during monocular or binocular viewing. We conclude that several separate factors contribute to generate eye rotations during sinusoidal yaw head rotations whi le viewing a near target; these include the VOR, visual-tracking eye movements that utilize retinal image motion, predictive eye movements and, possibly, other unidentified nonvestibular factors. For these experiments, vergence was not an important determinant of response gain .

Han, Yanning H.↗

Planetary protection issues in advance of human exploration of Mars

The major planetary quarantine issues associated with human exploration of Mars, which is viewed as being more likely to harbor indigenous life than is the moon, are discussed. Special attention is given to the environmental impact of human missions to Mars due to contamination and mechanical disturbances of the local environment, the contamination issues associated with the return of humans, and the planetary quarantine strategy for a human base. It is emphasized that, in addition to the question of indigenous life, there may be some concern of returning to earth the earth microorganisms that have spent some time in the Martian environment. It is suggested that, due to the fact that a robot system can be subjected to more stringent controls and protective treatments than a mission involving humans, a robotic sample return mission can help to eliminate many planetary-quarantine concerns about returning samples.

Mckay, Christopher P.↗

Human factors in cockpit automation: A field study of flight crew transition

The factors which affected two groups of airline pilots in the transition from traditional airline cockpits to a highly automated version were studied. All pilots were highly experienced in traditional models of the McDonnell-Douglas DC-9 prior to their transition to the more automated DC-9-80. Specific features of the new aircraft, particularly the digital flight guidance system (DFGS) and other automatic features such as the autothrottle system (ATS), autobrake, and digital display were studied. Particular attention was paid to the first 200 hours of line flying experience in the new aircraft, and the difficulties that some pilots found in adapting to the new systems during this initial operating period. Efforts to prevent skill loss from automation, training methods, traditional human factors issues, and general views of the pilots toward cockpit automation are discussed.

Wiener, E. L.↗

Effect of contrast on human speed perception

This study is part of an ongoing collaborative research effort between the Life Science and Human Factors Divisions at NASA ARC to measure the accuracy of human motion perception in order to predict potential errors in human perception/performance and to facilitate the design of display systems that minimize the effects of such deficits. The study describes how contrast manipulations can produce significant errors in human speed perception. Specifically, when two simultaneously presented parallel gratings are moving at the same speed within stationary windows, the lower-contrast grating appears to move more slowly. This contrast-induced misperception of relative speed is evident across a wide range of contrasts (2.5-50 percent) and does not appear to saturate (e.g., a 50 percent contrast grating appears slower than a 70 percent contrast grating moving at the same speed). The misperception is large: a 70 percent contrast grating must, on average, be slowed by 35 percent to match a 10 percent contrast grating moving at 2 deg/sec (N = 6). Furthermore, it is largely independent of the absolute contrast level and is a quasilinear function of log contrast ratio. A preliminary parametric study shows that, although spatial frequency has little effect, the relative orientation of the two gratings is important. Finally, the effect depends on the temporal presentation of the stimuli: the effects of contrast on perceived speed appears lessened when the stimuli to be matched are presented sequentially. These data constrain both physiological models of visual cortex and models of human performance. We conclude that viewing conditions that effect contrast, such as fog, may cause significant errors in speed judgments.

Stone, Leland S.↗

Cognitive Modeling of Social Behaviors

The driving theme of cognitive modeling for many decades has been that knowledge affects how and which goals are accomplished by an intelligent being (Newell 1991). But when one examines groups of people living and working together, one is forced to recognize that whose knowledge is called into play, at a particular time and location, directly affects what the group accomplishes. Indeed, constraints on participation, including roles, procedures, and norms, affect whether an individual is able to act at all (Lave & Wenger 1991; Jordan 1992; Scribner & Sachs 1991). To understand both individual cognition and collective activity, perhaps the greatest opportunity today is to integrate the cognitive modeling approach (which stresses how beliefs are formed and drive behavior) with social studies (which stress how relationships and informal practices drive behavior). The crucial insight is that norms are conceptualized in the individual &nd as ways of carrying out activities (Clancey 1997a, 2002b). This requires for the psychologist a shift from only modeling goals and tasks - why people do what they do - to modeling behavioral patterns-what people do-as they are engaged in purposeful activities. Instead of a model that exclusively deduces actions from goals, behaviors are also, if not primarily, driven by broader patterns of chronological and located activities (akin to scripts). This analysis is particular inspired by activity theory (Leont ev 1979). While acknowledging that knowledge (relating goals and operations) is fundamental for intelligent behavior, activity theory claims that a broader driver is the person s motives and conceptualization of activities. Such understanding of human interaction is normative (i.e., viewed with respect to social standards), affecting how knowledge is called into play and applied in practice. Put another way, how problems are discovered and framed, what methods are chosen, and indeed who even cares or has the authority to act, are all constrained by norms, which are conceived and enacted by individuals.

Clancey, William J.↗

Evidence Report, Risk of Inadequate Design of Human and Automation/Robotic Integration

The success of future exploration missions depends, even more than today, on effective integration of humans and technology (automation and robotics). This will not emerge by chance, but by design. Both crew and ground personnel will need to do more demanding tasks in more difficult conditions, amplifying the costs of poor design and the benefits of good design. This report has looked at the importance of good design and the risks from poor design from several perspectives: 1) If the relevant functions needed for a mission are not identified, then designs of technology and its use by humans are unlikely to be effective: critical functions will be missing and irrelevant functions will mislead or drain attention. 2) If functions are not distributed effectively among the (multiple) participating humans and automation/robotic systems, later design choices can do little to repair this: additional unnecessary coordination work may be introduced, workload may be redistributed to create problems, limited human attentional resources may be wasted, and the capabilities of both humans and technology underused. 3) If the design does not promote accurate understanding of the capabilities of the technology, the operators will not use the technology effectively: the system may be switched off in conditions where it would be effective, or used for tasks or in contexts where its effectiveness may be very limited. 4) If an ineffective interaction design is implemented and put into use, a wide range of problems can ensue. Many involve lack of transparency into the system: operators may be unable or find it very difficult to determine a) the current state and changes of state of the automation or robot, b) the current state and changes in state of the system being controlled or acted on, and c) what actions by human or by system had what effects. 5) If the human interfaces for operation and control of robotic agents are not designed to accommodate the unique points of view and operating environments of both the human and the robotic agent, then effective human-robot coordination cannot be achieved.

Zumbado, Jennifer Rochlis↗

A study of payload specialist station monitor size constraints

Constraints on the CRT display size for the shuttle orbiter cabin are studied. The viewing requirements placed on these monitors were assumed to involve display of imaged scenes providing visual feedback during payload operations and display of alphanumeric characters. Data on target recognition/resolution, target recognition, and range rate detection by human observers were utilized to determine viewing requirements for imaged scenes. Field-of-view and acuity requirements for a variety of payload operations were obtained along with the necessary detection capability in terms of range-to-target size ratios. The monitor size necessary to meet the acuity requirements was established. An empirical test was conducted to determine required recognition sizes for displayed alphanumeric characters. The results of the test were used to determine the number of characters which could be simultaneously displayed based on the recognition size requirements using the proposed monitor size. A CRT display of 20 x 20 cm is recommended. A portion of the display area is used for displaying imaged scenes and the remaining display area is used for alphanumeric characters pertaining to the displayed scene. The entire display is used for the character alone mode.

Kirkpatrick, M., III↗

Device For Perception Of Polarization

Polarized image viewed through rotating polarizing filter appears to pulsate. Optical device enables human observer to perceive polarization of light. Used alone for viewing in real time and/or in conjunction with video or movie camera to record for subsequent detailed quantitative analysis of polarization in scene. Device used in remote sensing to classify portions of scenes according to polarization characteristics, to enhance viewing through atmosphere and oceans and to enhance contrasts. Used to monitor oilspill from air and detect changes in soil moisture and to map wetlands, among many other possible civilian and military applications.

Whitehead, Victor S.↗

Coverage and control of constellations of elliptical inclined frozen lunar orbits

A great deal of scientific interest exists regarding the permanently shadowed craters near the poles of the Moon where there may be frozen volatiles. These regions, particularly the Moon's South Pole, have been proposed for extensive robotic and human exploration. Unfortunately, they are typically not in view of Earth, and would require some form of communication relay to facilitate exploration via robotic and/or human missions. One solution for such a relay is a long-lived constellation of lunar telecommunication orbiters providing focused coverage at the pole of interest. Robust support requires this coverage to be continuous, redundant, and, in order to minimize costs, this constellation should consist of 3 satellites or fewer.

lunar constellation design↗