Human-factors aspects of orbital operations
Human factors requirements for manned space laboratory orbital operations
Vogeley, A. W.↗
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Biocybernetic Adaptation Strategies: Machine Awareness of Human Engagement for Improved Operational Performance
Human operators interacting with machines or computers continually adapt to the needs of the system ideally resulting in optimal performance. In some cases, however, deteriorated performance is an outcome. Adaptation to the situation is a strength expected of the human operator which is often accomplished by the human through self-regulation of mental state. Adaptation is at the core of the human operator's activity, and research has demonstrated that the implementation of a feedback loop can enhance this natural skill to improve training and human/machine interaction. Biocybernetic adaptation involves a “loop upon a loop,” which may be visualized as a superimposed loop which senses a physiological signal and influences the operator’s task at some point. Biocybernetic adaptation in, for example, physiologically adaptive automation employs the “steering” sense of “cybernetic,” and serves a transitory adaptive purpose – to better serve the human operator by more fully representing their responses to the sys- tem. The adaptation process usually makes use of an assessment of transient cog- nitive state to steer a functional aspect of a system that is external to the operator’s physiology from which the state assessment is derived. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to detail the structure of biocybernetic systems regarding the level of engagement of interest for adaptive systems, their processing pipeline, and the adaptation strategies employed for training purposes, in an effort to pave the way towards machine awareness of human state for self-regulation and improved operational performance.
Stephens, Chad↗
Human Factors Operability Timeline Analysis to Improve the Processing Flow of the Orion Spacecraft
The Constellation Program (CxP) Orion vehicle goes through several areas and stages of processing before its launched at the Kennedy Space Center. In order to have efficient and effective processing, all of the activities need to be analyzed. This was accomplished by first developing a timeline of events that included each activity, and then each activity was analyzed by operability experts and human factors experts with spacecraft processing experience. This papers focus is to explain the results and the process for developing this human factors operability timeline analysis to improve the processing flow of Orion.
Schlierf, Roland↗
Fault Management Techniques in Human Spaceflight Operations
This paper discusses human spaceflight fault management operations. Fault detection and response capabilities available in current US human spaceflight programs Space Shuttle and International Space Station are described while emphasizing system design impacts on operational techniques and constraints. Preflight and inflight processes along with products used to anticipate, mitigate and respond to failures are introduced. Examples of operational products used to support failure responses are presented. Possible improvements in the state of the art, as well as prioritization and success criteria for their implementation are proposed. This paper describes how the architecture of a command and control system impacts operations in areas such as the required fault response times, automated vs. manual fault responses, use of workarounds, etc. The architecture includes the use of redundancy at the system and software function level, software capabilities, use of intelligent or autonomous systems, number and severity of software defects, etc. This in turn drives which Caution and Warning (C&W) events should be annunciated, C&W event classification, operator display designs, crew training, flight control team training, and procedure development. Other factors impacting operations are the complexity of a system, skills needed to understand and operate a system, and the use of commonality vs. optimized solutions for software and responses. Fault detection, annunciation, safing responses, and recovery capabilities are explored using real examples to uncover underlying philosophies and constraints. These factors directly impact operations in that the crew and flight control team need to understand what happened, why it happened, what the system is doing, and what, if any, corrective actions they need to perform. If a fault results in multiple C&W events, or if several faults occur simultaneously, the root cause(s) of the fault(s), as well as their vehicle-wide impacts, must be determined in order to maintain situational awareness. This allows both automated and manual recovery operations to focus on the real cause of the fault(s). An appropriate balance must be struck between correcting the root cause failure and addressing the impacts of that fault on other vehicle components. Lastly, this paper presents a strategy for using lessons learned to improve the software, displays, and procedures in addition to determining what is a candidate for automation. Enabling technologies and techniques are identified to promote system evolution from one that requires manual fault responses to one that uses automation and autonomy where they are most effective. These considerations include the value in correcting software defects in a timely manner, automation of repetitive tasks, making time critical responses autonomous, etc. The paper recommends the appropriate use of intelligent systems to determine the root causes of faults and correctly identify separate unrelated faults.
O'Hagan, Brian↗
Space station proximity operations windows: Human factors design guidelines
Proximity operations refers to all activities outside the Space Station which take place within a 1-km radius. Since there will be a large number of different operations involving manned and unmanned vehicles, single- and multiperson crews, automated and manually controlled flight, a wide variety of cargo, and construction/repair activities, accurate and continuous human monitoring of these operations from a specially designed control station on Space Station will be required. Total situational awareness will be required. This paper presents numerous human factors design guidelines and related background information for control windows which will support proximity operations. Separate sections deal with natural and artificial illumination geometry; all basic rendezvous vector approaches; window field-of-view requirements; window size; shape and placement criteria; window optical characteristics as they relate to human perception; maintenance and protection issues; and a comprehensive review of windows installed on U.S. and U.S.S.R. manned vehicles.
Haines, Richard F.↗
A Class of Selenocentric Retrograde Orbits With Innovative Applications to Human Lunar Operations
Selenocentric distant retrograde orbits with radii from approx. 12,500 km to approx. 25,000 km are assessed for stability and for suitability as crewed command and control infrastructure locations in support of telerobotic lunar surface operations and interplanetary human transport. Such orbits enable consistent transits to and from Earth at virtually any time if they are coplanar with the Moon's geocentric orbit. They possess multiple attributes and applications distinct from NASA's proposed destination orbit for a redirected asteroid about 70,000 km from the Moon.
Moon↗
Human-Centered Operations
Efforts to improve operational safety often focus on preventing human error. But humans don't just make mistakes. They do, in fact, make a tremendous contribution to operational safety, and there is much to learn from what goes right. To support people in their role, the operation should be human-centered. To make the operation human-centered, the framework of the 4Ps can be used to create a clear, coherent, consistent and comprehensive guidance.
flight safety↗
New techniques for the analysis of manual control systems
Studies are summarized on the application of advanced analytical and computational methods to the development of mathematical models of human controllers in multiaxis manual control systems. Specific accomplishments include the following: (1) The development of analytical and computer methods for the measurement of random parameters in linear models of human operators. (2) Discrete models of human operator behavior in a multiple display situation were developed. (3) Sensitivity techniques were developed which make possible the identification of unknown sampling intervals in linear systems. (4) The adaptive behavior of human operators following particular classes of vehicle failures was studied and a model structure proposed.
Bekey, G. A.↗
Information Flow Model of Human Extravehicular Activity Operations
Future human spaceflight missions will face the complex challenge of performing human extravehicular activity (EVA) beyond the low Earth orbit (LEO) environment. Astronauts will become increasingly isolated from Earth-based mission support and thus will rely heavily on their own decision-making capabilities and onboard tools to accomplish proposed EVA mission objectives. To better address time delay communication issues, EVA characters, e.g. flight controllers, astronauts, etc., and their respective work practices and roles need to be better characterized and understood. This paper presents the results of a study examining the EVA work domain and the personnel that operate within it. The goal is to characterize current and historical roles of ground support, intravehicular (IV) crew and EV crew, their communication patterns and information needs. This work provides a description of EVA operations and identifies issues to be used as a basis for future investigation.
Miller, Matthew J.↗
Flight Director Insights: Into Human Spaceflight Operations
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Human spaceflight operations↗
Did You Pack Your Toothbrush? Flight Director Insights Into Human Spaceflight Operations
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Human spaceflight operations↗
Autonomous Agents and Intelligent Assistants for Exploration Operations
Human exploration of space will involve remote autonomous crew and systems in long missions. Data to earth will be delayed and limited. Earth control centers will not receive continuous real-time telemetry data, and there will be communication round trips of up to one hour. There will be reduced human monitoring on the planet and earth. When crews are present on the planet, they will be occupied with other activities, and system management will be a low priority task. Earth control centers will use multi-tasking "night shift" and on-call specialists. A new project at Johnson Space Center is developing software to support teamwork between distributed human and software agents in future interplanetary work environments. The Engineering and Mission Operations Directorates at Johnson Space Center (JSC) are combining laboratories and expertise to carry out this project, by establishing a testbed for hWl1an centered design, development and evaluation of intelligent autonomous and assistant systems. Intelligent autonomous systems for managing systems on planetary bases will commuicate their knowledge to support distributed multi-agent mixed-initiative operations. Intelligent assistant agents will respond to events by developing briefings and responses according to instructions from human agents on earth and in space.
Malin, Jane T.↗
Operational space human factors - Methodology for a DSO
The Human Factors Assessment of Orbiter Missions (Detailed Supplementary Objective 904) was conducted on STS-40 (Spacelab Life Sciences 1) in order to bring human factors into the operational world of manned space flight. This paper describes some of its methods. Included are explanations of general and space human factors, and a description of DSO 904 study objectives and results. The methods described include ways to collect background information for studies and also different in-flight data collection techniques. Several lessons for the space human factors engineer are reflected in this paper. First, method development is just as important as standards generation. Second, results of investigations should always have applicability to design. Third, cooperation with other NASA groups is essential. Finally, the human is the most important component of the space exploration system, and often the most difficult to study.
Callaghan, Thomas F.↗
Experimental and simulation studies of hard contact in force reflecting teleoperation
Experiments and simulations of a single-axis force-reflecting teleoperation system have been conducted to investigate the problem of contacting a hard environment and maintaining a controlled force in teleoperation in which position is fed forward from the hand controller (master) to the manipulator (slave), and force is fed back to the human operator through motors in the master. The simulations, using an electrical circuit model, reproduce the behavior of the real system, including effects of human operator biomechanics. It is shown that human operator properties, which vary as a result of different types of grasp of the handle, affect the stability of the system in the hard-contact task. The effect of a heavier grasp on the handle is equivalent to increased hand-controller velocity damping in terms of the systems stability in the contact task, but control system damping sufficient to guarantee stable contact results in perceptible sluggishness of the control handle's response in free motion. These results suggest that human operator biomechanics must be taken into account to guarantee stable and ergonomic performance of advanced teleoperators.
Hannaford, Blake↗
Robot and Human Surface Operations on Solar System Bodies
This paper presents a comparison of robot and human surface operations on solar system bodies. The topics include: 1) Long Range Vision of Surface Scenarios; 2) Human and Robots Complement Each Other; 3) Respective Human and Robot Strengths; 4) Need More In-Depth Quantitative Analysis; 5) Projected Study Objectives; 6) Analysis Process Summary; 7) Mission Scenarios Decompose into Primitive Tasks; 7) Features of the Projected Analysis Approach; and 8) The "Getting There Effect" is a Major Consideration. This paper is in viewgraph form.
Weisbin, C. R.↗
NASA research in teleoperation and robotics
Increased automation is necessary in future NASA missions. Drivers for automation include constrained funding and physical resources as well as mission capabilities not achievable through conventional means. The application of emerging technology in manipulators and machine intelligence will enable the development of robotic devices remotely commanded by human operators to increase man's productivity in space. The Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology (OAST) has established a program for research in teleoperation and robotics. The program's near-term focus is a Remote Orbital Servicing System (ROSS). The longer range goals include: (1) basic research in autonomous operations, (2) human factors research on the man-machine interface to remote systems, and (3) system integration and analysis of advanced concepts. This paper reviews the current NASA research and technology and considers future work needed to meet the OAST goals.
Meintel, A. J., Jr.↗
Safe Operational Envelope for the LSMS Family of Cable-Driven Cranes
The Lightweight Surface Manipulation System, or LSMS, is a family of long-reach cable-actuated robotic cranes. They are designed for planetary surface operations on the Moon and Mars. Their low structural weight and compact packaging reduces the fuel costs associated with space travel. The LSMS can be operated by humans, who can be on site or remotely, or autonomously. The goal of this research is to help human operators and path planning algorithms avoid unsafe states during operation. To this end, this work leverages a geometrical model of the LSMS and formulates a new dynamic model. These are later used to define the safe operational envelope for the LSMS family. The paper classifies the constraints that define the safe operational envelope in three groups: motor constraints, geometric constraints, and cable tension constraints. Keeping the cables under tension is necessary to maintain controllability over the joint angles. Two types of loss of tension events are identified for each of the cables. First, an excessive reel out of the cables can lead to a loss of tension, where the LSMS links behave like a pendulum. Second, an excessive reel in of the cables can lead to a link tip-over. This can cause a violent clash between the links on the LSMS. The paper visualizes these constraints for the LSMS-L35, the smallest robot within the family.
LSMS↗
A Manual Control Test for the Detection and Deterrence of Impaired Drivers
A brief manual control test and a decision strategy were developed, laboratory tested, and field validated which provide a means for detecting human operator impairment from alcohol or other drugs. The test requires the operator to stabilize progressively unstable controlled element dynamics. Control theory and experimental data verify that the human operator's control ability on this task is constrained by basic cybernetic characteristics, and that task performance is reliably affected by impairment effects on these characteristics. Assessment of human operator control ability is determined by a statistically based decision strategy. The operator is allowed several chances to exceed a preset pass criterion. Procedures are described for setting the pass criterion based on individual ability and a desired unimpaired failure rate. These procedures were field tested with apparatus installed in automobiles that were designed to discourage drunk drivers from operating their vehicles. This test program demonstrated that the control task and detection strategy could be applied in a practical setting to screen human operators for impairment in their basic cybernetic skills.
Stein, A. C.↗