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Human Factors in Automated and Robotic Space Systems: Proceedings of a Symposium (1987)

Chapter: Discussion: Comments on the Human Role in Space Systems

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Suggested Citation:"Discussion: Comments on the Human Role in Space Systems." National Research Council. 1987. Human Factors in Automated and Robotic Space Systems: Proceedings of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/792.
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Page 444
Suggested Citation:"Discussion: Comments on the Human Role in Space Systems." National Research Council. 1987. Human Factors in Automated and Robotic Space Systems: Proceedings of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/792.
×
Page 445
Suggested Citation:"Discussion: Comments on the Human Role in Space Systems." National Research Council. 1987. Human Factors in Automated and Robotic Space Systems: Proceedings of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/792.
×
Page 446
Suggested Citation:"Discussion: Comments on the Human Role in Space Systems." National Research Council. 1987. Human Factors in Automated and Robotic Space Systems: Proceedings of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/792.
×
Page 447
Suggested Citation:"Discussion: Comments on the Human Role in Space Systems." National Research Council. 1987. Human Factors in Automated and Robotic Space Systems: Proceedings of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/792.
×
Page 448
Suggested Citation:"Discussion: Comments on the Human Role in Space Systems." National Research Council. 1987. Human Factors in Automated and Robotic Space Systems: Proceedings of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/792.
×
Page 449
Suggested Citation:"Discussion: Comments on the Human Role in Space Systems." National Research Council. 1987. Human Factors in Automated and Robotic Space Systems: Proceedings of a Symposium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/792.
×
Page 450

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DISCUSSION: IS ON BEE: IN ROLE ~ SPACE SYSTEM Harry L. 0~ the theme of this sy~siuTa has been to delineate key reseat areas that net to be ac3dress~ ~ order to establish effective arx] reliable interaction of humans with au~na~ art robotic sins in future ted Apace systems. Ippics address Cliche earlier sessions included system Activity, Eat Systems, Iarx3uage artful Display for ~man~ Fornication, ~Q~ter-Aided Mbmtoring art Decision Making, Telepr~e arm Supervisory Control, art Social Factom in Livid and Performance. In this final session the stakes have a~3ress~ ~ of He broader "sues relays to the human role In Lure Spat system. Proffer Startu~k has mild the Sharing of cognitive tacks between people and Is and Professor Akin has Brained the roles a * · * ~ _ _ ~ _ _ Of hl~narls am InachinlBs in previous space missions and Is considered how these roles may Garde ~ the frame. In his paper, David Akin points at that any self contained device perfonn~ng a useful function in space, wheff~P~ hen or Rae, Ray con He mane set of Epic functions to ad~uat=3y perform its missicn. -these include: sensory, ~atioT,al, manipulative arm lie capabilities and ache ernrir~nen—1 support functions .~-~'y for the device to exist. mans solved ~ the e~riron~nt of Ear~ch's surface and are depot upon a similar ate and gravitational referee along with food, water and periodic rest/sleep p~rli=.C. He E pace sort system; for execration mart Lesions must ante these hen nets, perhaps even including a form of artificial grant if it ~ id Evolve Ross—Or. On the ~her hand, machines can be ~ - igned to curate Under a wide range of Iris = tal Additions. He task which we face is to urxterstar~ the capabilities and limitatic~s of humans and machines as detentes fort they pet art present roles in Space art to excrapc~late to ache future. Akin prompts the thesis that it is not an either/or Choice bet- there are ray and sufficient roles for both humans and machines and there He significar~ limitations ~ both. Pi: Space missions have sham that the human c~=r offers ocshbin~ advantages of Usual dexterity art sheath whereas rat necrotic system available today are designed to provide either so (e.g., for positioning large masses) or dexterity, but not both. On the other hand, humans can offer both capabilities. Beans represent _ — _ 444

445 excellent adaptive control systems, especially well suited for rapid pr~;sir~ and integration of visual Inca. they have demonstrated they capabilities In space to move large masses along with ye capability for precise psy~h~tor coordination in delicate ~hani~1 adjutants. Akin suggests that future research thud be planned to price a ni~ul data base on human and ma~ix~e capabilities and lim;tatior~s In each of the functional categories. this will lead ~ a better quantitative ur~erstar~ir~ of the appropriate roles of humans art machines art will allay system players to know which tasks ye worth automating art which ones w; 11 best be done by hens for the foreseeable future. He points out that it Is not bough to ~ limitations arx! capabilities of each of the Dent technologies, but we By also understand the Skye Interactions between ~ human and the machines to define Be ad priate roles of each. Recognizing that humans and machines may be able to perform Be say tanks but may ,,~ different tennis; in a~mplishi~ thy, Akin suggests Cat we also need to develop appropriate metrics ~ order to be able ~ produce ~ani~fi~1 ~arisans. lIe f~ ports At Bat aghast all of the Besi5r~f; mostly propose for t=]erobotic sy~;~cems are ant~tric tearing ~ duplicate the hymn form. He suggests that s~x:e the human form evolved ~ a gravity field it may not be the best Noel for apace activities and alternate forms ark trilogies dhauld be stied. A}cin coral that: (~) zygotic pyE;t~; are evolving spidly, (2) bath human ark robotic systems have s~hs ark ~s~s; (3) for any future systems ~ best mixture of each ~ a time deper~t solution; AL (4) for Be initiate future, the prance of each in Apace Is an absolute nemesis for the effective use of the other. Hem Or Casual ~ti~re, ~ criteria of performance, cost and missions Suez-= probability (program confidence by ~ shore risk ark technological risl`) are the principal factors that- program managers ark system engineer'; \~=P ~ selectir~g the option design apE?roadh for meeting mission objectives. Much as we may wish it to be otherwise, cost and cost effectiveness will continue to be important factors in designing future systems. I would urge, in addition to the metric comparisons of performance suggested by Akin, that where possible, India= of relative cost also be provided ~ order that design era= may have a basis for ensuring the ant ~t effective utilizaticn of the human Repair in the space Pyle of the future. William Startuck, In his pair, ~nirx~s US that people are flexible and complex. C>n one hard, they can charge then' behavior significantly in he to small mnrironmenta1 changes and on the other hand, they Charge hardly at all in response to al - Gently large e~rirc~ental ~es. Stalk has merely eloquently highlighted he behavioral cliffererKxs between people and firs and suggests that these differences can also an that combinations of the two can achieve results beyond the capabilities of either alone. He sasses that In defining important bleary issues in h~n~mputer systems we sand be concerned winch achieving the proper }balance armory the cling advantages and

446 disadvantages and we must Ionize that the dividing lines are fl=d arm c]~ heavily upon Ache evolving sta~f-the~art in c~pu~cer design. Accordingly, Starbuc~k suggests that Apace System designers; Chard not Reperk Cal genera theories but radar test specific inple~ntation concepts with Me actual users as subjects. Staked suggests that fixture research efforts can profitably be did tears improving the interactions arm synergies bed people arm is. He suggests five r~ topics as being es - :ii31ly interesting. dose are: (1) Fosters dust between Maple arm Expert So: e.g. , exploring questions r Wards ~ the ~ rue a decision ~ port systems' knowledge and 1ogic~1 rules should be tailored to each user, and the factors that impact the users trust and acceptance of the computer system. (2) Avoiding Overload of Human Controllers: e.g., exploring the Delicate balance between information c~erioad, yet keeping the haven in the loop by providing sufficient information for the human to And appropriately when envies ~ arise. (3) Anticipating Human Er~rs: e.g., exploring the basic questions of people monitoring ravines or marines monitoring people. Muters that predict, detect Al remedy In ears raise issues abaft ~ o is actually in ~ ntrol. Struck asks 'I en should people have the right to experiment or deviate face there instructions?" 4) Devela ping Effective Interface languages: e.g., exploring the interactions between social contexts ant interface languages. Starbuck po lots out that for experts, working alone, program design languages may be superior to natural language interfaces. On the other hand ~ space systems! operators ~ th different natural anS scientific backgrounds may need to taLk to each other while interfacing ~ th Computers anS natural language interface-= may prove wore effective. 5) Using M~Yndngdu1 Interface Metaphors: e.g., exploring and establishing the conceptual frameworks that highlight the significant prcgerties of different metaphors and thew applicatica~s. (Every interface is a metaphor of something.) Startuck Thieves Mat NASA phalli densely a ~hislLicated User Interface Management System that will raze the revs of different users, alla r different users to express then' vassal preferena3s;, and protect the user's irxlivi~uality. He points out ~ at in the forP=-=Ahie future, space crews will continue to represent an exceptional cans= of people in abilities, training anS experience. A his suggests to Star buck a more immediate need for studies of well trained experienced users, rather than research aimed at describing human capabilities in general.

447 ~ peril a frame of refuse for Inning upon the human factor ~ areas identified by William Starbu~k are Da~rid Akin, we ~ght nice bat Nubs current Space Station mission ~e] ocnrers a bead range of scientific are Animal objectives. -this Gel suggests that as 03 ==istication of future payloads I, then will be an afire dhific ~ crew suborn Gills are r~i~nts. A transition can be anticipated with the pr~ressi~ of time, from the more Physical tacks of orbit=1 assembly are installation to Are in~cell~ually orients work activities. To refire effectively `~ human =~1 ligenc~e, a Becker math is refire with machine mtelliger~ and with "expert" systems. Work stations mast (~) Fornicate fluently with humans Khakis, writing, drawing, eta.), (2) assist in ~ntmactive pz~ible~ solving and inference functions, AL (3) pr~ide knowledge base functic~ns (information storage,. retrieval, are inexpert' systems) for support. Rob Axon the d~servatioals of the profit speakers it would appear that be ~ ~ related to work static design weld logically fall Onto three categories. mese are: `1) PI ~ information Se~ki~ Ens—, (2) }—earn of Information/Data Handling I, and (3) R - ear can Operation ~ It nears. Reseat pro; dean ing with Infonnation Seeking Processes Should include sensory/p~ eptual relearn dean ing win all sense modalities - ~ ~.~1 ~ = - And; in.; ~ it,; ~.~1 A; ~1 at. A~.~1 ~~ em.. ~ As. ..~~ I.. ~~` .. (Cant effort is r~i~ in the devel~nt of visual display formats, ~dh as it is anticipate that, jet as today' 80% of the information refire by future space crews will be Obtained though the sense of sight. ) ~ wend Imp Starbuc~k's five reseat topics under the subject of Information~/Data Handling Uses. In ~i~ his relations for establishing ~ni~1 Interface Metaphors ~ weld also include, a related topic, reseat and devel~nt of a Universal Us-' Interface Reagent System (Urals). this concept for a software system that handles all direct interaction with the user, Axially for a wide variety of ur~erlyir~ applications, began to Ernie ~ the Granter interface literature several yea=; ago. the Apt involves ~ main Ants: (~) a set of tools for d~relc~ers to use in Unifying visual and logical aspects of the user interface; and (2) a set of Nan time. pr ~ r ~ ; and data }cases for ac dally controlling interaction with the users. Some of the potential advantages of a UTMS could be: Independence of the user interface software and the application Software. Mere intelligent user interfaces. Rapid prctokyp Meg capability for ~'== in development. Easier involvement of manual systems and night crew personnel in Beer interface design and evaluation.

448 Consist acmes applications. Multiple user iT~erfa~s to the sat application if desired (e.g. , reprice firs. expert Uncles of interaction) Deice indeperxien~ (i.e., application software d~= nck have to incur armpit about what type of imp device a request cane fat or bat type of at device the ruts will be displayed on.) Although Starbu~k does net Autocad reseal aimed at describing human capabilities ~ general, I can't help but believe that continue research on the nature of human cognition can provide insights that Il bead to the develcpment of work stations permitting more effective use of human cognitive capabilities. Conversely, studying the heat and brightest representatives of the ,J==r community as they interact with the evolving concepts of expert systems, way in turn provide insights toward defining a strt2~ of human Neck for martin ~ general. research on Operation Enhancement should include those research areas identified by Akin such as intelligent robotics, art the Lionization of effec~r/actua~r is. In addition to research dealing ~th Information Seeking, Information Hairy, arxt Operational Erh~nt R~=es continuing attention also Phalli] be dirt to the desrel~nent of ant Ethnics. ah fight include such areas as: Measurement of Human Prc~uctivity; i.e., continuing effort to develop valid ashes of hen perfonrE`rx:e arxt p~tivity in order to have meoringffu1 criteria for evaluating performance and productivity adjustments caned by changes in operational prrcedhres and system design concepts. Critical Incident Analyses of Human Performance; i.e. , continuing effort to investigate and understand the cam- of Ion errors' ~ apace IBM ~a~cicns, as well as in idents of ex~ional performance, ~ odder to Modify and classify Me cat factors of emotional performarx e, in order to identify and cia-c-=ify~che caned factors and establish Gaines for the ~ecignir~ of future Space i. In closure this action on Be human role ~ Space, we can perhaps gain sane permeative cn the future research needs= by liking at the lessens lear: - in profit mart Efface missions. We have learnt fear the US and Soviet Space programs to date that (1) Oysters can have indefinite ~ erational lifetime s an space if they are designed to permit the contingency of in-flight repel' and maintenance; (2) structures too large to be launched intact can be constructed and assembled on orbit, us Meg manes unique capabilities; and (3) the flexibility and creative insights provided by the crew in situ significantly enhance the probability of =~nce~c fully achieving mission cbjectives.

449 Reflecting upon them experiences as crew r~ of the Saab mission, Garlic et al. (1984) succinctly described their activities in Apace by describing three levels of crew participation in a~li~hi~ the mission cibjectives. At cue level, tile space fat Ives highly involve in reseat activities arm working together with principal investigated oar the Ire in the performance arx3. r~-t.;~ne interpretation of research results. Ems was the case in areas such as Apace plasma physics, life sciences, and scan materials-scien<:e arm flu~d-pysics experiments. At another level, the crew fang Ives performing Aver te~i~a1 task with very lime gram interaction. mis was me case in ache installation of Eras on a high~ali~r window or scientific airlock table am in me verification of them proper performar~e. At a third level, the Pacific e~peri~n== were largely controlled Frau me gravure with me space crew participating only En needed to verify experiment performers or ~ assist in mal~ion analysis arxi oor~:ion. It can be anticipated Ear f~ Apache missions are likely to c~i~ ~ Reid human support at each of Obese levels. the able id of me mew to manually assemble delicate instruments arm Ants ark to move protective devils, such as corers, lens caps, etc., mans that less-nlgged instnm~ts can be used as Safari those formerly I to suz~rive the high la~-acceleration loads of Earl Mauri vehicles. As a result, candled n~hani~c se~r~ary to He main pa of the instruct will no lordlier need to be installed for r~vir~ periphery pn~cti~re denim= or activating arm calibrating instruments Itchy. Wit He ~ ~ aniline to I—d film, for example, campier film transport systems are not needed, ark malfunctions such as film jams can be easily corrects manually. Ire time Reid to calibrate and align instructs directly can be as little as 1/40th of that Reid to do the same job by Cal ~ etry f ~ a renovate location. Even for pure manipulative tasks, experienced operators are found to take as such as eight times longer using dexterous electrom c-force-reflecting servomanipwlators as compared to perform m g the same tasks by direct contact. In future space missions specific experiments and operations no longer will need to be rigidly planned ~ advance, but can change as z—it dictate. Cue of the greatest contributions of cut ~ scientific Apace missions can be ~ reducing the Entity of Eta to be Witted to Ear=. One sand of data gathers on SEASACr, for example, r~i~ ~ hair of grand-based Muter time for pr~xxssing before it Would be ant? or ~ ned, or a value assess ~ nt made. Before recording and transmitting data, scientist-astronauts ~ situ cculd determine in real-time whether cloud cover or other factors are within acceptable ranges. me astronaut can abstract data from various sources and can ccmb~ne '1tiple sensory ingots (e.g., visual, auditory, tactile) to Interpret, urxierstar~ll and take appropriate actions when r~i~. In some cases the human perceptual abilities permit signals below noise laurels ~ be detected. Man can react ~ lectively to a large n ~ Or of possible variables an] can respond to dynamically changing situations. He can cgerate in the absence of complete information. He can pe ff arm a broad

450 sin of marshal He rent patterns, free.. gross positioning actions to highly refined adjustments. In this sense, he is a variable~gain servo - I~us, w~= the advent of ma~ platfo~ll~ ~ ppsoe, there are alternatives to tale expensive deplc~ent of Ovately manned Syrians, with their Rational complexity, and high cost of Stem failure. Midterm repetitive functic~s, mutine Matins or ~rations, arm 1argffcale data primming fictions, hover, can be ~ ~ be performed by c~s capable of heirs pry and serviced by crews ~ orbit, just as they are now ser~ricedl in gr ~ ad installations. In ~dditionr the normal functions of the terrestrial strap, laboratory, and producticn staff will find corollary activities ~ the work acne by the crews manning the space platforms of the coming generation. The human being represents a remarkably flexible and adaptable system. In terms of his basic capabilities and limitations, however, we must also r~r that On Is essentially invariant. ~ terms of basic abilities, people will not be Ash different In the year 2050 than they are today. Agonizing this Postal in sensory, perceptual, - fictive, and psy~h~r abilities, the objective of the purposed research programs dhauld be to impra~re system productivity throb (1) hat, software, arm other Stem ilqpr~renents Hat can enhance An performance, and (2) prepare arm c~eratianal charges Hat will allay Are effective ,'~ of the Bean element in the -he USA; of the fire. .. .__ ~ Q1'~ the Soviets have been reported to rely heavily ~ = d irrvolven~t In order to Rae equipment and ~sbQs with Trials Credits In reliable arx3 tra~ble-free service life. H;~;i~rF~ Garriott, O. W., Parker, R. A. R., Iic~hte~g, B. K. and~old, U 1984 Payload Us cries of ppa~lab Aerations. Science 225 (July) : 165-167. .

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