EXPERIMANTAL RESEARCHES OF OPERATOR-PILOT PERFORMANCE AND DEVELOPMENT OF HIS ACTIONS SUPPORT

Abstract

Efficiency is an external manifestation of a person’s ability to perform purposeful activities of any kind, including professional activities. The main performance indicator is its level recorded by the on-board monitoring system in terms of heart rate variability (HRV) of the operator-pilot. A feature of the implemented approach in assessing the PL (performance level) indicator (in addition to obtaining a generalized integral indicator at the time of completion of the flight task) is that current indicators are used at different phases of the flight task, due to which the history of PL is tracked in the dynamics of changes in the working state with the identification of situations in which the support is required. Ensuring and maintaining the health (capacity) of the operator-pilot in the remote telepsychophysiological interactive interface mode “Pilot in the cockpit of the aircraft – flight director at the command point” showed the high efficiency of the proposed technology, tested at KPM-V. Such an interface was implemented on the basis of a broadband communication channel – information exchange as part of the KPM-V, and the flight director at the command point (CP) has the opportunity to prototype the situation and its development in order to develop more reliable expert recommendations to the operator-pilot. The interface, including the developed on-board biofeedback system, presents on its monitor of information signs of the external manifestation of the operator’s states in terms of the frequency and nature of respiratory movements. Changes in the structure of the wave respiratory packet spoke about the state of the operator and his performance. Comparison of these data in a single time with the HRV indicators made it possible to qualify the situation as the transition of the operator into a state of working stress, developing fatigue and overwork. The results of a semi-natural experiment with specific expert support (recommendations) of the operator-pilot performing low-altitude flight in difficult weather conditions with the search for objects of interest showed that suggesting a more advantageous maneuver for entering the zone of possible active actions from the CP made it possible to reduce the current level of performance at the time of support, not allow its predicted decrease by 20…30 % and increase the time for making a decision and its implementation by 10…13 s. At the same time, the reliability of the expert forecast of the operator’s PL according to the data of the analysis of the respiratory wave packet on the thermograms of the face was 70…90 %. The conducted cycle of research on the problem of the operator-pilot’s performance, its provision and support is not only of research interest, but can be used in the ergonomic examination of aviation equipment and the design of the crew’s work activities.