Motion effects on the human operator in a roll axis tracking task

To better understand the effects of motion on tracking performance, a simulator, capable of being controlled in a static as well as motion mode, was developed. Using this simulator, 12 volunteers, separated into groups of four, attempted to track a wing angle target displayy. The target was driven with band-limited (0.5 rad/s) Gaussian noise so that a roll angle of 120 degrees was equivalent to 1 S.D. Different control dynamics (plants) were used for each group of volunteers. For manual control of plants of the form2, the experimental results indicate that large amplitude roll motion information reduces task learning time and cuases a significant improvement in tracking performance. For control of simpler plants, of the form K/S, no improvement due to the presence of the motion environment was observed.