"The
knobs and dials people" do a lot more for Fire Scout team
The Northrop Grumman MQ-8B (and
subsequent MQ-8C) is a “Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) Tactical Unmanned
Aerial Vehicle…” which “provides unprecedented situation awareness and
precision targeting support for U.S. Armed Forces of the future. (Northrop
Grumman, n.d.). The MQ-8B is the original smaller design, derived from the Schweizer
330SP/333 helicopter, while the MQ-8C is a larger craft based on a Bell 407
helicopter.
This
article starts out by talking about the challenging nature of transitioning
from a manned platform, to the operations of an unmanned system, and some of
the issues that arise in manpower. With manned systems, so many factors have to
be within controlled margins, specifically as it relates to ergonomics. Pilots
have height and other restrictions which may make design requirements and
accommodations easier to deal with.
The Fire Scout utilizes a ground
control station, which must accommodate a diverse population of operators which
must work for everyone, “whether their arms and legs and torsos are long or
short, their waists are trim or not, their vision is perfect or relatively
weak?” (Basham, 2011).
The Ground control station re-design
team visited with Naval Air Systems Command’s (NAVAIR) Human Systems department
to gather user generated information and reports about possible changes that
could be utilized to improve the user interface and human factors component,
identifying 40 different aspects that could use improvements. Some of these
items that could use improvements included: the payload controller, which
concerned the utilization of a single or dual handed controller- software, and
the user interfaces for control and data conveyance- displays, which concerned
screen fonts and colors and the subsequent fatigue effects (Basham, 2011).
Many of the changes and improvements
that were identified were not identified in testing, but came as a result of
operations reports and data. These changes help to provide a more suitable and
efficient environment for the control of the Fire Scout platform.
References
Basham, C. (2007, October 27). "The knobs and dials people" do
a lot more for Fire Scout team -- DCMilitary.com. Retrieved from
http://www.dcmilitary.com/article/20111027/NEWS14/710279949/-the-knobs-and-dials-people-do-a-lot-more-for-fire-scout-team
Northrop Grumman. (n.d.). Fire Scout. Retrieved from
http://www.northropgrumman.com/Capabilities/FireScout/Pages/default.aspx
