Human operator dynamics in manual tracking systems with auditory input

Abstract

Response characteristics of human operators in manual pursuit tracking with auditory input are investigated. The human operator hears in his left ear a sound whose frequency varies in proportion to an external random signal. At the same time, he hears in his right ear another sound whose frequency varies in proportion to the angle of a control lever of a potentiometer. The operator controls the angle of the lever so that the frequencies of the sounds in both ears remain as close as possible. The dynamics of the human operator is studied by assuming a “manmachine system” whose input is the external signal and whose output is the voltage of the potentiometer. A learning identification method proposed by one of the authors is used to calculate the weighting function of the man-machine system, which is displayed on a CRT screen in real time. During the tracking task, the skin potential activity (SPA) is measured as an index of arousal of the operator.