Comparison of Ship Bridge Designs Using the Situation Awareness Global Assessment Technique (SAGAT)

摘要

Modern ship bridges are highly-automated man-machine systems. Safety and efficiency of ship operations are dependent upon the ability of a watchkeeper to perceive interpret and make decisions upon information acquired from the surrounding environment. Due to changes in manning strategies and information systems, modern-day bridges have become very complex workplaces. Simple displays and control systems have been supplemented or replaced by complex computer-based information systems. In order to support the mariner, a task-and situation-dependent representation of the information becomes necessary. Modular Integrated Navigation Systems (INS), according to the revised International Maritime Organization performance standards, integrates the validated information of different sensors and functions to allow for presentation on various task-related displays. The aim of the investigation was to assess the advantages of an INS design compared to a traditional bridge layout with respect to the execution of collision avoidance and route monitoring tasks. An experimental approach to the Situation Awareness Global Assessment Technique (SAGAT) was applied to assess subject situation awareness (SA) during simulated tasks. The method to assess the SA of watchkeeping officers on ship bridges was developed through previous studies. Bridge design and out-of-window visibility were manipulated independent factors. The trials were conducted in a fully immersive simulation environment. A full mission, 6 degree of freedom motion based simulator (Center for Marine Simulation, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada) was used in these investigations. Twenty-six experienced mariners (masters, navigational officers, pilots) were tasked to navigate a vessel in scenarios with varying traffic situations. The central question of the experiment was focused on the impact of the independent variables, bridge design and visibility, on SA. The results indicate that bridge design has a significant impact on the degree of SA of navigational officers. Furthermore, greater SA is achieved with the INS bridge design in the reduced visibility condition compared to the traditional bridge design. In good visibility conditions SA was similar for both bridge designs.