Examination of cursor control techniques to designate targets on a cockpit map display

摘要

Abstract: Pilots use their situational awareness displays to determine their position during important phases of their mission. One of the most common tasks they perform with these displays is the designation of targets. It is of utmost importance that pilots can quickly and accurately designate targets. This study investigated the implementation of different cursor control techniques used to designate targets on a map display. A touch control system, a voice control system, and a traditional target designation control (TDC) on the throttle, all modified by the addition of an aiding algorithm, were compared. Also, the effect of targets located in clusters (the same type of symbols close together) was analyzed. Clusters of zero, two, three, and four symbols were used. Results showed that the touch control system provided the fastest performance, regardless of cluster level. The TDC on the throttle was second best, and the voice control system performed the slowest. The TDC, although having significantly faster designation times than the voice system, had significantly more errors than both the touch control system and the voice control system. Therefore, the use of the touch control system is recommended for this task. Also, either the voice control system or the TDC could be used as alternate methods to designate targets when the use of the touch control system is not feasible in the cockpit environment.!9