Troubleshooting Complex Equipment in the Military Services: Research and Prospects

摘要

Psychological approaches to the troubleshooting problem attempt to improve the selection, motivation, and training of technicians. Among the aspects which have been considered are methods for enhancing the understanding of physical relations in equipment, the hierarchical analysis and practice of troubleshooting sub-skills, and the general logic of searching behavior. The aiding approach tries to 'unburden' the technician by providing most of the information base in special booklets, diagrams, computer programs, and directed test sequences. The maintainability approach concentrates on designing equipments so that they will be easy to troubleshoot-for example, key test points are made accessible, and sub-units are arranged so as to facilitate diagnosis and replacement. When psychological, aiding, and maintainability technologies are fully applied, the troubleshooting problem can be 'solved,' within the present state of art, for the great majority of equipment items. For troublesome equipments which are already in service, proceduralized aiding of troubleshooting activities is probably the best immediate solution, and many one-term military technicians might well devote most of their service to application of these aids.