24/7 Operational Effectiveness Toolset: Mission Scheduler Interface

摘要

While the objective of every aircrew is to accomplish their mission, every effort must be made to ensure the safety of the crew. Air Force Air Mobility Command (AMC) has been flying more and longer missions with fewer pilots and fatigue has become a potential safety issue. Safety is compromised when aircrews are performing their mission tasks in a fatigued state. A fatigue assessment and management tool built on a scientifically based model of sleep and cognitive performance can be helpful in managing the fatigue problem. The purpose of this report is to document a portion of the work conducted under a Phase 3 SBIR contract to develop a web-based, fatigue management tool with interfaces for diverse user applications. The Fatigue-Performance Assessment System (F-PAS) was derived from the Fatigue, Avoidance Scheduling Tool (FAST(TM)), which contains the Sleep, Activity, Fatigue, and Task Effectiveness (SAFTE) model that forecasts cognitive performance level based on sleep, circadian rhythm, and sleep inertia. Specifically, this report describes the Mission Scheduler Interface of the 24/7 Operational Toolset to be used by AMC schedulers, pilots, and flight surgeons. The interface was designed to aid in the scheduling of military missions and duty periods such that the effects of mental fatigue on human performance are minimized. Aircrew and flight surgeons can use the tool to evaluate pharmaceutical fatigue countermeasures when sufficient sleep cannot be scheduled for a critical long duration or nighttime mission. Aircrew can also use the tool to evaluate the fatigue impact of changes to an interrupted mission schedule. A task-centered, system design involving task analysis was used to develop the requirements for the interface. The report includes task descriptions, an interface description, and usability results, which revealed that the early Beta implementation of F-PAS was effective for determining fatigue effects on performance.