Using Physiological Parameters to Evaluate Operator’s Workload in Manual Controlled Rendezvous and Docking (RVD)

Abstract

How to train the astronauts for complicated operation in spaceflight such as manually controlled rendezvous and docking (RVD) is a common and important question. In this paper, two training methods named Routine method and Confusing method were proposed from astronaut training experience. Two-factor experiment was conducted. The factors are training method and operation difficulty level. Sixteen male subjects participated in this experiment. Eight participants were trained with Routine method and the other eight trained with Confusing method. Physiological parameters, such as respiratory rate, body temperature, heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV), were adopted as the dependent variables to evaluate operator's workload. Results show that there are significant differences on body temperature, respiratory rate, cubic root of high frequency component (HF) of HRV, normalized low frequency component (LFNu) of HRV, and mean heart rate (HR) (p values are 0.010, 0.000, 0.042, 0.009 and 0.000, respectively) between training methods, while other physiological parameters show no significant difference. Furthermore, only significant difference on body temperature (p value is 0.010) was found between different operation difficulty levels. Therefore, suitable training methods deserve thorough investigation since they have significant effects on the physiological workload of the operators. In conclusion, this work provides insight into the effect of some influencing factors to workload during the RVD procedure, and will benefit the astronaut training in future.

Measuring mental workload using physiological measures: A systematic review

“…Dussault et al, (2005) also observed HR was lower for experts rather than novices when carrying out the same task. However, significant differences were also observed in HR and HRV between different training methods (Wu et al, 2011) which again highlights the difficulties of comparing studies that use different experience levels.…”

“…The experimental, domain-free and simulated fixed-wing operations are more represented in the sample of literature reviewed (Table 4). Braby et al, 1993;Delaney and Brodie 2000;Durantin et al, 2014;Hart and Hauser 1987;Lahtinen et al, 2007;Lee and Liu 2003;Lehrer et al, 2010;Luque-Casado et al, 2016;Mansikka et al, 2016a;Mansikka et al, 2016b;Miyake 2001;Myrtek et al, 1994;Nickel and Nachreiner 2003;Sauer et al, 2013;Schellekens et al, 2000;Tattersall and Hockey 1995;Tripathi et al, 2003)   (Backs 1994;Wu et al, ( Holland and Tarlow, 1972;Recarte and Nunes, 2003;Reiner and Gelfeld, 2014)     (Brookings et al, 1996;Fairclough et al, 2005;Fournier et al, 1999;Sirevaag et al, 1993;Wilson and Russell 2003;Wilson 1993)   (Finsen et al, 2001;Hjortskov et al, 2004)   (Dussault et al, 2004;Dussault et al, 2005;Hsu et al, (Braby et al, 1993;Svensson and Wilson 2009) 2…”

“…Remote operation of vehicles (Durantin et al, 2014;Hoepf et al, 2015;Matthews et al, 2015;Wu et al, 2011) 4…”

“…1996). In addition to performance, training type and length has also been shown to have an effect on respiration rate aligned to MWL (Wu et al, 2011).…”

Understanding the human performance envelope using electrophysiological measures from wearable technology

“…1 Wearable sensor technology developed by CSEM SA and used in this study decreasing the gap between the laboratory and the eventual application (Guzik and Malik 2016). We capture cardiac measures that have been shown to differentiate taskloads (De Rivecourt et al 2008;Fairclough et al 2005;Splawn and Miller 2013) and respiration rates (Backs et al 2000;Brookings et al 1996;Wu et al 2011;Yao et al 2008).…”