A Human Engineering Tool for the Engineering of Complex Systems (SEAIT)

The project would design and prototype an integrated set of performance evaluation, workload assessment, and decision support tools for assessing human systems integration (HIS) aspects of US Navy and commercial ship designs. The tools will be used to evaluate reduced manning and automation concepts for new designs. The tools would consist of three software modules. 1. A functional description tool will assist users in performing and documenting a function and task analysis. This module would let users identify the workspaces and specific interfaces used to perform tasks for each function. The function description module will also assist users in specifying workload demands for tasks. 2. The simulation development tool will let users build simulation models of voyage profiles. 3. The data analysis tool will have three pieces: A report generator presents reports and graphs of simulation results. A task allocator uses clustering techniques to suggest task allocation alternatives to mitigate excessive workload and risk. A life cycle cost estimator provides insights to the potential affordability of a system design and the likely life cycle training requirements These tools will consist of an open architecture that capitalizes on parallel data base development and systems engineering tool development efforts.