SH-60R Operator Machine Interface Enhancement

A systematic approach, designated SH-60R Operator-Machine Interface Enhancement (SHOMIE), is proposed for developing decision aid enhancements to the SENSO and ATO crewstations of the SH-60R aircraft which is currently under development by the Navy. The methodology begins with determination of functional performance requirements via a technique based primarily, but not exclusively, on cognitive task analysis. Cognitive performance limitations are determined both analytically and empirically and then used to derive functional requirements for decision aid concepts to overcome the identified limitations. Relevant software and algorithmic techniques for realizing the desired functionality are then derived from an evaluation of viable candidates obtained from a taxonomic analysis of aiding technologies. Finally, the decision aid concepts are specified as structured architectural designs which are then implemented as software prototypes. The Phase I effort will focus primarily on the SENSO crewstation because the SENSO's tasks are expected to be changed more radically than the ATO's with the introduction of new sensor information processing software. Also to restrict the scope of the effort to a manageable level and still assure operational relevance, we propose to focus on the domain of acoustic search and localization in littoral ASW missions. CHI Systems has worked extensively in this domain, having developed a variety of ASW decision aids, training tools, cognitive task analyses, and testbeds, all of which will greatly facilitate the development of the decision aids to be formulated by the SHOMIE methodology.