Fundamentals of Manual Control - Fundamentals and Assessment Tools for Occupational Ergonomics - page 275

12
Fundamentals of
Manual Control

12.1 Introduction ................... 12-1

12.2 Fundamentals of Systems and Control Theory . . 12-2

Linear, Time-Invariant Systems † Transfer
Function † Frequency Response † Control
12.3 Motivation and Overview of Human Manual
Control Models ................. 12-10
Motivation † Quasi-Linear Function Theory † The
COM † The OCM † More Recent Models

12.4 The Cross-Over Model . ............. 12-11

The Problem with Modeling Humans † Quasi-Linear Pilot
Models † The COM Theorem † Model Parametrization:
Structural-Isomorphic Models † Verbal Adjustment
Rules † Remnant

Max Mulder
Marinus M.
Van Paassen
Delft University of Technology
John M. Flach
Wright State University
Richard J. Jagacinski
The Ohio State University

12.5 The Optimal Control Model ........... 12-18

Introduction † Mathematical Formulation of the OCM
Parameters † Model Parameters, Outputs, Solution, and
Identification † Allocation of Attention

12.6 Final Remarks .................. 12-24

12.1 Introduction

For their work, for transportation or simply for entertainment, human beings are often involved
in the manual control of devices. Vehicles such as cars, bicycles, ships, and airplanes are some
examples, but also video games and many work situations involve manual control. Normally,
after learning the task, the human operator in such a control situation behaves like a well-designed
controller. In fact, in their paper on “Quasi-linear pilot models,” McRuer and Jex make the remark
that data of measured pilot behavior matches very well with the PrimaryRuleofThumbfor
Frequency Domain Synthesis, a design rule for automatic controllers. It is not surprising, therefore,
that many of the models used in modeling manual control situations are based on various control
system design techniques. Two of the most commonly applied are the frequency domain design
methods, which serve as the basis for the cross-over model (COM) and variants thereof, the
precision model and the simplified precision model (McRuer and Jex, 1967), and optimal
control theory, which lies at the basis of the optimal control model (OCM; Kleinman et al.,
1970b).
The theories on human control behavior have matured by now, and its applications, particularly
human vehicle control, have been extensively studied. However, for many application areas these theories
and their applications are still very relevant today. Some examples are:

12-1