Cognitive Ergonomics in the Design of the Display Interface for Manually Controlled Rendezvous and Docking

Abstract

Manually Controlled Rendezvous and Docking (manual RVD) is a complex and demanding task for astronauts. The design quality of the display interface is critical for astronauts’ performance in manual RVD tasks. Present study aimes to improve the design of the display interface for manual RVD based on the analysis of the cognitive demands of the task. The cognitive demands of the RVD task on the human operators were analyzed by theoretical analysis and imperial research, and the cognitive demands were taken into consideration in the ergomomic design of the display interface for RVD tasks. Theoretical analysis and experimental data suggest that spatial transformations are highly demanded, and speed perception may be difficult for the operators. The arrangement of the display and the characteristics of the elements on the display were designed to facilitate human perception, judgement and decision, and several design schemes were proposed. The overall display interface which we designed demonstrated satisfying qualities. Analysis of the cognitive processes and cognitive demands of the manual RVD task provided important guide for the design of the RVD interface. The display interface we designed successfully supported the manual RVD tasks in China’s SZ-9 and SZ-10 missions.

Keywords: Cognitive Ergonomics, Display Interface, Manually Controlled Rendezvous and Docking

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe100762