Reducing Manpower Requirements in Automated Systems

PSE, under contract to Space and Naval Warfare (SPAWAR) Systems Center , San Diego, investigated ways to reduce naval shipboard personnel without sacrificing operational safety and effectiveness.

The Approach

Human factors evaluations of naval shipboard workstations and work processes identified user and process requirements for shipboard operations.

Based on those evaluations, PSE determined the most appropriate role of automation in reducing ship manning.

The Solution

PSE Provided design recommendations for naval shipboard workstations and work processes and developed a prototype system for integrated tactical and operational displays.

We also designed improved tactical and operational displays that clearly convey the ship's situation and reduce requirements for human information processing.

Benefits

The prototype is currently being used as a testbed for collecting human performance and system status data to establish baseline conditions for reduced ship manning.

It also serves as an example of improved design for reduced shipboard manning.