A control theoretic approach to manned-vehicle systems analysis

Modern control and estimation theory is used to establish a framework for the analysis of manned-vehicle systems. By assuming that the human behaves "optimally" in some sense, subject to his inherent psychophysical limitations, a quantitative model is developed for the response characteristics of the human operator. The resultant model can be used to predict task performance and human control characteristics. The model is described in detail and is used to predict quantities measured experimentally in both simple and reasonably complex manual control tasks. Remarkable agreement between measured and predicted quantities is obtained, demonstrating the value and potential of the optimization approach to manned-vehicle systems analysis.