Speed and accuracy for a telerobotic human/machine system: experiments with a target-threshold control theory model for Fitts´ law

A target-threshold control theory model for predicting human-machine speed and accuracy is proposed. It allows the previously empirical parameters of Fitts´ law to be determined theoretically. This target-threshold model has been used successfully to predict human-machine movement times in response to step inputs in experiments involving camera pointing for a novel class of point-and-direct telerobotics. The target-threshold model, as a tool for human factors and control system designers, allows fundamental control theory techniques to be used to predict speed of response for a potential system in order to compare performance to that of other human-machine systems before construction begins