Summary

From EQUIS Lab Wiki

Agriculture

Basis: reduce overlapping and skipping skip - reduces productivity, land resource not fully utilized overlap - input cost increase - as much as 10%

guidance aids - provide additional info to driver to assist with guidance task, but driver remains in control of the vehicle. Use LEDs on a lightbar to indicate steering errors via gps.

lightbar is weakest link in the system. it must be unobtrusive as possible but still attract the drivers attention when a steering correction is necessary.

purpose: compare a peripheral vision lightbar to the traditional lightbar currently available on the market.

process: first design and fabricate a driving simulator. lightbars would be compared on the basis of both driver performance and expenditure of effort. (mental workload)

mental capacity is the limiting factor in operator performance..

used a measure of mental workload to compare different lightbar designs.

mental workload was assessed as steering error on a guidance task and reaction time on a monitering task as well, a heart moniter was worn during testing and compared between the two lightbars

guidance task: control the steering wheel in response to signals displayed on lightbar computer generated pseudo-random function providing input

moitering task: simulated need to watch the field ahead of teh machine for guidance cues and to moniter the booms behind the operator station. the bar started infront of the person and at random times would move around in the periphery. subject would press a corresponding button on a joystick to realign the light on the bar while looking forward.

results: 11% less steering error with large lightbar over small lightbar.