Evaluation of a Fault Localization Job-Aid for a Navy Transceiver1

The assessment of corrective maintenance performance of Navy technicians has revealed that they have difficulty with the problem-solving aspects of this task. This difficulty is due partly to the large amount of information concerning the relationships between symptoms and malfunctions (S-M relations) that must be available for efficient problem-solving behavior. The sheer bulk of this information almost precludes memorization, especially if the technician is responsible for the maintenance of several different types of equipment. A job-aid which contains S-M relations in an accessible form, should greatly assist the electronics technician in fault localization. A fault locater (XFL) was developed for the AN/URC-32 transceiver. The XFL contains S-M relations for AN-URC-32 circuits and front-panel indications. It accomplishes three things: I) it leads the electronics technician through an appropriate sequence of front-panel tests, 2) it indexes the technician to the smallest possible fault area, and 3) it describes the fault area in terms of equipment circuitry. Two studies were performed to evaluate the effectiveness of the XFL. The results showed that both maintenance and non-maintenance personnel can quickly learn to use the job-aid, and that it may be useful in supporting corrective maintenance performance.