Task analysis for the single-shell Tank Waste Retrieval Manipulator System

This document describes a task analysis for the Tank Waste Retrieval Manipulator System. A task analysis is a formal method of examining work that must be done by the operators of human-machine systems. The starting point for a task analysis is the mission that a human-machine system must perform, and the ending point is a list of requirements for human actions and the displays and controls that must be provided to support them. The task analysis approach started with a top-down definition of the steps in a tank retrieval campaign. It started by dividing a waste retrieval campaign for one single-shell tank into the largest logical components (mission phases), then subdivided these into secondary components (sub functions), and then further subdivided the secondary components into tertiary units (tasks). Finally, the tertiary units were divided into potentially observable operator behaviors (task elements). In the next stage of the task analysis, the task elements were evaluated by completing an electronic task analysis form patterned after one developed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for task analysis of nuclear power plant control rooms. In the final stage, the task analysis data base was used in a bottom-up approach to develop clusters of controls andmore » displays called panel groups and to prioritize these groups for each subfunction. Panel groups are clusters of functionally related controls and displays. Actual control panels will be designed from panel groups, and panel groups will be organized within workstations to promote efficient operations during retrieval campaigns.« less