Introduction. In today’s conditions, with the development of scientific and technical progress, new professions are appearing en masse. The profession of an operator of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) is no exception. Complex work tasks contribute to the intensification of the decision-making process. The switching of attention, which causes the development of fatigue in operators of UAS. The adaptive processes of the body of military pilots largely depend on the level of fatigue development, which must be taken into account when assessing the adaptation reserves and the degree of reliability of the professional activity of these specialists. Considering the lack of similar information about operators of UAS, we can think about a certain similarity regarding the development of fatigue in pilots and operators. However, this question remains relevant, especially in the condition of war, and requires further study.
Methods and scope of research. In order to identify the psychophysiological peculiarities of the development of fatigue in operators of UAS, 225 specialists of the relevant profession under 40 years of age were selected during the period of inpatient flight medical examination at the base of the Military Medical Clinical Center of the Central Region (MMCC of the CR), taking into account their state of health. The examination was carried out with the help of the software and hardware complex for psychophysiological research «PPR-2». The organization and methods of examinations were developed on the theoretical and practical approaches.
The results. With the development of fatigue in operators of UAS, a number of psychophysiological parameters deteriorate. The article provides information on such changes according to the main investigated indicators and mean square deviations of the corresponding parameters, taking into account the distance between the vacation and the time of the survey. Among the high-speed psychophysiological characteristics, indicators of functional mobility of nervous processes, balance, the number of leads and delays in the study of the speed of reaction to a moving object with a reliability of р<0,05 were noted. With regard to the characteristics of orientation in space and short-term visual memory, with the reliability of р<0,05, the indicator of the time of correct pointing deteriorated in the study of short-term visual memory. Another group of indicators, represented by the mean square deviations of the corresponding parameters, can indicate the degree of mobilization of the body of the operators during the study of various psychophysiological functions moreover, a decrease in the value of this indicator indicates an increase in the level of mobilization of the body of the operators of UAS, that is, a greater readiness for the high-quality performance of assigned tasks. Thus, among the speed psychophysiological parameters, the following indicators confirm this: mean square deviation and characteristics of omission errors in the study of a complex visual-motor reaction, functional mobility and strength of nervous processes, balance in the study of the speed of reaction to a moving object (р<0,05). With regard to the characteristics of orientation in space and short-term visual memory, the indicator of the number of correctly reproduced geometric shapes in the study of short-term visual memory deteriorated with the reliability of р<0,05.
Conclusions. It was established that the development of fatigue in operators of UAS leads to the deterioration of a number of psychophysiological characteristics of the operators (indicators of the functional mobility of nervous processes, balance, the number of advances and delays in the study of the speed of reaction to a moving object, the time of correct indication in the study of short-term visual memory) and a decrease indicators of the level of mobilization of the body (mean square deviation and characteristics of omission errors in the study of a complex visual-motor reaction, functional mobility and strength of nervous processes, balance in the study of the speed of reaction to a moving object, the number of correctly reproduced geometric figures in the study of short-term visual memory). Quite a lot of the investigated functions undergo only a tendency to change, which may indicate an unequal rate of deterioration of psychophysiological functions over time. The hypothesis was formulated that the reduction of functional reserves accompanying the development of fatigue causes such in role of individual psychophysiological functions and strengthen their connectivity (correlation coefficient in this case is 0,72). It has been proven that more complex functions of the body undergo the most intense transformation during the development of fatigue (latent period of a simple visual-motor reaction, latent period and mean square deviation of a simple visual-motor reaction, number of correct indications and time of false indication in the study of spatial orientation). At the beginning of the working period after rest, informative psychophysiological indicators determine only 16% of the fatigue development factor/ In tired operators of UAS, informative psychophysiological indicators determine 53,3% of the variation of professionally important psychophysiological qualities. This indicates a significantly greater influence on the development of the state of fatigue of the analyzed psychophysiological parameters (latent period and the number of omissions of a simple visual-motor reaction, the time of correct pointing during orientation in space and the time of false pointing during the study of short-term visual memory).
Keywords: operator of unmanned aircraft systems, psychophysiological parameters, fatigue, level of mobilization.
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