GB866279A - Apparatus for assisting an operator in performing a skill - Google Patents

Abstract

A device for training an operator's reaction in performing an action in response to an indication, has means for making the action more or less difficult according to the skill of the operator. One form provides a number of buttons to be pressed in accordance with the lighting of a series of lamps. The particular button to be pressed in response to a given lamp and the order in which the lamps light up are both variable and, in the early part of the training, an indication of the correct button to be pressed may be given by a further set of lamps, but the brilliance with which these are illuminated is decreased as the operator's skill increases. In addition as skill increases, the time within which a response may be made is decreased. The means for carrying out these functions comprise essentially a series of capacitors, the charges on which are increased or decreased according to the correctness of the operator's response and, after each series of actions, the charges are used to control the rate of operation &c. of controlling electronic valves. In a second type of apparatus the operator has to press two selected buttons in response to each indication and in a third type he has to follow a target spot of light, on a cathode-ray tube screen, with a second spot. In this case the movements of the first spot are made more evasive and rapid as the operator's skill increases.