Patent ID: 7039551

Claim:
A method for calculating an indicator of operator distraction for an equipment operator comprising the following steps: receiving distraction-correlated indicator information regarding an operator from devices around an operator; estimating a distraction level from the distraction-correlated indicator information; and producing an output indicative of the distraction level in order to facilitate a threat assessment decision, wherein in the step of producing an output, the output produced ensures that when the distraction of the operator is high, the threat assessment decision is made conservatively, wherein the distraction-correlated indicator information is received from at least one device selected from a group comprising vision-based sensing systems, range-finding systems, and operator-manipulated devices, wherein the step of estimating a distraction level further comprises the steps of: grouping the distraction-correlated indicator information into complex task types comprising sets of related activities, including at least a first activity and a most recent activity; determining an elapsed time since a start of the first activity in a complex task; determining a delay time since the most recent activity in the complex task; comparing the delay time since the most recent activity with a minimum task quiescent period, and when the delay time exceeds the minimum task quiescent period, resetting the elapsed time and the delay time; and during a performance of a complex task, correlating a type of the complex task, and the elapsed time of the complex task with the distraction-correlated indicator information in order to produce the output for facilitating the threat assessment decision.