Outline
Using accurate time distributions estimations of user actions is a crucial part of accurately simulating the Sopatra-generated action diagrams that are derived from SOPs. To assist the user with this process, Sopatra has a Time Distribution Database file upload option, which can be either a .xlsx or .csv file. These times are loaded into your Sopatra database and can be accessed immediately after from action diagrams to apply the appropriate times to each Procedure in your diagram via the Time Distribution Widget.
Formatting
Sopatra parses the Time Distribution Database file rows into the proper fields of the Equation entity. To do this properly, careful attention must be paid to the formatting of the Excel or CSV file. The column headers (shown in the image above) must be on the 2nd line of the file. The 1st line must be either blank or include an optional description of what actions the Time Distribution Database file is modeling.
Distribution Class
'Distribution Class' must be either AOTW or ToP. This is an important distinction which will help match the proper Equation entity to the corresponding Procedure of the same 'Type' attribute.
Name/Description
The 'Name' field gets added as the Equation entity name, so be sure to choose names that logically match the function of that particular time and are easily recognizable later when users apply these distributions to Procedures in Sopatra-generated action diagrams.
Cue Evaluation
'Cue Evaluation' indicates the level of disruption in the environment around the Operator that may affect the time it takes to perform a certain task. There are five (5) 'Cue Evaluation' columns to add to your Time Distribution Database file:
- No Cue (LTM)
- Not in FOV
- In FOV, Not Salient
- In FOV, Salient, Ambiguous Semantics
- In FOV, Salient, Unambiguous Semantics
Each row should have an X in the cell corresponding to the proper 'Cue Evaluation' for that group of Operator actions. The rest of the 'Cue Evaluation' cells should be left blank. If the 'Distribution Class' is AOTW, the each of the 'Cue Evaluation' cells should be filled out with an N/A.
The 'Cue Evaluation' attribute that gets imported from this file into an Equation entity must match the 'Cue Evaluation' attribute on the Procedure in order to apply the proper distribution to that Procedure in the action diagram.
Frequency
Similar to 'Cue Evaluation', 'Frequency' also impacts the time needed for an Operator to perform a certain task, this time depending on how often that task is performed. There are five (5) 'Frequency' options, listed with the phrase they map to:
- Every Flight -> Always
- Freq -> Frequent
- Infreq -> Infrequent
- Rare -> Rare
- N/A -> N/A
Note: These are case-insensitive.
The 'Frequency' attribute that gets imported from this file into an Equation entity must match the 'Frequency' attribute on the Procedure in order to apply the proper distribution to that Procedure in the action diagram.
Data Source
For proper attribution to the source of the Time Distribution Database file, Sopatra accepts an optional 'Data Source' column that gets added to an attribute of the same name on the imported Equation entity.
Notes
Additional information that you want to capture with each time row but not include in the 'Description' field may be added to the 'Notes' field, which gets added to an attribute of the same name on the imported Equation entity.
Supported Distributions
Triangular distributions are currently the only distribution supported in the Time Distribution Tables. The formatting requires three columns - one for each of the triangular distribution parameters: Min, Mode, and Max.
Note: Specifying the distribution type is optional at the moment, but this may be expanded in the future. While Sopatra currently only supports the triangular distribution import, this does not preclude you from using the many other Supported Distributions the action diagram has to offer!