A CRITICAL-ASSESSMENT OF TASK ALLOCATION METHODS AND THEIR APPLICABILITY

This paper reports a project examining task allocation methods. The me thods available in the literature and those used in practice by system designers, working on naval systems, are reviewed. The authors descri be the characteristics of a naval environment as an example of an appl ication area for which a task allocation method is required, and speci fy a set of requirements for methods in this area. The applicability o f the methods in the literature and those in practice are then evaluat ed against these pre-specified requirements. This is followed by a dis cussion of the discrepancies between the methods in the literature and the requirements; the methods used in practice and the requirements; and the methods in the literature and those used in practice. The pape r concludes with a set of recommendations for further work in the task allocation domain, as indicated by the findings of this study.