Twelve healthy male students were recruited to investigate the physiological response to different noise exposure and mental workload (MW) conditions, while performing multi-attribute task battery (MATB) tasks. The experiments were conducted under three noise exposure conditions, with different sound pressure levels and sharpness. After adaptation to each noise condition, the participants were required to perform the resting test and the MATB task tests with low, medium, and high MW. The electroencephalogram (EEG), electrocardiogram (ECG), and eye movement data were obtained, during the periods when participants were in the resting and task taking state. The results showed that subjects’ physiological responses at rest were unaffected by noise exposure conditions. However, during the execution of MATB tasks, the elevated sound pressure level and increased sharpness were significantly correlated with increased mean pupil diameter and heart rate variability (HRV). These responses suggested that the human body defends itself through physiological regulation when noise causes adverse effects. If the negative effects of noise were more severe, this could damage the body’s health and result in a significant drop in task performance. The elevated mental demands led to increased stress on the subjects, which was reflected in a considerable increase in theta relative power. Either high or low MW was related with reduced saccade amplitude and a decrease in weighted task performance, indicating an inverted U-shaped relationship between workload level and work performance.

Twelve healthy male college-age students were recruited to investigate the effects of different noise exposure conditions on complex task performance and vigilance. During each noise exposure, the Multi-Attribute Task Battery (MATB) with low, medium, and high mental workloads were conducted in the order designated by the Latin square method. Meanwhile, a psychomotor vigilance test (PVT) was used to evaluate human vigilance. Heart rate variability (HRV) signals were also collected while participants performed the tasks. The generalized additive mixed-effect model (GAMM) results showed that the increased mental workload had an inverted U-shaped effect on MATB task performance. Noise exposure had no significant impact on the overall performance of MATB tasks. However, when exposed to increased noise sharpness at low mental workloads, Tracking Task (TRA) performance significantly decreased, whereas the System Monitoring Task (SYS) performance was significantly improved. In addition, higher noise sound pressure level and sharpness would impair human vigilance, which was reflected in a lower mean sample entropy of HRV and worse performance on the PVT. The results indicated that noise control in the workplace should consider both sound pressure level and sharpness.

The helicopter’s aircrew faces significant challenges in nuclear, biological, and chemical (NBC) environments due to limited protection devices and crowded space. To safeguard the security and ensure the comfort of the aircrew, the development of a helicopter NBC protection system is crucial. In this study, a helicopter NBC protection system was designed using a top-level architecture with an advanced system-integrated approach. Detailed configuration designs were developed for each subsystem, including air source pressurization, renewable NBC filtration ventilation, cabin temperature, and pressure control system. To verify the reliability of the adsorbent model, a Langmuir isotherm equation was adapted and validated using the experiment data. To verify the performance of the designed system, a dynamic simulation model was created using AMESIM. The findings demonstrate that the cabin temperature and pressure control system can greatly satisfy the demand for aircrews under various working conditions. Furthermore, the renewable NBC filtration ventilation system effectively adsorbs NBC substances and achieves onboard regeneration, thereby extending the working lifespan in contaminated environments. This study contributes to providing an innovative idea for helicopter NBC protection systems.