Showing papers presented at "Analysis, Design, and Evaluation of Human-Machine Systems in 2010"

Graphical Representation of Industrial Alarm Data

Abstract: Alarms are important for safe and reliable operation of a process Ideally, every alarm that is presented to the operator requires an action Owing to the ease in implementing alarms, many modern day process plants have a large number of alarms configured in their alarm system Many of these alarms are set without proper rationalization resulting in the generation of nuisance alarms During process upsets, the volume of alarms presented to the operator is often too large to facilitate appropriate and timely actions This work demonstrates some novel visualization tools that can be used for assessing the performance of alarm systems in terms of effectively identifying nuisance alarms The utility of the developed tools is illustrated using real industrial alarm data

Toward a Shared Lateral Control Between Driver and Steering Assist Controller

Abstract: Future driving assistance systems must be designed in order to guarantee a smooth steering control action of the controller continuously, considering the driver in-the-loop and without generating negative interference. This paper proposes the design of a shared lateral control in the framework of the active safety systems that integrates the coordination of the authority between human driver and automatic copilot. The vehicle steering assist controller is designed using a driver model in order to take into account the driver's intentions in particular during curve negotiation. This approach minimizes controller intervention while the driver is awake and steers correctly. To reduce the complexity in control computations, a simplified linear combination of the system state is determined via an optimal control by solving a Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) problem. A decision making algorithm for the control authority shifting between the driver and the electronic copilot is implemented and the trade-off between the accuracy of lane following and ratio of system interference is investigated.

Effect of Driver's Head Tilt Strategy on Motion Sickness Incidence

Abstract: Car drivers receive the acceleration stimulation and the rotational stimulation when negotiating with a curve. In such a situation, the driver controls his/her posture such as the head and the body appropriately. It is known that the driver tilts his/her head toward the curve direction while the passengers’ head movement is likely to occur in the opposite direction. There are some interpretations of the role of the driver's active head movement such as increasing visibility and decreasing of effect of the inertial force to the body including the trunk and the neck. The goals of this research are to understand relationship between head tilt strategy and motion sickness incidence and apply its result to the design of comfortable vehicle motion. First, we derive a mathematical model of the motion sickness incidence caused by the head movement in 3D space based on subjective vertical conflict. Then, we analyze effect of the head movement on decrease of motion sickness incidence using the mathematical model.

Shared and cooperative movement control of intelligent technical systems: Sketch of the design space of haptic-multimodal coupling between operator, co-automation, base system and environment

Abstract: This paper sketches the concept of haptic-multimodal coupling between operator, co-automation, base system and environment. Haptic-multimodal couplings use mainly the haptic interaction resource, e.g. the combination of hands and feet with active inceptors like active sidesticks or steering wheels and complement this with e.g. visual and acoustic feedback. Haptic-multimodal couplings can serve as a base for shared control, and, if the co-automation has a minimum of understanding of and reactivity to the human operator, for a cooperative control between operator and automation. The paper gives a brief introduction of shared and cooperative control, starting with examples in the non-technical world and sketches the basic structure the couplings and coupling schemes. While much of the design space is yet to be explored and described more systematically, some combinations of haptic-multimodal couplings can already be applied, for example to the cooperative control of an intelligent ground vehicle or in telerobotics. The paper briefly describes examples of an automation-initiated de-coupling of a driver and of a helicopter pilot in case of an emergency maneuver and the coupling between an operator and a satellite control for a berthing maneuver.

A Goal-Function Approach to Analysis of Control Situations

Abstract: The concept of situations plays a central role in all theories of meaning and context. and serve to frame or group events and other occurrences into coherent meaningful wholes. Situations are typed, may be interconnected and organized into higher level structures. In operation of industrial processes situations should identify operational aspects relevant for control agent's decision making in plant supervision and control. Control situations can be understood as recurrent and interconnected patterns of control with important implications for control and HMI design. Goal-Function approaches to systems modeling like Multilevel Flow Modeling can be used to represent control situations. The paper will describe an action theoretical foundation for MFM and its use for the development of a theory of control situations.

How to Learn from the Resilience of Human-Machine Systems?

Abstract: In this paper, we aim to analyse the resilience of Human-Machine Systems (HMS) in order to improve it from learning process. A State of Art is achieved and resilience engineering of HMS is defined. Then, human-machines’ learning processes supposed to improve systems’ resilience and indicators proposed in the literature to assess it are analysed. A perspective can be to propose an efficient indicator, for instance based on Benefit-Cost-Deficit (BCD) model, which can lead to the system resilience characterisation.

Assessment of visual cues by tower controllers, with implications for a Remote Tower Control Centre

Abstract: Remote control of airports implies application of cameras to replace direct visual observation from airport control towers by projection of the airport and its traffic in a remote control centre. Remote airport control is an emerging technique with benefits for smaller airports mainly, because it reduces the cost of personnel. Surprisingly, hardly any literature can be found to list the required visual objects and phenomena for tower control, i.e. the visual cues that need to be seen for tower control. The composition and validation of the so-called visual cue list for tower control is the subject of this paper. Tower controller task analysis was used to compose a ‘long-list’ of visual features. The long-list has been presented to a group of operational air traffic controllers to test the need and the circumstances to observe these visual cues. Our analysis shows that most of the visual cues are useful for operational tower control but are not strictly mandatory for applying the rules of the International Civil Aviation Organization.. The requirement for visual image resolution of remote tower control is the second subject of the paper. Our analysis leads to definition of a ‘short-list’ of important safety-related visual objects and phenomena for tower control and the conclusion that state of the art media are just able to provide the required image resolution for visual detection but not for recognition.

Visual Features Involving Motion Seen from Airport Control Towers

Abstract: Visual motion cues are used by tower controllers to support both visual and anticipated separation. Some of these cues are tabulated as part of the overall set of visual features used in towers to separate aircraft. An initial analyses of one motion cue, landing deceleration, is provided as a basis for evaluating how controllers detect and use it for spacing aircraft on or near the surface. Understanding cues like it will help determine if they can be safely used in a remote/virtual tower in which their presentation may be visually degraded.

Extraction of Similarities and Differences in Human Behavior using Singular Value Decomposition

Abstract: Human behavior has a structure that consists of similarities and differences. Similarities are motion patterns, which are observed universally and are independent of individuals. Differences are particular characters found in individual motions and can represent identities. We proposed a method for extracting similarities and differences in human behavior by using singular value decomposition. Moreover, we described how to analyze the extracted characteristic motions. We applied our methods to several types of human behavior. The data obtained by applying our method proved that similarities and differences in human behavior can be extracted. We also analyzed the extracted characteristic motions in detail.

Assessing Operational Validity of Remote Tower Control in High-fidelity Tower Simulation

Abstract: In this chapter, results from simulation studies are presented which were conducted to assess the operational validity of the remote tower concept at a very early maturity level. The goal was to gain empirical evidence to lead further developmental activities and to learn about the critical design issues and human factors of the remote tower control concept. A high-fidelity simulation study with 12 tower controllers was conducted to assess the operational validity of an experimental workplace for remote tower control. The core of this workplace is a panoramic display, presenting high resolution video data of the remotely controlled airport. Besides the feasibility of the concept, the study addressed the relevance of the view outside the tower window and the benefit of information augmentation. Eye tracking, questionnaire, and interview data were gathered. Results indicate that the concept is valid for control of smaller airports with little air traffic. The augmentation of callsigns onto the video panorama reduced head-down times for the radar display.

Prevention of human control errors by robust filter for manufacturing system

Abstract: In this paper, we are interested at the errors that can commit by a human operator in the control program. When a command error is made, the presence of a product in the system can cause damage. In this paper, we design a robust filter placed inside the PLC which authorizes or forbids outputs from the PLC. The filter is composed of several logical constraints which have to be respected at each PLC cycle. In order to guarantee the filter quality, it is necessary to check that all constraints have been well defined. For that, in order to validate the filter, an original formal method has been proposed. This one is based on a modular modelling approach of the manufacturing system by using different timed automata models (actuators, sensors, items, and PLC), and by considering the most permissive PLC program. UPPAAL checker is used to verify that the filter is sufficient to avoid the manufacturing system to reach dangerous forbidden states. If it is the case, the filter guarantees the safety whatever the PLC program. Hence, the filter still remains active even if there are changes in the PLC program during the lifecycle of the production system.

Autonomy control of human-machine systems

Abstract: this paper proposes a prospective discussion on the concepts of decisional autonomy and its control such as “autonomation” or “autonomisation”, applied to human-machine systems. The autonomy of a system requires decisional capacities: capacities to identify a lack of knowledge that requires the definition of an allocation of activities between decision makers, capacities to achieve the allocated activities, capacities to learn from known and unknown situations. They are interpreted in terms of know-how, know-how-to-cooperate and know-how-to-learn. Cooperation between human and machine involves usually static knowledge and is also a way for a decision maker to learn from the behaviours of the other ones. The paper proposes several ways to manage or refine the system knowledge dynamically, and discusses on possible learning capacities. It details a model based on the diagnosis, the prognosis and the trial-and-error functions to optimize the control of known situations or to create new parades facing new situations. A feedforward-feedback system based model is proposed for implementing the autonomy control concepts to automated support tools of human-machine systems.

Distant Air Traffic Control for Regional Airports

Abstract: This paper reports on field research conducted within the project VICTOR 1 – Virtual Control Tower Research Studies – supported by the German air navigation service provider DFS-Deutsche Flugsicherung and concerned with the development of a distant tower facility for small or regional airports. In an user-centered approach, the provision of adequate information formerly acquired via looking out of the tower window is addressed. Subsequent research and development iterations are conducted engaging controllers at local airports throughout the process. The paper reports on results of a work analysis performed at three regional German airports and their implications for the design of a distant control tower.

A Multi-Objective Simulated Annealing for the Multi-Criteria Dial a Ride Problem

Abstract: The paper describes a multi-objective mathematical model for Dial a Ride Problem (DRP) and an application of Multi-Objective Simulated Annealing (MOSA) to solve it. The ultimate aim is to offer an alternative to displacement optimized individually and collectively. Indeed, the DRP is a multi-criteria problem, the proposed solution of which aims to reduce both route duration in response to a certain quality of service provided. In this work, we offer our contribution to the study and solving the DRP in the application using the MOSA algorithm. Tests show competitive results on (Cordeau and Laporte, 2003) benchmark datasets while improving processing times.

Sharing Control with Elderly Drivers: Haptic Guidance during Curve Negotiation

Abstract: Elderly drivers suffer from deterioration of sight and hearing. This makes visual and auditory information for driver support during curve negotiation not very suitable. We present the design and experimental evaluation of a haptic guidance system for curve negotiation. Twelve elderly (>50 years) subjects participated in a fixed-base driving experiment. Based on previous experience with haptic guidance systems, we hypothesized that the benefits of the haptic guidance would be a small increase of curve negotiation performance with less control activity. Results of the experiment show that this was indeed achieved. However, the haptic guidance system resulted in a relatively large increase in steering forces, which could also be a disadvantage for elderly drivers. This needs to be investigated in the future.

Challenges for the Communication Environment and Communication Concept for Remote Airport Traffic Control Centres

Abstract: In cooperation with experts of the German air traffic control service provider Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH, researchers of the chair of cognitive psychology and cognitive ergonomics at Berlin Institute of Technology are currently working on the development of a communication environment and a communication concept for the simultaneous remote control of several regional airports during times of marginal traffic. One of their main research questions deals with the identification of factors contributing to the preservation of the required safety level for the new communication environment. For example, it is investigated how the spatial arrangement of different communication media influences the accuracy and celerity of mapping acoustic signals to different airports. The paper presents a summary of the ongoing research project, including a presentation of selected results obtained during an analysis of today's tower communication. In addition, an overview of relevant theoretical aspects from the area of cognitive psychology for a first empirical study is given.

Advanced remote tower project validation results

Abstract: The Advanced Remote Tower project (ART) studies enhancements to an existing LFV prototype facility for a remotely operated tower: projection on a 360 degrees panorama screen, adding synthesized geographic information and meteorological information, video tracking, fusion of video and radar tracks, labelling, visibility enhancement and surveillance operations with a remotely controlled Pan Tilt Zoom camera. The ART functions have been embedded in the existing Swedish test facility for remote tower operations in Malmo airport Sturup observing Angelholm traffic about 100 km to the North. They were tuned and validated by 15 tower controllers. Emphasis was on the traffic and situation awareness of tower controllers using remote cameras and projection system for safe operational tower control, replacing direct view on the airport and its traffic. The validation results give valuable information for further development and operational application even outside the Remote Tower application area.

Work domain analysis and ecological interface for the vehicle routing problem

Abstract: In this paper, we propose a work domain analysis for the vehicle routing problem. This analysis facilitates the identification of the problem constraints. The analysis is done through an abstraction hierarchy which facilitates an ecological user-interface design. The proposed decision support system and the ecological interfaces are presented. Finally, we propose an experimental study in order to evaluate the influence on the user for one of these interfaces.

Motivation for a Neuromuscular Basis for Haptic Shared Control

Abstract: Haptic shared control is a promising way to support humans in vehicular control or teleoperation, through forces on the control interface. Although it is recognized in literature that the human response to forces can change substantially, and although much relevant knowledge about measuring and modeling such adaptations exists in the field of neuroscience, the haptic community has not employed it for shared control design. The purpose of this paper is to give a brief overview of the current state of the art in haptic shared control for several applications, and argue the importance of measuring neuromuscular properties as a basis for the design of shared control forces. A new architecture is proposed to improve shared control design, based on neuromuscular knowledge. Future work will include a full design circle, where shared control will be optimized on measurements of neuromuscular control and tested with human experiments.

Haptic Gas Pedal Support During Visually Distracted Car Following

Abstract: A haptic gas pedal was developed, which continuously displays inter-vehicle separation information to drivers during car following. The haptic information is generated by combining time-headway and time-to-contact to the lead vehicle. It is expected that haptic gas pedal feedback will allow drivers to better divide their attention between the car-following task and a secondary task demanding visual attention, than when driving without haptic gas pedal feedback. An experiment was conducted to investigate this hypothesis. Drivers were given a visual in-vehicle task: selecting tracks on a CD-player. In general, the haptic feedback system did not seem to significantly affect driving behavior, but yielded lower task-completion times in the more critical following situations compared to the condition without support. During execution, the secondary task greatly increased following headways, with and without haptic support. This is most likely the result of the driving strategy drivers apply when diverting their attention away from the driving scene: increasing the following gap.

Advanced logic for alarm and event processing: Methods to reduce cognitive load for control room operators

Abstract: In modern control rooms operators monitor complex operations which are highly automated and optimized. In normal conditions the automation system keeps the processes at an optimum. In abnormal situations the automation system might generate an avalanche of alarms and messages to which the operator needs to respond in the most appropriate way. Some of these alarm avalanches have lead to serious incidents, with damage and injuries as a consequence. Further to such an incident, guidelines have been published to reduce the workload of operators. This paper discusses the origin of the alarm overload, the measures taken in recent years and the advanced methods which are being developed and applied in industry. More attention should be paid to operator guidance to deal with and to avoid abnormal situations. Model-based reasoning and expert systems offer a good basis for such operator guidance. Recent data mining techniques make it possible to shorten engineering of such decision support systems. Further steps can be taken to automate the workflow between data mining tools and decision support tools for better operator guidance.

Air Traffic Controller Decision-Making Support using the Solution Space Diagram

Abstract: Air traffic controller workload is considered to be one of the most important limiting factors to the growth of air traffic. The difficulty of a traffic control task can be analyzed through examining the problem's solution space, i.e., all possible vector commands that satisfy the various constraints. But apart from deriving metrics for workload, a visualization based on the solution space, resulting in the Solution Space Diagram, could also serve as an aid for alleviating controller workload. An experiment was conducted in which different levels of traffic were tested in order to evaluate the capabilities of the Solution Space diagram. The experiment entailed the task of merging aircraft into a single route and subjects provided subjective ratings of workload at fixed intervals of time. Depending on traffic level, significant effects of the Solution Space diagram were found on the reduction of controller workload.

Systemic assessment of the effect of mental stress and strain on performance in a maritime ship-handling simulator

Abstract: Two studies will be presented as part of a systemic approach for assessing performance in nautical simulators. A mixed-methods quasi-experimental field study (N=6) was conducted, aiming at discerning the systemic causes behind nautical students’ human errors during simulator exercises and to what extent these causes can be related to the layout of a new decision supporting display. Results indicate that all errors occur under the same kind of (demanding) man-machine interaction. Based on this, design requirements were proposed. The second study aims at exploring the impact of situation-related affective arousal on system safety. Anger- and frustration-like situations will be generated and the possible impact of these affect-laden situations on the risk- and error-related performance of simulator ship bridge crews assessed. The studies address different aspects of performance in complex environments and their modularity towards each other will be highlighted in the context of an overall systemic perspective.

Using eye tracking to evaluate usability of user interfaces: Is it warranted?

Abstract: The evaluation of the usability of user interfaces is a crucial element in the design of computer software and other products with user interfaces. Owing to the availability of good quality, affordable eye tracking equipment and the arguable visual nature of interacting with user interfaces, the use of this methodology in usability evaluation is increasing. However, recent studies indicate that the relationship between eye movements and task performance is not as straightforward as has been suggested previously. It was found that careful alterations in the design of user interfaces did not lead to the expected improvement in task performance. This calls into question the use of eye tracking as a tool to assess usability.

Functional Hazard Analysis of Virtual Control Towers

Abstract: Current legacy procedures for Aerodrome Control significantly rely on the tower controllers’ direct view on the aircraft resp. the airport. Visual information is known as being of high quality and reliable as long as appropriate weather conditions are given. Though, convective weather conditions heavily impact these procedures often leading to an aerodrome capacity backlog. To gain independency from such weather impacts, providing a synthetic view and substituting the “out-of-the window” vision is currently investigated by TU Dresden. Beside the research team 1 within the project Virtual Control Tower Research Study (VICTOR), the investigations concentrate on the safety assessment of such a technically and procedurally adopted environment. Already existing synthetic vision systems seem to have potential to offer a virtual reality that resolves equally the environment and enhances controller capabilities by various new functions. However, a proof of equivalent safety for such a system design for virtual control towers is crucial for operational implementation and hard to achieve. Such as the Functional Hazard Analysis (according to Eurocontrol Safety Assessment Methodology) was performed as a starting point for such an assessment in order to identify hazards, determine severities of effected consequences and safety objectives of a dedicated virtual tower concept. This paper reports results concerning the identification of hazards and risks when using substituted visual information diversity for aerodrome control procedures. Furthermore, concepts for system design and evaluation are presented.

Towards New Human-Machine Systems in contexts involving interactive table and tangible objects

Abstract: The adaptation to context (or context-awareness), in particular the adaptation of interactive systems has become essential with the advent of new information technologies and communication. This article proposes a classification of criteria allowing these adaptations. It is adapted and used in the particular case of a new platform using an interactive table coupled with tangible objects. The criteria of context-awareness differ from those proposed for restricted platforms. They are explained before being illustrated. A situation based on context-awareness is presented and used to validate the proposition of new criteria. The paper ends with a conclusion and some prospects.

A review of biodynamic feedthrough mitigation techniques

Abstract: Biodynamic feedthrough (BDFT) refers to a phenomenon where accelerations cause involuntary limb motions which, when coupled to a control device, can result in unintentional control inputs. Biodynamic feedthrough can occur in many different vehicles and under various conditions, which makes it highly relevant to study its mechanisms. In this paper the possible biodynamic feedthrough mitigation techniques are discussed and evaluated. From these, two solution types are regarded to be the most promising. Measures of the first solution type are already commonly applied and consist of passive measures to restrain and immobilize body parts. The second solution type is the model-based cancellation approach, where use is made of a BDFT model to obtain a canceling signal. The model-based cancellation approach is currently investigated.

Efficiency of safety barriers facing human errors

Abstract: This paper proposes a new approach for assessing the efficiency of barriers and of barrier removals. Facing defences in depth organized by physical barriers implemented on the human-machine system or by immaterial barriers such as procedures to be applied, barrier removal is an intentional human error and consists in not respecting the existing barriers of the human-machine system. An approach is then proposed to assess the THERP and ACIH methods. Some examples are proposed presenting probabilities of success of different barrier removals.

A Cybernetic Approach to Assess Flight Simulator Motion Fidelity

Abstract: Due to a limited understanding of human multimodal motion perception during aircraft control, the definition of requirements for flight simulator motion fidelity is a problem the flight simulation community has struggled with for years. The development of adequate tuning procedures for motion washout algorithms has remained problematic for the same reason. This paper proposes a method for assessment of simulator motion fidelity that makes use of a cybernetic, model-based approach to measuring multimodal pilot control behavior. As illustrated here with data from a recent human-in-the-loop experiment, this approach allows for objective detection of changes in pilot control that result from degraded simulator motion fidelity.

COSMO-SIVIC: a first step towards a virtual platform for Human Centred Design of driving assistances

Abstract: This paper presents the first step of research work implemented by INRETS in the frame of the ISi-PADAS European project, in order to develop a simulation platform able to support a Human Centred Design (HCD) method for virtual design of driving assistances. This HCD tool (called COSMO-SiVIC) integrates a cognitive simulation model of the Driver (called COSMODRIVE) on a virtual Vehicle-Environment platform (SiVIC). From this future tool, it is expected to compare since the earlier stages of the technological design, virtual simulation of driving performances with and without driving assistance, and thus to appreciate the potential benefits, interests and risks of vehicle automation on road safety.