An ecological interface for supervisory control of BWR nuclear power plants

Abstract

An ecological interface design was applied to implement support functions for the operator's direct perception and analytical reasoning in the development of an intelligent man-machine system for BWR nuclear power plants. An abstraction-aggregation functional hierarchy representation of the work domain is one basis of the ecological interface design. Another basis is the concept of the level of cognitive control. The former was mapped into the interface to externalize the operator's normative mental model of the plants, which will reduce his/her cognitive work load and support knowledge-based problem solving.