Determining Optimum Level of Automation in Task Design for Assembly Line Systems

Abstract

AbstractAutomation has become essential in many industries since computerized technologies were developed for its significant effect on production performance in terms of accuracy, speed and volume. However, the effects of increased automation on operators’ situational awareness and skill development have been controversial. This study aims to determine the optimum level of automation to balance the tradeoffs between loss of situational awareness, and mental/physical workload through developing a model that quantifies the effect of automation level on cognitive performance, which is defined as a function of situational awareness and mental workload. The proposed model particularly helps the task design of assembly line systems. The mental workload of an operator is dependent on the information quantity needed to be processed while performing the task, which may decrease by higher level of automation. However, loss of situational awareness is expected to increase by leveling up automation in task design. The level of automation introduced in a system ranges from manual processes to fully automated process. The stages of information processing involved in performing assembly tasks can be information acquisition, analysis and/or decision making. Each assembly task may involve any combination of these information process stages. The first step in the proposed model, cognitive tasks are partitioned into information process stages which are then evaluated with different levels of automation for all stages and all tasks along the assembly line. The proposed study utilizes the well-known technique of Situational Awareness Global Assessment Tool (SAGAT) in order to quantify the loss of situational awareness. Theoretical tradeoffs between loss of situational awareness and the mental workload reveals the optimal level of automation which also maximizes the cognitive performance of human worker. The proposed approach is then implemented in a real-life case study.KeywordsAutomation and human factorsSituational awarenessMental workloadHuman information processingInformation theoryTask designAssembly line systems