Human characteristics of plant operation and man-machine interface

Abstract

Abstract An operator-adaptive man-machine interface which supports plant operators' diagnoses and decisions is proposed, as a concept of a human interface for experts of plant operation in the 21st century. As a first step for developing such an interface, a method to evaluate interface fitness is being developed. Fundamental physiological experiments and experiments to clarify operators' cognitive processes were performed. Some observations were obtained as follows: 1. (1) Stress and workload can be identified by the ratio of the power average of the α-part of a brain wave and divided by the ratio of the standard deviation of the R-R interval in test and at rest. 2. (2) Operators' cognitive processes during an emergency situation can be estimated by verbal protocol analysis in which protocol contents were assigned to cognitive process elements. 3. (3) Operators' patterns of information acquisition can be obtained by eye movement analysis. 4. (4) As operators repeat process loops of hypothesis generation and test, the operator-adaptive interface which supports such loops was proposed. 5. (5) Summary indications of main process variables on a large visual panel is effective for activation of crew communications and achievement of consensus among the crew members.