Modeling ecological expert: comparative analysis of human skill development with fuzzy controller

Abstract

The main difficulties of the skill transfer from human to machine exist in the fact that human skills are based upon two types of knowledge: one is the fundamental content knowledge needed to perform complex tasks, and the other one is knowledge of the process, by which those tasks should be executed. Distinguishing between those two types of knowledge, we present a comparative analysis between a fuzzy controller and a human expert. Regarding a human proficient expert as an ecological expert after Kirlik, we demonstrate that skillful control lies not only inside of the skill-performer's brain, but in the actor-environment system. In order to investigate into the relations between the human judgments and the environmental information, we adopt Brunswik's Lens Model to quantify both types of knowledge from the performance data. By analyzing how the ways of an operator's interacting with the task environment change and how the cues in the environment utilized by him/her alter, we formalize his/her control-skill improving process. We investigate these in comparison with the conventional fuzzy controller. We conclude in the aspects in which the human expert is superior to the fuzzy controller.