Control Center Design Research Articles

Framework for ergonomic design of control centres in underground coal mines - A Serbian experience

We present a framework for solving the problem of functional compatibility between process control equipment in control centres at underground mines and operator capabilities. The equipment incorporates displays of current ventilation, gas, and fire hazard data, status of alarm and early warning systems, a voice communication subsystem, and facilities for recording and printing of data and reports. The layout of the existing control panel is compared with a recommended design. The basic principles of ergonomic design and arrangement of the controls and indicators, as well as ease of use, type of operations carried out with these controls, and operators' viewing angles are discussed. The objective is to improve the usability of control panels, display boards, and graphic screens so as to enhance the functioning of control centres and optimize control of technological processes in coal mines.

Rail Operations Control Centres

The article presents an overview of common trends in the evolution of rail operations control as well as the factors stipulating the existing approaches to the design of Rail Operations Control Centres (ROCCs) around the world. Based on the comparative analysis of various ROCCs and traffic parameters, the authors propose some classification of global traffic control models. The article outlines further steps towards a more detailed analysis of ROCCs in terms of their effectiveness by introducing a number of additional criteria and performance indicators to be taken into account.

The Operator's Stake in Shore Control Center Design: A Stakeholder Analysis for Autonomous Ships

Technology driven innovation has been advancing the development of autonomous ships and their Shore Control Center (SCC) counterpart. We plot a stakeholder map focused on the SCC based on data collected in a workshop and semi-structured interviews containing ten (10) Subject Matter Experts. The results identify key stakeholders and their interconnected relationships. Furthermore, insights from the qualitative data highlight important human factor issues of SCC operators that can be put into organizational context using the stakeholder map. The contribution is a tool designers can use to understand of the business model and the needs of the SCC customer, technology developer, and operators. Considering the operator’s stake in autonomous shipping and the human factors issues that are expected in the SCC, the case is made for a Human-Centered Design (HCD) process to run concurrently with the technology innovation

Human Factors Challenges in Unmanned Ship Operations – Insights from Other Domains

This study presents an overview to human factors challenges that potentially concern future shore control centers for unmanned ships. Although commercial unmanned shipping does not yet exist, it is worth to consider this emerging technology domain. Without the bridge and the systems supporting the crew, the ships could be lighter and carry more cargo – this would increase revenues and fuel efficiency. Literature review of autonomous and remote operation on various fields, these being aviation, forestry, cars, subway systems, space operations, military, and cranes, and making contrast to the nautical context were applied as a method for identifying potential challenges. The most prominent issues to be considered include information overload, boredom, mishaps during changeovers and handoffs, lack of feel of the vessel, constant reorientation to new tasks, delays in control and monitoring, and the need for human understanding in local knowledge and object differentiation (e.g., in differentiating between help-seekers and pirates). Positive aspects, in turn, include lack of seasickness and physical damage to the crew in harsh weather conditions, and the possibility to functional specialization. Potential interaction and representation techniques were considered as well. Overall, our study provides insight for shore control center design. We suggest that the control centers should reflect agile command and control. This implies that the unmanned ships should be attached to global support networks and be able to reproduce information for them; video and sensor data could be transmitted directly. The shore control centers should be capable and willing to proactively communicate with the manned vessels and the authorities.

On the Impact of Human and Organizational Archetypes on Human Failure Probabilities Used in Risk Analyses

In a previous paper a radar diagram showing the influence of a set of ten features has been presented, discussed and their influence on human failure probabilities has been assessed. Among these, the most important features were management of change, control center design, and training. In this paper, we discuss the use of organizational archetypes in process plants in order to estimate human failure probabilities more realistically by bringing safety culture into stage. The analysis of archetypes is justified not only for the Tokaimura plant, as discussed in this paper, but also for most organizations, where safety efforts are credited to design, and safety restrictions accomplishment during operation is not trivial, even for those organizations with good safety standards. Generally, inadequate cost, schedule, and performance considerations lead to consequences with greater impact on deviations and incidents. The archetype analysis presented considers nonlinear interactions of factors that influence the maintenance of safety level. It produces good indicators of safety management plan improving during operation. This analysis becomes a relevant tool for facilities where safety culture is not strong.

Operation Indices for Smart Power Dispatch Center Design

With the development of power systems, power grid within a control area becomes much more complicated due to increasing number of nodes and renewable energy interconnections. The role of power system control center is more critical in maintaining system reliable and security operations. Latest developed information and communication technologies provide a platform to enhance the functions and performance of power system control center. Smart power dispatch concept will be the trend of future control center development. In this paper, we start from the human factors of control center design and propose operation indices to reduce the information presented to the system operator. The operation indices will be the important criteria in situation awareness of a power grid. Past, present, future and capability states of a power grid are also proposed to provide better visions to the operator of system conditions. The basic ideas of operation indices and operation states are discussed in the paper. In the end, the design factors for a power dispatch cockpit are discussed.

A Study on Application of the Korea Human Scale to Anthropometric Design

Objective: The aim of this study is to show a correct application procedure using the compact Korean anthropometric data application program called Korean Human Scale(KHS) for anthropometric design. Background: The nation-wide anthropometric survey project called 'Size Korea' developed KHS and distributed it to the public on the web site. But some insufficiency of the current web service of KHS misleads the users; they just put their own statue and pick up a meaningless data for a body dimension. Method: This study provides five steps to follow to read appropriate data from KHS for an anthropometric design. Results: As a case study, the depth dimension of the supervisory and control console used in the Korea nuclear power plant was determined following the procedure and compared with the console design guideline recommendation. Conclusion: The supplementary anthropometry table should be added on the web service of KHS for users to read a meaningful data for design. Application: If properly used, the KHS has a lot more potential application area than users can expect such as in control center design area.

The application of the ISO 11064 for deep water platform control centre design: benefits and limitations

This paper describes an ergonomic intervention in the design of the control centre of two floating production storage vessels. It also discusses the application of ISO 11064 standard used throughout this intervention. The results show that the specifications suggested by the ergonomics team proposed a new concept for the control centre for the company's offshore production units and that, in the face of the complexity of the project, the standard was essential regarding several vital methodological principles including: the need to conduct situational analyses and work simulations, the participation of users, among others. It can be concluded that, although the standard focuses primarily on the design of non-mobile control centres, some of its principles are applicable to mobile systems such as oil drilling platforms. The standard can also function as an important instrument of social mediation in the relations between the companies involved in the project.

제어실의 인적오류 예방에 적용 가능한 ISO 표준 검토

Objective: The aim of this study is to review the ISO(the International Organization for Standardization) standards recommendations on a human error tolerant control room design. Background: ISO TC(Technical Committee) 159 published a variety of international standards on design of mental and physical work, design of displays and controls, and workstation layout design. A proper edition of these standards can be a good resource for a human error tolerant control center design guidelines. Method: Recommendations of ISO TC 159 standards were grouped into arrangement of control suite, layout of control room, layout and dimensions of workstations, design of displays and controls, environmental design, alarm, automation, management system design, procedure and training. Results: It was found that some standards on the design of supervisory control and data acquisition(SCADA), alarm, automation, layout, workload management, and environment can be used for human error prevention guidelines in the control center design. Conclusion: ISO TC 159 standards were not sufficient to cover all the ergonomics area of control center design. Application: Designers can have technical aids from these ISO standards to improve ergonomic performance of their control center.

Flexible open architecture design for power system control centers

That the new generation power system control centers need a paradigm shift in their architectural design to meet new challenges, is an established conclusion of many researchers. However, literature on comprehensive architectural design towards this direction is scarce. In this paper, an information architecture design is proposed for the power system control centers. Appropriate adoption of open standards such as the common information model (CIM) is endorsed. Further, initial development of an event information model for modeling high level power system events is mentioned. Proposed architecture focuses on the desired features such as openness, interoperability, flexibility, scalability, vendor independence and event orientation. The architecture comprises services arranged in layers, viz., data integration and access, event processing and plug-in services. The details of this architecture along with the intricate relationships between various layers and services depicting how the technologies could be integrated into a coherent whole are described in this paper. An illustrative example, from the Indian power sector domain has been used to demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed architecture.

A case study of ISO 11064 in control centre design in the Norwegian petroleum industry

In 2006–2008 we performed a case study for the purpose of assessing the industrial application of the seven part Control Centre (CC) design standard ISO 11064 to identify positive and negative experiences among stakeholders in the Norwegian petroleum sector. We mainly focussed on ISO 11064 Part 1, because this was the most commonly used among the identified stakeholders. ISO 11064 is generally appreciated and applied in the industry, but we did observe a significant variance in use between the different parts of the standard. We also identified potential areas for improvements, like scope and application adaptation. Thus we suggest a more goal-based approach based on one normative part only.

Human Factors in Control-Center Design

This article, written by Technology Editor Dennis Denney, contains highlights of paper IPTC 11762, "Improvement of Human Factors in Control-Center Design - Experiences Using ISO 11064 in The Norwegian Petroleum Industry and Suggestions for Improvements," by Andreas Lumbe Aas, Norges Teknisk- Naturvitenskapelige Universitet, Dept. of Computer Science, and Stig Ole Johnsen, Sintef Technology and Society, prepared for the 2007 International Petroleum Technology Conference, Dubai, 4-6 December. The paper has not been peer reviewed. Managing human factors (HFs) in the design of control centers (CCs) has become increasingly important in large-scale petroleum projects because of the effects on safety and on efficient operations. Integrated operations (IOs) introduce new ways of working, allowing virtual teams, but raise new risk-management issues. In 2006, 22 persons, representing different sectors and professions in the industry, were asked about their experiences with International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 11064, the standard guide to "ergonomic design of control centers" for handling HFs during design of CCs. This paper summarizes experiences applying ISO 11064 in Norwegian petroleum projects and suggests areas for improvements. Introduction This study mapped experiences in applying ISO 11064 to CC design in full-scale industrial projects [e.g., construction of new offshore installations (oil platforms); floating production, storage, and offloading vessels; and onshore process installations] as well as major CC modifications of the same. Fig. 1 shows the ergonomic-design process for CCs in ISO 11064. This process has five phases, A through E, that perform iteratively. ISO 11064 consists of seven parts, of which Part 5 is still in draft. This paper focuses on Part 1, principles for the design of CCs, because this was the part most commonly used among interviewees. Several interviewees pointed out that Part 3, control-room layout, and Part 7, principles for the evaluation of CCs, also were important. ISO 11064 is a normative reference in the regulations relating to design and outfitting of facilities as published by the Petroleum Safety Authority Norway (PSA), the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority, and the Norwegian Social and Health Directorate. ISO 11064 is not designed specifically for IOs, but the principles of the standard can be used for IOs. The systematic consideration of human error in systems designs can lead to improved safety, even improved productivity in many cases. To allow for efficient design of safety-critical systems, it is important to have flexible safety standards that provide a good cost/benefit ratio and contribute to the design of safer systems. Therefore, a goal-based approach is discussed.

4. Evaluation for ergonomic design of control centre

4. Evaluation for ergonomic design of control centre

Criteria for evaluating open energy management systems

The open EMS (energy management system) architecture concept is described, and criteria for evaluating open EMSs are considered. Changes in the electric utility industry that affect control center design are discussed. How existing systems can be upgraded to an open architecture is detailed, and the factors important to open EMS designs are discussed. >

Development of a Human Factors Engineering Program for the Canadian Nuclear Industry

This paper discusses the development of a new planning document for the Canadian nuclear industry called the Human Factors Engineering Program Plan. This document is to provide a central location for human factors requirements, complete with mechanisms for their implementation as applied to a given project. Human factors knowledge has been incorporated to varying degrees into such areas as control centre design, maintainability and human reliability analyses; but to date there has been no broadly based, formal human factors program in the Canadian nuclear industry. The HFEPP will provide a broader, integrated approach to human factors activities. Background on the development of the plan along with format and content requirements are discussed.

Scheme and design for advanced energy control centers

Scheme and design for advanced energy control centers

Scheme and design for advanced energy control centers

The concept and detailed design of advanced power system control centers that are highly integrated with all power system operations, planning, and management are presented. The latest examples of these designed control centers are also described. The results of these studies indicate that advanced power system control systems can be achieved in the near future and are essential to highly integrated systems for power system operations, planning and management, in order to secure a more economical and stable supply of electric energy. Integration of control systems into a total computer network system not only effectively reduces labor costs and software development but also greatly improves the quality and reliability of the control systems. Such integration also allows the application of upgraded and well-used analytical and optimizing offline program packages to online control. Such a well-integrated system will also result in various unexpected benefits to power system operations, planning, and management. >

Design of a network control centre for a terminal support network environment

One way of accessing mainframe computers is via terminals which are microcomputer based. In this respect, to interconnect the various microcomputer terminals, terminal support networks (TSNs) are one popular way especially in the university environment. This paper describes the design and implementation of a network control centre (NCC) in a typical TSN environment, which is simple to implement and which provides a symbolic access mechanism to the various resources in the TSN. The main emphasis is on the communication aspects between the NCC and the TSN.

Toward a Functional Control Center Design

A control center for the operation of an electric power system is a major investment for a utility company. In order to obtain the full benefit of this investment, certain design and performance criteria have to be satisfied, among which is the criterion of functionality. While system designers and utility project engineers have developed, over the years, control centers with high levels of performance, some control centers do not come up to expectations. Such failures, which are the result of lack of functionality in the design, though few in number, should not happen to any one company. This paper discusses the problems of functionality and offers some specific suggestions as to how functionality may be assured.

Current trends in control centre design

Trends in various aspects of control centre design are discussed, including the computer configuration, the man-machine interface, database management, communications and remote terminal units. Future directions that control centres may take are also reviewed.