Operator Interface Research Articles

Research on the Optimization and Evaluation of Excavator Human-Machine Interface Layout Based on Situation Awareness

In order to solve the problem of a large number of types and complex layouts of control devices on the operator interface of mining excavators, and a large variety and number of control elements on the control panel, the layout optimization design is carried out by applying the theoretical model of situational awareness and the influencing factors to the layout design of the human-machine interface. The modularity of the interface and the hierarchy of the original components are divided, and the importance evaluation indicators established according to situational awareness are weighted according to the entropy weighting method, and then the results are combined with the VIKOR method to analyse the importance of the interface components and the control panel module respectively before the interface is optimised and designed. The results show that the application of situational awareness theory to HMI design can play an important role in enhancing the level of situational awareness of operators and meeting their needs.

Digital Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia Using a Smartphone Application in China

Digital cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (DCBT-I) requires adaptation to different sociocultural contexts. Moreover, studies comparing DCBT-I and sleep education in the same operating interface are lacking. To investigate the efficacy of a smartphone-based Chinese culture-adapted DCBT-I application (app) for insomnia compared with sleep education using the same app. This was a single-blinded, randomized clinical trial conducted from March 2021 to January 2022. Screening and randomization were conducted at Peking University First Hospital. Follow-up visits were performed online or in the same hospital. After assessing for eligibility, eligible participants were enrolled and allocated (1:1) to DCBT-I or sleep education groups. Data were analyzed from January to February 2022. A Chinese smartphone-based app with the same interface was used in both DCBT-I and sleep education groups over 6 weeks, with 1-, 3-, and 6-month follow-ups. The primary outcome was Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) scores with the intention-to-treat principle. Secondary and exploratory outcomes included sleep diary measures; self-reported scales assessing dysfunctional beliefs about sleep, mental health, and quality of life; and smart bracelet measures. Of 82 participants (mean [SD] age, 49.67 [14.49] years; 61 [74.4%] females), with 41 randomized to sleep education and 41 randomized to DCBT-I; 77 participants completed the 6-week intervention (39 participants in the sleep education group and 38 participants in the DCBT-I group; full analysis data set) and 73 completed the 6-month follow-up (per protocol data set). Mean (SD) ISI scores in the DCBT-I group were significantly lower than those in the sleep education group after the 6-week intervention (12.7 [4.8] points vs 14.9 [5.0] points; Cohen d = 0.458; P = .048) and at the 3-month follow-up (12.1 [5.4] points vs 14.8 [5.5] points; Cohen d = 0.489; P = .04). There were significant improvements from before to after the intervention for both the sleep education and DCBT-I groups, with large effect sizes(sleep education: d = 1.13; DCBT-I: d = 1.71). Some of the sleep diary measures and self-reported scales showed more improvements in the DCBT-I group than sleep education group, such as total sleep time (mean [SD]: 3 months, 403.9 [57.6] minutes vs 363.2 [72.3] minutes; 6 months, 420.3 [58.0] minutes vs 389.7 [59.4] minutes) and sleep efficiency (mean [SD]: 3 months, 87.4% [8.3%] vs 76.7% [12.1%]; 6 months, 87.5% [8.2%] vs 78.1% [10.9%]). In this randomized clinical trial, the smartphone-based Chinese culture-adapted DCBT-I improved insomnia severity compared with sleep education. Future multicenter clinical trials with large sample sizes are needed to validate its effectiveness in the Chinese population. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04779372.

Novel Designed Surgical Drapes Reducing Fluid Permeability in the Surgical Critical Area of a Sterile Operation Interface: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Aim. To compare the impact and cost effects of medical long fiber polyester drapes and cotton fabric drapes on operative sterile operation interfaces. Background. The comparison of the properties of the commonly used surgical drapes materials in terms of leakage, device slip, and prevention of intraoperative adverse events is not clear. Method. A prospective randomized controlled study was conducted in the operating room of a tertiary hospital in Chengdu, China. A total of 400 patients who underwent urology surgery were enrolled and randomly divided into two groups by computer, the study group (200 cases) selected the new long-fiber polyester cloth, while the control group (200 cases) selected conventional cotton fabric surgical drapes during the operation to maintain a sterile operating interface. The impermeability and water absorption of surgical drapes, the rate of device slip and skin scald in surgical patients, and the cost effect of the two kinds of surgical drapes were compared. Results. The long fiber polyester surgical drapes were superior to conventional cotton cloth in water absorption (g/m2) (835 ± 15.8 VS 225 ± 21.0, t = 328.261, P < 0.001 ), preventing surgical site infections (2.5% VS 8.0%, χ2 = 6.081, P = 0.014 ), device slip (7.5% VS 17.0%, χ2 = 8.396, P = 0.004 ), patients from burning (0 VS 1, Fisher P = 1.0 ), and total cost per use ($) (0.83 VS 0.96–1.09). Conclusion. Long fiber polyester fabric has a stronger antipenetration ability of fluid and microorganisms thus forming an effective protective barrier. It also has strong hygroscopicity, and its special design can prevent the occurrence of sliding of surface instruments and skin scald in patients. In addition, its cost effect is superior. Implications for Nursing Management. Operating room nursing managers can introduce long fiber polyester drapes into the selection of medical textiles to construct aseptic surgical barriers and prevent surgical site infection.

The automatic measurement system for internal stress of acrylic

The manual measurement system for internal stress of acrylic was designed and realized, which is based on photo-elastic principle and spectrometric method. The manual measurement system can support mobile and quantitative measurement, and plays an important role in the fields of material research and engineering project. With the extensive application of the stress measurement system, automation is required to promote measuring efficiency and overcome the shortcomings of the manual measurement system. Electric control turntable was chosen as the key component for automation and adopted in the automatic measurement system. The automatic measurement system is controlled by program and user interface for operation has also been improved. The automatic measurement system has been realized and used for measuring internal stress of acrylic in the laboratory, which achieved the expected effect. The components of the automatic measurement system, the user interface for control program and data processing, and the stress measurements of the acrylic samples by the automatic measurement system are discussed in this article.

Design of portable multi-channel isolated CNC-regulated power supply

In order to facilitate the testing needs of electronic engineers, a multi-channel isolation adjustable switching regulated power supply controlled by an STM32 single-chip microcomputer is designed [1]. The power supply is programmable and adjustable by a single-chip microcomputer, and the humanized display operation interface is combined with the high efficiency of switching the power supply. It can realize three channels of 30v2a isolated output, and realize one channel of 90v2a or 30v6a output through a relay automatic switching series-parallel combination, to maximize power density. The power supply has the characteristics of high integration, small volume, large power, large adjustable range, high precision, and high efficiency. It can be applied to the debugging and operation of most electronic equipment.

Study of the tools used for early-stage carbon footprint in building design

The purpose of this study is to construct a digital tool and design process for building a carbon footprint calculation to change the current status of Taiwan's carbon footprint calculation in post-use assessment, and to incorporate both carbon emissions and energy consumption in the environmental impact assessment into the initial considerations of the architectural design. Through the connection of carbon emission calculation tools and optimization tools, the advantages and disadvantages of multiple schemes in relation to carbon emissions and energy consumption can be compared simultaneously, thereby assisting designers to achieve faster results when making design decisions. In addition to the building's area, orientation, and height, various schemes could also further facilitate architectural design plans with lower carbon emissions by adjusting factors such as the external shading depth and the window-to-wall ratio by calculating the building dimensions to pursue the maximum percentage of the visual field (maximum window area), thereby reducing carbon emissions. This study is expected to meet the needs of users by simplifying the calculation tools and operation interface required for carbon emission calculations, visualizing the calculation results, and enabling a comparison of multiple design schemes. In addition, it provides recommended projects that can be reviewed in the early decision-making stage of the architectural design process, and provides designers and planners with approximate building carbon emission calculations for projects. Furthermore, to facilitate a calculation process with the best view, the scheme simulation is optimized under the existing design conditions, and the optimal solution (Pareto optimal solution) is obtained following calculation classification and analysis. The simulated data can be listed for design reference, whereby users can make design decisions based on the design conditions.

Advancing the marketing‐operations interface in omnichannel retail

Advancing the marketing‐operations interface in omnichannel retail

Flexible and Low-Cost Emulation of Control Behaviors for Testing and Teaching of AC Microgrid

The fast development of distributed generations enables the microgrid a popular solution for the construction of the modern power grid, where the control behaviors of power electronics converters play a crucial role. Under this scenario, the emulation of microgrid control behaviors is becoming an emerging need for the testing and teaching of the AC microgrid. However, conventional approaches, such as the dynamic simulation test and the Power-Hardware-In-Loop, are still costly or bulky to flexibly recreate the correct characteristics of microgrid including different layers of controls and the interactions among multiple converters. The dynamic simulation test is bulky and costly to emulate various types of control behaviors since all physical components in the test system may need to be adjusted. The high cost of Power-Hardware-In-Loop is mainly caused by the high-performance real-time simulator and power amplifier. In this paper, a novel emulation system is proposed for the testing of the AC microgrid. A low-cost circuit configuration, which includes two face-to-face connected DC–AC converters and some passive loads, is introduced with the possibility of flexibly emulating most of the typical control schemes in an AC microgrid. In addition, a user interface for the real-time operation and measurement of the hardware platform is introduced on a host computer to further facilitate the testing process. Finally, various control schemes in microgrids, including the voltage control, current control, droop control, and secondary control, are validated in the experiment setup based on the proposed emulation approach.

Robot Arm Operating Interface for Easy Grasping by Specifying the Gripping Width of Endeffector

Robot Arm Operating Interface for Easy Grasping by Specifying the Gripping Width of Endeffector

Investigation of visual and game-playing performance under different genders, display and operation interfaces

Technological progress has led to 3D displays becoming a trend in the market, yet few studies have evaluated 3D techniques in head-mounted displays (HMD) under different topics simultaneously, such as gender and operation interfaces. This study investigated these research issues to examine the effect of gender (male, female), display interface (2D TV, 3D HMD), and operation interface (joystick, keyboard) on usability, accuracy, change of critical flicker frequency (change of CFF), Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ), and iGroup Presence Questionnaire (IPQ). Thirty participants with no NBA2K15 basketball game-playing experience were recruited in the experiment. The results showed significant effects of gender on accuracy, usability, and change of CFF, where males demonstrated higher accuracy, lower usability, and lower visual fatigue. In addition, display interface had significant effects on usability, SSQ and IPQ. The 2D TV was associated with higher usability and lower SSQ and IPQ. Furthermore, the operation interface had significant effects on accuracy, usability, change of CFF, and IPQ. The joystick led to a higher usability and IPQ but a lower change of CFF. The results provide suggestions to game players that choosing 2D TVs with joysticks generates greater usability. In addition, although they achieved a higher presence, players also had greater visual fatigue when wearing HMDs. This study concluded that males have better performance in accuracy and visual fatigue while females have better usability when playing basketball games.

Friction force estimation in pneumatic cylinders by full automation of experimental procedures

The effective utilization of pneumatic cylinders in precise control applications requires the correct determination of unpredictable, variable, and non-linear friction resistance characteristics. Even though the friction characteristics depend on many structural and operating variables, the existing expensive experimental methodologies are prone to error, time-consuming, and have excessive computational burden. In this study, the full automation of friction force estimation processes has been designed and implemented with MATLAB/Stateflow including the execution of all experimental steps, processing of signals, extraction and classification of data, and estimation of parameters. An operational graphical user interface has been developed for entering the required input values of the experimental procedures, connecting to testing equipment, carrying out experiments, and presenting obtained model parameters. The friction force parameters of three pneumatic cylinders, two of which were identical, have been determined both with the automated method and the manual method. The automated method has produced better results compared to the manual method while reducing the total estimation duration drastically. The pressure tracking performance tests conducted to verify the friction model parameters have exhibited better tracking performances with the automated method results.

Pain-Illusion for Human-Machine Interface

In nature, pain is one of the most important signals to preserve life for humans and animals. The unpleasantness of pain is a signal for a dangerous situation that should urgently be resolved. While humans experience many degrees of pain, and even use it for interacting with their living environments in daily life, there are few studies that utilize pain as an interface between human and their surrounding environment including machines. In this study, we develop a device to generate illusion of pain by using the “thermal grill illusion” caused by temperature stimulation on human skin. The objective of this research is to develop a new modality for interaction between humans and machines using illusion of pain, and to test the interface for remote operation of robot. The proposed interface induces a temporary illusion of mild pain on human skin without inflicting any injuries. The proposed interface enables humans to interact with machines including remotely located robots that convey their unfavorable situations in the form of pain-illusions that is directly sensed by humans. In this paper, the hardware platform for the pain-illusion generating device will be elaborated. The efficacy of the proposed interface will be evaluated through remote operation of mobile robot.

Enhanced Human–Robot Interface With Operator Physiological Parameters Monitoring and 3D Mixed Reality

Remote robotic interventions and maintenance tasks are frequently required in hazardous environments. Particularly, missions with a redundant mobile manipulator in the world’s most complex machine, the CERN Large Hadron Collider, are performed in a sensitive underground environment with radioactive or electromagnetic hazards, bringing further challenges in safety and reliability. The mission’s success depends on the robot’s hardware and software, and when the tasks become too unpredictable to execute autonomously, the operators need to make critical decisions. However, in most current human-machine systems, the state of the human is neglected. In this context, a novel 3D Mixed Reality (MR) human-robot interface with the Operator Monitoring System (OMS) was developed to advance safety and task efficiency with improved spatial awareness, advanced manipulator control, and collision avoidance. However, new techniques could increase the system’s sophistication and add to the operator’s workload and stress. Therefore, for operational validation, the 3D MR interface had to be compared with an operational 2D interface, which has been used in hundreds of interventions. With the 3D MR interface, the execution of precise approach tasks was faster, with no increased workload or physiological response. The new 3D MR techniques improved the teleoperation quality and safety while maintaining similar effects on the operator. The OMS worked jointly with the interface and performed well with operators with varied teleoperation backgrounds facing a stressful real telerobotic scenario in the LHC. The paper contributes to the methodology for human-centred interface evaluation incorporating the user’s physiological state: heart rate, respiration rate and skin electrodermal activity, and combines it with the NASA TLX assessment method, questionnaires, and task execution time. It provides novel approaches to operator state identification, the GUI-OMS software architecture, and the evaluation of the 3D MR techniques. The solutions can be practically applied in mission-critical applications, such as telesurgery, space robotics, uncrewed transport vehicles and semi-autonomous machinery.

Data acquisition for digitisation in the paraffin candle production process

By utilising digital technology, digitisation helps businesses streamline procedures, increase efficiency and cut costs. Moreover, it enables businesses to gather knowledge and make data-driven choices that enhance product quality, customers’ satisfaction, and market competitiveness. Data acquisition, which permits the collection and analysis of real-time data from equipment and processes, is a crucial component of the digitalisation of industrial automation. Predictive maintenance may, therefore, be utilised to decrease downtime, enhance quality control, and optimise operations. The paraffin candle production process is being discussed, and its key variables are being identified for the purpose of digitisation. The study proposes data collection and processing methods from a candle production line and uses an IoT-enabled controller to collect and analyse data. The PLC software that reads, processes, and saves data in a SQL database on a remote PC is then built based on these techniques. An MSSQL database is used to store information on process variables, including temperatures, cycle times, and downtimes, for the different candle production stages, including the paraffin preparation tank, extruder, and conveyor for cutting candles. The database acts as a storage location for the gathered information, which can then be utilised to analyse and improve the manufacturing process. Python and the open-source package Streamlit were used to provide a user-friendly interface for operators. The interface allows the user to select historical data for each item of equipment by time and relevant variables, and it shows the filtered data in an understandable graphical style. This allows the operator to evaluate the production process, spot trends, and optimise it. With the use of support and assistance technologies, the data may be used for decision-making in future.

Status of the ITER ECRH&CD control system development

The ITER ECRH&CD system is designed to inject 20 MW of millimetre-wave at 170 GHz into the vacuum vessel. The system is composed of many sub-systems, namely High-Voltage Power Supplies (HVPS), Gyrotrons, Transmission Lines (TL), Ex-vessel Waveguides (EW), Launchers. It is the role of the EC Plant Controller (ECPC) to integrate all the Sub-system Control Units (SCU), to prepare the system for operation and to execute the real-time requests coming from the plasma control system. Plant level protections are also implemented by the ECPC, in charge of ensuring the safe operation of the plant, while optimizing the power availability. While control and protection functions are always pushed to the lower possible controller able to implement them, the operational requirements and flexibility of the system make it impossible to fully segregate many functions, since each gyrotron is connected to at least two different launching mirrors. To simplify the SCUs’ development and to respect the responsibility boundaries imposed by the procurement strategy, all the functions involving more than one sub-system are implemented in the ECPC, which exposes a single operational interface towards the ITER Central I&C. The status of the control system development is presented in this work.

Model based Verification and Validation of LiDAR sensor

This research paper presents the study of modelling and validating the results of simulation of LiDAR sensor with actual sensor data. The model can be further utilized for virtual testing of various ADAS functions. The virtual sensor is a physics-based sensor capable of emulating the real sensor. Initially an in-depth study of Velodyne VLP-16 sensor was carried out in order to parameterize the virtual sensor model. The sensor is modelled virtually in Gazebo simulation environment. Gazebo is used along with ROS (Robotic Operating Interface) in order to record the sensor data. Data conversion from sensor message format to Cartesian coordinates has been carried out. This was done in order to have a common format of actual and virtual data for validation. Four different objects were selected for validating the sensor data. The validation methodology is based on comparison of actual recorded data generated by Velodyne VLP-16 LiDAR and virtually generated data by the virtual LiDAR sensor model. The validation proves that the in case of static scenarios, the virtual lidar sensor model is 99 % accurate in measuring the range to the object. Although there is slight deviation from the actual value, it is in the acceptable limits.

Pilotage and Tugboat Operation Interface Safety

Pilotage and Tugboat Operation Interface Safety

A numerical tool for assessing human thermal safety and thermal comfort in cold-weather activities.

This paper describes a newly developed software tool to evaluate human thermal safety and thermal comfort in cold-weather activities aimed at guiding users to arrange activity plans and select appropriate clothing ensembles. The software inputs include conditions of activity, environment, human body, and clothing ensemble. It outputs physiological temperatures, cold injury risks, thermal sensations, and thermal comforts in intuitive ways like cloud maps and curves. The software tool is characterized by (1) integration of a thermoregulatory model that predicts human thermophysiological responses under exercise conditions in cold environments, (2) the functions of clothing ensemble database and individual parameter database, (3) the human centric outputs that directly reflect human physiological and mental status, and (4) the user-friendly operation interface and output interface, as well as a wide applicability. The software is validated with human test studies covering ambient temperatures from - 30.6 to 5°C, clothing ensembles from 1.34 to 3.20 clo, and activity intensities from 2 to 9 Mets. The average prediction RMSEs of core temperature, mean skin temperature, thermal sensation, and thermal comfort are 0.16°C, 0.45°C, 0.58, and 1.41, respectively. The software is an advanced expansion to current standards and guidance of cold exposure assessment and a meaningful tool for the fields of occupational health care, cold protection, and environmental ergonomics.

Environmental hazard quantification toolkit based on modular numerical simulations

Abstract. Quantifying impacts on the environment and human health is a critical requirement for geological subsurface utilisation projects. In practice, an easily accessible interface for operators and regulators is needed so that risks can be monitored, managed, and mitigated. The primary goal of this work was to create an environmental hazards quantification toolkit as part of a risk assessment for in-situ coal conversion at two European study areas: the Kardia lignite mine in Greece and the Máza-Váralja hard coal deposit in Hungary, with complex geological settings. A substantial rock volume is extracted during this operation, and a contaminant pool is potentially left behind, which may put the freshwater aquifers and existing infrastructure at the surface at risk. The data-driven, predictive tool is outlined exemplary in this paper for the Kardia contaminant transport model. Three input parameters were varied in a previous scenario analysis: the hydraulic conductivity, as well as the solute dispersivity and retardation coefficient. Numerical models are computationally intensive, so the number of simulations that can be performed for scenario analyses is limited. The presented approach overcomes these limitations by instead using surrogate models to determine the probability and severity of each hazard. Different surrogates based on look-up tables or machine learning algorithms were tested for their simplicity, goodness of fit, and efficiency. The best performing surrogate was then used to develop an interactive dashboard for visualising the hazard probability distributions. The machine learning surrogates performed best on the data with coefficients of determination R2>0.98, and were able to make the predictions quasi-instantaneously. The retardation coefficient was identified as the most influential parameter, which was also visualised using the toolkit dashboard. It showed that the median values for the contaminant concentrations in the nearby aquifer varied by five orders of magnitude depending on whether the lower or upper retardation range was chosen. The flexibility of this approach to update parameter uncertainties as needed can significantly increase the quality of predictions and the value of risk assessments. In principle, this newly developed tool can be used as a basis for similar hazard quantification activities.

Measurement of methane, nitrous oxide and ammonia in atmosphere with a compact quartz-enhanced photoacoustic sensor

We demonstrated a 19-inches 6U-rack sensing system based on quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy for simultaneous detection of methane, nitrous oxide, and ammonia in atmosphere. The system embeds two detection modules, each one equipped with a quantum cascade laser as light source and a spectrophone composed of a T-shaped quartz tuning fork coupled with acoustic resonator tubes. The sensing system results compact, lightweight, and portable, with a computer interface for an easy end-user operation. The calibration was performed in laboratory environment with certified concentrations. Because of the NH3 large and permanent dipole moment, ammonia QEPAS signal was used to model and characterize adsorption/desorption processes, for an accurate and reliable sensor calibration. At 0.1 s signal integration time, detection limits of 28 ppb, 9 ppb, and 6 ppb were obtained for CH4, N2O, and NH3, respectively. Since these detection limits were well below the natural abundance of the three analytes in atmosphere, the sensor was employed to monitor CH4, N2O, and NH3 concentrations in laboratory air.