Title
Change detection support for supervisory controllers of highly automated systems: Effects on performance, mental workload, and recovery of situation awareness following interruptions
Author
van der Kleij, R.
Hueting, T.F.
Schraagen, J.M.C.
Publication year
2018
Abstract
Dynamic Positioning (DP) is a computer-controlled process to automatically keep a floating vessel at a specific position or to follow a pre-defined path (tracking) by using its own propellers and thrusters. The human supervisory controller has no direct need to constantly know what the status is of all parts of the automation and the system it is controlling, because the highly automated DPS is controlling all components itself. Only after a failure arises, the operator needs to take over manual control and take appropriate action(s) to prevent the failure from harming the operation. As the supervisory controller may be out of the loop, swiftly taking over control may be problematic when failures arise. The purpose of the current study was to investigate whether automation of change detection enables human operators with low awareness of the automation and the system it is controlling to quickly recover awareness in emergency take-over situations. A 2 by 2 within subjects experiment was conducted using a DP simulation (n = 22). Within-subjects factors were support (Yes, No) and interruption (Yes, No). Results showed that change detection support helps in the process of recovering situation awareness after it has been reduced, due to an interruption of the primary task of overseeing the automation. Interestingly, support was not beneficial to the participants in all conditions. In non-interrupted conditions the support unexpectedly resulted in higher workload, raising questions whether supervisory controllers should be supported continuously or only when it is required. Relevance to industry: The results show that change detection support has potential value in operational maritime environments, especially in situations where the DP operator has low situation awareness. Future research should investigate whether adaptive aiding could alleviate some of the negative effects of non-adaptive operator support in maritime environments. © 2018
Subject
Dynamic positioning
Human-automation collaboration
Management-by-exception
Out-of-the-loop (OOTL) performance problem
Situation Awareness Recovery (SAR)
Automation
Controllers
Recovery
Sailing vessels
Adaptive operators
Automated systems
Controlled process
Maritime environment
Performance problems
Situation awareness
Supervisory controllers
Process control
Adult
Automation
Change detection support
Computer simulation
decision making
Dynamic positioning system
Ergonomics
Female
Human
Human computer interaction
Human experiment
Human supervisory controller
Information processing
Male
Management
Mental workload
Priority journal
Dupervised machine learning
Task performance
Work environment
Workload
To reference this document use:
http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:b9947eda-c736-4866-859e-7543558cbaa1
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ergon.2018.02.010
TNO identifier
787794
ISSN
0169-8141
Source
International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, 66, 75-84
Document type
article