Can you increase automation without leaving the operator behind?

NEWSLETTER ARTICLE

Two recently published studies examined the impact of increasing levels of automation. The first highlighted some of the problems increasing automation has created with regard to human performance, including:

1. Reductions in operators’ understanding of a task and their ability to anticipate future task events (situation awareness) due to automation-induced complacency
2. Reductions in operators’ ability to regain manual control after automation use (Tatasciore, M , Bowden, V., Visser, T. , Michailovs, S., and Loft, S. “The Benefits and Costs of Low and High Degree of Automation”, Human Factors, Vol. 62, No. 6, September 2020, pp. 874–896)

A design principle intended to combat the negative effects of increasing automation is that of Automation Transparency. This entails making directly observable the responsibilities, capabilities, goals, activities, and/or effects of automation. Researchers from the Institute of Energy Technology and the University of Toronto tested the Automation Transparency principle to determine if it did improve performance with high levels of automation (Skraaning, G., and Jamieson, G., “Human Performance Benefits of The Automation Transparency Design Principle: Validation and Variation”, Human Factors Vol. 63, No. 3, May 2021, pp. 379–401). Displays with a high level of transparency were tested against traditional graphics in a full-scope nuclear power plant simulator under three different conditions. Two of the conditions involved failures in the automatic actions taken at the component level (e.g., controllers, interlocks, programed sequences). The third condition involved automation of plant-wide procedures (i.e., start-up).

The benefits of using the transparency principle were pronounced for the two experiments with automation at the component level. The operators consistently: 

1. Responded to disturbances more quickly
2. Exhibited superior task performance
3. Reported better interaction with the automation
4. Experienced lower workload

The results of the third experiment did not show such performance improvements. A variety of potential reasons why, including the different nature of the task, were discussed.

The automation transparency principle clearly should be utilized for automation at the component level. This would apply to the use of such systems as safe-park, where the unit is automatically brought to a safe state in response to process upsets. 

Note: The Center for Operator Performance currently is funding a project at Lamar University to quantify skill decline when using advanced process control. For more information, go to www.operatorperformance.org. 

Copyright 2022 Beville Operator Performance Specialists, Inc., All Rights Reserved