A General Methodology for Adapting Industrial HMIs to Human Operators

Modern production systems are becoming more and more complex to comply with diversified market needs, flexible production, and competitiveness. Despite technological progress, the presence of human operators is still fundamental in production plants, since they have the important role of supervising and monitoring processes, by interacting with such complex machines. The complexity of machines implies an increased complexity of human-machine interfaces (HMIs), which are the main point of contact between the operator and the machine. Thus, HMIs cannot be considered anymore an accessory to the machine and their improvement has become an important part of the design of the whole machines, to enable a nonstressful interaction and make them easy to also use less skilled operators. In this article, we present a general framework for the design of HMIs that adapt to the skills and capabilities of the operator, with the ultimate aim of enabling a smooth and efficient interaction and improving user's situation awareness. Adaptation is achieved by considering three different levels: Perception (i.e., how information is presented), cognition (i.e., what information is presented), and interaction (i.e., how interaction is enabled). For each level, general guidelines for adaptation are provided, thus defining a meta-HMI independent of the application. Finally, some examples of how the proposed adaptation patterns can be applied to the case of procedural and extraordinary maintenance tasks are presented. Note to Practitioners-This article was motivated by the problem of facilitating the interaction of human operators with human-machine interfaces (HMIs) of complex industrial systems. Standard industrial HMIs are static and do not consider the user's characteristics. As a consequence, least-skilled operators are prevented from their use and/or have poor performance. In this article, we suggest a novel methodology to the design of adaptive industrial HMIs that adapt to the skills and capabilities of operators and compensate their limitations (e.g., due to age or inexperience). In particular, we propose a methodological framework that consists of general rules to accommodate the user's characteristics. Adaptation is achieved at three different levels: Perception (i.e., how information is presented), cognition (i.e., what information is presented), and interaction (i.e., how interaction is enabled). The presented rules are independent of the target application. Nevertheless, we establish a relationship between such design rules and user's impairments and capabilities and kind of working tasks. Hence, designers of HMIs are called to instantiate them considering the specific requirements and characteristics of the users and the working tasks of the application at hand

Model-based training of manual procedures in automated production systems

Maintenance engineers deal with increasingly complex automated production systems (aPSs). Such systems are characterized by an increasing computerization or the addition of robots that collaborate with human workers. The effects of changing or replacing components of such systems are difficult to assess since there are complex interdependencies between process parameters and the state of the components. This paper proposes a model-based training system that visualizes these interdependencies using domain-independent SysML models. The training system consists of a virtual training system for initial training and an online support system for assistance during maintenance or changeover procedures. Both systems use structural SysML models to visualize the state of the machine at a certain step of a procedure. An evaluation of the system in a changeover procedure against a paper-based manual showed promising results regarding effectiveness, usability and attractiveness.Comment: 25 pages, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S095741581830080

An Adaptive Virtual Training System Based on Universal Design

The increasing complexity of manufacturing environments requires effective training systems to prepare the operation personnel for their tasks. Several training systems have been proposed. A common approach is the application of virtual environments to train interactions with an industrial machine in a safe, attractive, and efficient way. However, these training systems cannot adapt to the requirements of an increasingly diversified workforce. This paper introduces an approach for the design of an adaptive virtual training system based on the idea of universal design. The system is based on a two-step approach that consists of an initial adaptation to the user capabilities and real-time adaptations during training based on measurements of the user. The adaptations concern the use of different representations of lessons with different complexity and interaction modalities. The proposed approach provides a flexible training system that can adapt to the needs of a broad group of users

Adaptive virtuelle Trainingssysteme für industrielle Wartungs- und Umrüstprozeduren

To address the impact of societal transformations, such as demographic change or the shortage of skilled workers, in manufacturing environments, an approach for the adaptation of virtual training systems to the characteristics of the trainee is introduced. Adaptations are defined based on a classification scheme that describes adaptive aspects of training systems, such as the interaction techniques. Adaptations to senior and apprentices were developed and validated in empirical evaluations. Expert interviews and a cost-benefit analysis address the organizational perspective.Um den Auswirkungen gesellschaftlicher Transformationsprozesse, wie zum Beispiel dem demographischen Wandel oder dem Fachkräftemangel, in Fabrikumgebungen zu begegnen, wird ein Ansatz zur Entwicklung adaptiver virtueller Trainingssysteme vorgestellt, um diese an die Eigenschaften der Trainierenden anzupassen. Die Adaptionen werden auf Grundlage eines Klassifikationsschemas zur Beschreibung der anpassbaren Aspekte, zum Beispiel der Interaktionstechniken, beschrieben. Die Adaptionen wurden durch Studien mit Senioren und Auszubildenden validiert

Adaptive virtuelle Trainingssysteme für industrielle Wartungs- und Umrüstprozeduren

To address the impact of societal transformations, such as demographic change or the shortage of skilled workers, in manufacturing environments, an approach for the adaptation of virtual training systems to the characteristics of the trainee is introduced. Adaptations are defined based on a classification scheme that describes adaptive aspects of training systems, such as the interaction techniques. Adaptations to senior and apprentices were developed and validated in empirical evaluations. Expert interviews and a cost-benefit analysis address the organizational perspective.Um den Auswirkungen gesellschaftlicher Transformationsprozesse, wie zum Beispiel dem demographischen Wandel oder dem Fachkräftemangel, in Fabrikumgebungen zu begegnen, wird ein Ansatz zur Entwicklung adaptiver virtueller Trainingssysteme vorgestellt, um diese an die Eigenschaften der Trainierenden anzupassen. Die Adaptionen werden auf Grundlage eines Klassifikationsschemas zur Beschreibung der anpassbaren Aspekte, zum Beispiel der Interaktionstechniken, beschrieben. Die Adaptionen wurden durch Studien mit Senioren und Auszubildenden validiert

Adaptive virtuelle Trainingssysteme für industrielle Wartungs- und Umrüstprozeduren

To address the impact of societal transformations, such as demographic change or the shortage of skilled workers, in manufacturing environments, an approach for the adaptation of virtual training systems to the characteristics of the trainee is introduced. Adaptations are defined based on a classification scheme that describes adaptive aspects of training systems, such as the interaction techniques. Adaptations to senior and apprentices were developed and validated in empirical evaluations. Expert interviews and a cost-benefit analysis address the organizational perspective.Um den Auswirkungen gesellschaftlicher Transformationsprozesse, wie zum Beispiel dem demographischen Wandel oder dem Fachkräftemangel, in Fabrikumgebungen zu begegnen, wird ein Ansatz zur Entwicklung adaptiver virtueller Trainingssysteme vorgestellt, um diese an die Eigenschaften der Trainierenden anzupassen. Die Adaptionen werden auf Grundlage eines Klassifikationsschemas zur Beschreibung der anpassbaren Aspekte, zum Beispiel der Interaktionstechniken, beschrieben. Die Adaptionen wurden durch Studien mit Senioren und Auszubildenden validiert

The Thumbs Up! Twente system for GIVE 2.5

This paper describes the Thumbs Up! Twente system, a natural language generation system designed for the GIVE 2.5 Challenge. The purpose of the system is to guide a user through a virtual 3D environment by generating instructions in real-time. Our system focuses on motivating the user to keep him playing the game and trying to find the trophy