Abstract
Automation in power and propulsion plants, if not carefully introduced, can be a mixed blessing for the human operator. Instead of enhancing operator performance and alleviating his workload and errors, it may have quite the opposite effect. This is especially true when the information presented to the operator is ambiguous, inadequate, inefficient, or ineffective for the operator to monitor, manage, and maintain the system. To circumvent this potential problem, an “intelligent” display interface (IDI) approach is proposed to maximize the overall performance of the operator-automation system. The approach consists of (1) a repertoire of dynamic situation portrayal techniques to present timely and cognitively-compatible information necessary for the plant operation and (2) an active model-based executive program acting as a knowledge mediator which is capable of ascertaining operator states, the information relevance, causal relationships, and potential usefulness of alternative sensor sources, transmission systems, and display resources. The underlying basis for the approach is that it will provide the display interface with the knowledge of the task states and appropriate focus and response in such a manner that, when coupled with the automated functions, allows it to opportunistically convey and exchange information between the operator and the system, thereby maximizing the overall operator/system performance. This paper describes a generic IDI concept, the elements of IDI features, and suggests that the IDI design concept can provide a coherent human/automation team in the monitoring, management, and maintenance of power/propulsion plants.
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