Comparing Ecologically Constrained and Conventional Displays in Control of a Simple Steam Plant

Abstract

Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) are becoming increasingly common for application software in process control. Conventional interfaces display the states of a system without conveying the constraints which drastically reduce the evolutions which must be considered. Our model resolves this difficulty by presenting system parameters in the context of ecological constraints mirroring those of the underlying process. A simulation of a simple steam plant with five different GUIs was used. The displays were a conventional Dials display, a Mimic display, an Object display, a Seesaw analogue, and a Fluidtank analogue. Poor over-all performance in maintaining specified values was found for the Seesaw and the Object displays. The Dials and the Mimic displays performed similarly but with greater accuracy. The best control was observed in the experimental Fluidtanks display. These Findings are consistent with our hypotheses.