Journal articles on the topic 'Automated operator's workplace'

Continuous improvement of the fleet of technological equipment, in the conditions of existing production, is a difficult task, the solution of which must take into account many parameters, such as mechanization, automation and application of new technologies within the concept of Industry 4.0. One of the effective methods of improving the technical and economic indicators and reliability of production is the modernization of existing technological equipment, which is based on the need to use modern methods of development and implementation of information technology, such as Industrial Internet of Things, cyber-physical production systems. The subject of this study is the testing of methods for developing additive cyber design for automation of complex industrial equipment. The goal of this article is to develop a cyber-physical production control system for the modernization of the DA2238B hydraulic press. To achieve this goal it is necessary to solve the following tasks: to analyze the technical characteristics and control system of the hydraulic press DA2238B; to carry out research of the scheme of hydraulic basic and, taking it into account, to choose sensors and executive mechanisms, and also operating modes; to develop the scheme of inclusion of the hydro equipment; to develop an automated control system based on a modern single-board computer and to develop an intuitive additive cyber-design of the operator interface; to conduct experimental research. Conclusions: as a result of research, a block diagram was developed and an automated control system based on LattePanda was implemented. Selected pressure and temperature sensors for control of pressing processes, which allowed to ensure accurate compliance with the requirements of the technological process. An automated operator's workplace has been developed, in which touch control based on additive cyber-design has been implemented. The developed control system provides: collection and analysis of production data on the basis of which it is possible to improve production technology and to provide forecasting of achievement "Lean Manufacturing".

An analysis is made of the methods for organizing automated workstations of control vehicles from the complex of automated control tools with serial and parallel switching on of control panels of intelligence tools. Structural models of the reliability of workstations have been compiled. The results of the reliability calculation showed that with parallel connection, reliability increases by 1.79 times. It was revealed that for the practical implementation of parallel connection of control panels, it is necessary to improve the algorithm of their work. The improvement consists in the implementation in the control panel of the newly introduced function of restricting access for operators of automated workstations to reconnaissance equipment of control machines. The proposed access control algorithm is developed with full preservation of the functionality of existing control panels.

Recent advances in technology have empowered the widespread application of cyber–physical systems in manufacturing and fostered the Industry 4.0 paradigm. In the factories of the future, it is possible that all items, including operators, will be equipped with integrated communication and data processing capabilities. Operators can become part of the smart manufacturing systems, and this fosters a paradigm shift from independent automated and human activities to human–cyber–physical systems (HCPSs). In this context, a Healthy Operator 4.0 (HO4.0) concept was proposed, based on a systemic view of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and wearable technology. For the implementation of this relatively new concept, we constructed a unified architecture to support the integration of different enabling technologies. We designed an implementation model to facilitate the practical application of this concept in industry. The main enabling technologies of the model are introduced afterward. In addition, a prototype system was developed, and relevant experiments were conducted to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed system architecture and the implementation framework, as well as some of the derived benefits.

Introduction. The article analyzes and selects the most rational methods for calculating the heat gain from solar radiation. The correct calculation of this component of the heat balance allows you to correctly determine the power of the projected cabin climate system, which will ensure optimal working conditions at the workplace of mobile car operators. Problem Statement. The objective of this study is to analyze and select a rational method for calculating heat gain from solar radiation for the correct determination of the thermal load on the climate system of the cabin of a mobile car. Theoretical Part. To implement the task, the most common methods for calculating solar radiation were described and analyzed in detail and the most accurate ones were recommended. Conclusions. The more labor-intensive method of V.N. Bogoslovskiy (taking into account the time of day) can be recommended for automated calculations in Excel, and the method of P.Y. Gamburg (taking into account the sides of the horizon) — for comparative estimated engineering calculations. When conducting "in-depth" model calculations and accounting for solar radiation, the ASHRAE method is explicitly suitable, which has two important advantages: it takes into account the solar factor in relation to a specific type of glazing and is adapted for automated calculations in ANSYS FLUENT.

Remote operation bears the potential to roll out highly automated vehicles (AVs, SAE Level 4) more safely and quickly. Moreover, legal regulations on highly automated driving, e.g., the current law on highly automated driving (SAE Level 4) in Germany, permit a remote supervisor to monitor and intervene in driving operations remotely in lieu of a safety operator on board AVs. In order to derive requirements for safe and effective remote driving and remote assistance of AVs and to create suitable human-centered design solutions for human-machine interfaces (HMIs) that serve this purpose, a set of 74 core scenarios that are likely to occur in public transport AVs under remote operation was compiled. The scenarios were collected in several projects on the remote operation of AVs across a variety of contexts including interviews with and observations of control center staff, video analyses from naturalistic road events, and interviews with safety operators of AVs. A hierarchical system that is based on interactions of central actors was used to structure the scenarios. The set explicates relevant cases in remote operation, which may help improve workplaces for remote operation both by combatting human factors issues such as distraction and fatigue, and by boosting usability, user experience, trust, and acceptance. As the catalogue of scenarios is not exhaustive, scenarios may be added as knowledge of the remote operation of AVs progresses. Further research is needed to validate and adapt the scenarios to specific conceptualizations of remote operations.

Remote operation bears the potential to roll out highly automated vehicles (AVs, SAE Level 4) more safely and quickly. Moreover, legal regulations on highly automated driving, e.g., the current law on highly automated driving (SAE Level 4) in Germany, permit a remote supervisor to monitor and intervene in driving operations remotely in lieu of a safety operator on board AVs. In order to derive requirements for safe and effective remote driving and remote assistance of AVs and to create suitable human-centered design solutions for human-machine interfaces (HMIs) that serve this purpose, a set of 74 core scenarios that are likely to occur in public transport AVs under remote operation was compiled. The scenarios were collected in several projects on the remote operation of AVs across a variety of contexts including interviews with and observations of control center staff, video analyses from naturalistic road events, and interviews with safety operators of AVs. A hierarchical system that is based on interactions of central actors was used to structure the scenarios. The set explicates relevant cases in remote operation, which may help improve workplaces for remote operation both by combatting human factors issues such as distraction and fatigue, and by boosting usability, user experience, trust, and acceptance. As the catalogue of scenarios is not exhaustive, scenarios may be added as knowledge of the remote operation of AVs progresses. Further research is needed to validate and adapt the scenarios to specific conceptualizations of remote operations.

Urgency of the research. One of the top trends in the field of mechanical engineering is automation. An inherent part of automation in today's businesses is industrial robots of various categories. In today's industrial production, human and robot are usually separated from each other in order to avoid potential collisions. Continuous development and the growing trend of robotics, in order to increase competitiveness, abandons this individual and isolated robot deployment and prevents group-building of human-robot workplaces. Target setting. The reason for designing industrial robots with capacity around 5-10kg according to human anatomy is that the transition from semi-automated production (operating lines controlled by operators) to fully automated production requires industrial robots that have dimensions similar to human anatomy. Actual scientific researches and issues analysis. The current production of robot devices reaches a high technical level, which is further enhanced by the continued development of their subsystems, but also by the upgrading of functional principles and elements that are involved in the architecture and morphology of these devices. The research objective. To what extent is it possible for the work process to be mechanized or automated depends also on the level of development of the used equipment. In today's development stage, design of automated device is also automated. The statement of basic materials: From the point of view of approaching the design of robots systems means a common sign is a mechatronic approach. Robots technical devices are a typical product with all the features of mechatronics (linking knowledge of engineering, management methods and artificial intelligence). This becomes the starting point for the elaboration of the methods of designing robots at all. Conclusions. This article focuses on the design of the robotics devices, whose main task is to perform the assembly. The future of deploying human-robot collaboration has enormous boundaries and many variables that still need to be addressed. It is important to remember that this technology is not about replacing people with robots. Rather, it is about using robust human features and robot strengths to achieve a new level of efficiency and productivity that could not be achieved by self-employment.

Automation that supports our workplaces is intended to relieve the requirement for humans to control tasks, as a way to reduce operator workload and maximize system capacity. Researchers have long recognized the potential costs associated with automation. These costs include the loss of an operator’s understanding of a task and an inability to anticipate future task events ( situation awareness; SA; Endsley, 1995) that can occur due to automation induced complacency (Parasuraman, Molloy, & Singh, 1993), and the subsequent lack of ability to regain manual control after automation (Kaber & Endsley, 2004). These costs to automation are more likely to occur when the degree of automation (DOA) increases. DOA has been defined based on whether automation is doing more or less ‘work’ ( levels of automation; Sheridan & Verplank, 1978), and at which of the four stages of human information processing the automation is directed; information acquisition, information analysis, decision selection, and action implementation ( stages of automation; Parasuraman, Sheridan, & Wickens, 2000). As the DOA increases, performance and workload tend to improve. However, SA and return-to-manual performance can decline. Recent research by Chen, Huf, Visser, and Loft (2017) reported that a low DOA had minimal benefits to performance and workload, and also impaired SA and non-automated task performance compared to a manual control condition in a simulated submarine track management task. However, the low DOA did not lead to any return-to-manual deficits when automation was unexpectedly removed. The current study compared the effects of low and high DOA on operator performance, workload, SA, non-automated task performance, and return-to-manual performance in submarine track management. Participants ( N= 122) monitored a tactical display that presented the location and heading of contacts in relation to the Ownship and landmarks, and a ‘waterfall’ display that presented sonar bearings of contacts and how those bearings change with time. Participants performed three tasks: classification, closest point of approach (CPA), and dive. The classification task involved classifying contacts depending on how long they had spent within display regions. The CPA task involved monitoring changes in contact heading to determine their closest point of approach to the Ownship. The dive task involved integrating contact location and heading information to determine when the submarine could safely dive. Automated assistance was provided for the classification and CPA tasks, but not for the dive task. The low DOA condition received information acquisition and analysis support (stages 1 and 2), whereas the high DOA received decision selection support (stage 3). In a mixed design, the between-subjects factor was condition (no automation, high DOA, low DOA) and the within-subjects factor was automation state (routine, automation removal). Participants completed three track management scenarios, and during the last scenario the automation was unexpectedly removed. Firstly, we predicted that a high DOA would have larger benefits to performance and workload compared to a low DOA, but that these benefits might be accompanied by costs to SA, non-automated task performance, and return-to-manual performance. Secondly, we predicted that a low DOA would show minimal benefits to performance and workload, significant costs to SA and non-automated task performance, and no effect on return-to-manual performance when compared to no automation, thus replicating the findings of Chen et al. (2017). The results from this study indicated that relative to the low DOA condition, participants provided with high DOA support had better performance and lower workload, without any further costs to SA, non-automated task performance, or return-to-manual performance. Furthermore, relative to no automation, participants provided with low DOA support only had minor benefits to performance (replicating Chen et al., 2017) and no benefits to workload, and significant costs to SA and non-automated task performance. In summary, the high DOA produced larger benefits to performance and workload than the low DOA, without increasing costs. In light of these results, the automated system that recommended decisions was effectively utilized by operators in the current context, and appeared to be superior to the automated system that supported information acquisition and analysis.

Introduction. The modern stage of development of electronics is characterized by the widespread use of integrated circuits (IC). Assessment of working conditions in a promising, developing production of electronic components with hygienic positions is an urgent task.The aim of the study is to conduct a hygienic assessment of working conditions of workers in the main professions in the production of IC.Materials and methods. Hygienic research conducted at three modern enterprises for the production of chips and semiconductor devices, included the study of the conditions and nature of work of workers in the main professions. 215 chemical analyses for the content of harmful substances were carried out in order to assess the air environment and 270 measurements of the levels of physical factors at 18 workplaces.Results. Findings of hygienic assessment of working conditions for employees engaged in manufacture of microcircuits: operators of chemical processing, precision photolithography (PPL), diffusion processes, vacuum deposition, and IMC assemblers are reported. Based on the analysis of the technological process and the list of materials used and time-study data, the studies of workplace air pollution, sound levels, artificial lighting, microclimate parameters (temperature, humidity, air velocity), working process parameters were carried out. The jobs in which work is characterized by toxic chemicals exposure, precision visual operations using optical instruments during 55% of the shift were singled out. Priority occupational health risk factors for workers employed in modern IMC production and main areas of working environment optimization were revealed.Conclusions. Based on the conducted hygienic studies, musculoskeletal system load combined with visual strain were found to be the priority occupational health risk factors for microcircuit production workers. Manual operations taking up a significant part of the working process and introduction of automated IMC technological processes being insufficient, preventive measures should be aimed at organizing a rational working regime that provides reducing of visual strain and musculoskeletal system load.

This article is focused on the current issue of developing an operator information support system (OISS) for the Novovoronezh NPP II project. One of the main reasons to raise this topic is the MCR operator’s overload with data due to the greatly increased information flows related to the VVER-1200 Process I&C compared to the serially produced VVER-1000 power units. The other important reason, in the authors’ opinion, is the increased volume of existing procedures in hard copy due to the strengthened requirements for their registration and attempts to describe all possible failures and deviations in the programs and plant evolution sheet, which complicates the work on them. In the era of ubiquitous digitalization, the paper procedures can only distract the attention of the operator, who is overloaded with information even without that. The obvious solution is to create a system providing automatic collection and analysis of information. In addition, the functionality of the operator information support system allows the use of operating experience, thus minimizing the impact of the human factor. The lack of knowledge or experience could be especially challenging with procedures being applied infrequently, for example, for starting up and shutting down the unit. The authors consider the development and functionality of interactive procedures and applicable requirements for them. Particular attention is paid to the ergonomics of the workplace and the convenience of operating personnel working with an interactive procedure. Since the transition from the paper version of the programs can cause problems with reading the procedures and, ultimately, lead to the failure of the unit start-up time, the personnel of the operating station were directly involved in the development of the interactive programs. Based on the review results, conclusions were made about the correctness of the approaches in developing the interactive procedures and validated solutions to be disseminated for all routine operations.

The purpose of the study was to analyze the state of satisfaction of the population in the provision of medical services and to observe the changes taking place in this area in connection with the start of the national project “Lean Polyclinic”. The studies were conducted in the form of a questionnaire survey of patients of two medical institutions, namely: the Regional Public Health Institutions “Children’s City Hospital No. 2” and “B. I. Alperovich City Clinical Hospital No. 3”.The material of the study was the responses on paper of the interviewed patients. The average indicators of patient satisfaction with the received medical services were determined by means of statistical calculations. The survey was conducted at the start of the project in May‑July of 2017 and again in October‑December of 2017.Results. The initial survey revealed the presence of such problems as insufficient number of automated workplaces; heavy workload of the doctor when working in the Medical Information System of the Tomsk Region; imperfection of the card filing cabinet; insufficient number of racks for storing outpatient cards, front-office and back-office were located in the same room and did not have a partition, which created noise and interfered with the work of call-center operators; the need to contact the registry to get the outpatient card when the visit was previously assigned; difficult orientation of patients in the clinic; long-term preventive examination of children aged 1 year; mixed flows of healthy and sick patients; and lack of personnel. The repeated survey reflected the changes that occurred in connection with the start of the “Lean Polyclinic” project: the number of detected violations tended to decrease, which indicated the improvement in the quality of services and the improvement in the organization of medical personnel work.Conclusion. Thus, the present study established that the use of lean production technologies contributed to the quality of medical services and it had a beneficial effect on the processes of organizing the work of medical institutions.

The rapid development of information technologies significantly affects all spheres of human activity, and if they are introduced into the training of aviation specialists, it becomes possible to shift the emphasis to the subject of training (trainee) independent work. The intelligent training system "ATC of Tower", which is being developed at the Information Technologies Department of the Flight Academy of the National Aviation University, aims to provide such an opportunity when training an air traffic controller of airport traffic control tower (henceforth Tower controller). For the system to meet modern requirements for intelligent training systems of this kind, it must support the user at the training stage and determine the level of his knowledge at the control stage. The implementation of such functions becomes possible when the current and reference models of the subject of training are implemented into the system. The reference model in the process of system functioning closely interacts with the current model, thereby ensuring the fixation of mistakes made by the trainee. Based on mistakes, the intelligent system forms an individual training trajectory for the subject of training. The implementation of the reference model, which is one of the main tasks of the above-mentioned system development, becomes possible due to the use of the proposed method of forming the trainee reference model, which is discussed in this article. The proposed method consists of several stages, each of which is a systematized set of modified (taking into account the specifics of the subject area) known methods. The method allows one to obtain such components of the reference model of the learning subject as the list of technological operations, the correctness of which must be monitored from the point of view of qualitative and quantitative indicators; the procedure (algorithm) for performing these technological operations, depending on the situation, which is determined by the air and/or ground situation, aircraft performance characteristics, weather conditions, etc.; information flows circulation model at the workplace of a given specialist, as well as reference values of the time spent on each technological operation, which provides the possibility of an objective automatic assessment of the operator's activity of the trainee.

Метою статті є з’ясування особливостей соціально-психологічного забезпечення життєдіяльності жінок в умовах динамічних соціотехнічних систем управління. Методи. За допомогою методів анкетування та структурного моделювання, оцінювання напру-женості психологічних функцій (тест М. Люшера, cоціометрія, увага, мислення, частота серцевих скорочень, тремор, динамометрія) виявлено зміну стомлення, що зростає, під час роботи досліджуваних в умовах динамічних соціотехнічних систем діяльності. Обстежено 500 досліджуваних (оператори, фахівці) у віці від 18 до 46 років (усі жінки) у динамічних автоматизованих системах управління. Як оптимізуючий метод використано довільну психічну саморегуляцію життєдіяльності. Виявлено та скореговано негативні функціональні стани жінок шляхом оволодіння ними навичками саморегуляції (аутотренінг, ідеомоторне тренування). Програма містила вправи-розминки, тренінгові вправи, дискусії, міні-лекції, роботу в парах і малих групах. Опановувалися м’язова релаксація, самонавіювання, активація рефлексивної зони свідомості. Результати. Схарактеризовано соціально-психологічні особливості взаємодії та взаємовпливу компонентів динамічних соціотехнічних систем діяльності. Здійснено психологічний аналіз тен-денцій розвитку таких систем. В емпіричному дослідженні визначено особливості забезпечення життєдіяльності жінок на робочих місцях. Розроблено й апробовано концепцію соціальної підтримки їхньої життєдіяльності. Спрогнозовано роботоздатність жінок і можливі зміни їхнього функціонального стану. Здійснено обґрунтування соціально-психологічного забезпечення розвитку соціотехнічних систем діяльності, яке допоможе подолати негативні наслідки функціонування таких систем і зумовить їх подальший розвиток за нових (ринкових) умов. Перспектива продовження дослідження вбачається в розробленні психологічної теорії оптимізації процесу діяльності жінок у динамічних соціотехнічних системах. Висновки. Проведена дослідницька робота щодо вивчення особливостей життєдіяльності й роботоздатності жінок у динамічних соціотехнічних системах, виявлення прояву їхнього функ-ціонального стану. Розроблено та апробовано структурно-функціональну модель соціально-психо-логічного забезпечення життєдіяльності жінок стосовно наявних стадій діяльності в динамічних соціотехнічних системах. Ключові слова: система, автоматизована діяльність, неперервна інформація, користувачі, психологічна готовність. The purpose of the article is to clarify the features of socio-psychological support of women's lives in a dynamic socio-technical management systems.Methods. Using methods of questionnaires and structural modeling, assessment of psychological and functional stress (M. Luscher test, sociometry, attention, thinking, heart rate, tremor, dynamometry) revealed a change in increasing fatigue in the study of dynamic sociotechnical systems. 500 subjects (operators, specialists) aged 18 to 46 years (all women) in dynamic automated control systems were examined. Arbitrary mental self-regulation of vital activity is used as an optimizing method. Negative functional states of women, tasks by mastering their skills of self-regulation (autotraining, ideomotor training) are revealed and corrected. The program included warm-up exercises, training exercises, discussions, mini-lectures, work in pairs and small groups. Muscle relaxation, self-suggestion, activation of the reflex zone of consciousness were mastered.Results. Socio-psychological features of interaction and mutual influence of components of dynamic sociotechnical systems of activity are characterized. The psychological analysis of tendencies of development of such systems is carried out. The empirical study identified the features of women's livelihoods in the workplace. The concept of social support of their vital activity is developed and tested. The working capacity of women is predicted, and changes in their functional state are possible. The substantiation of social and psychological support of development of sociotechnical systems of activity which will help to overcome negative consequences of functioning of such systems and will lead to their further development under new (market) conditions is carried out.The prospect of continuing the study is seen in the development of psychological theory for optimizing the process of women's activities in dynamic socio-technical systems.Conclusions. Research work has been carried out to study the peculiarities of life and work capacity of women in dynamic socio-technical systems, to identify the manifestation of their functional state. A structural and functional model of social and psychological support of women's life in relation to the existing stages of activity in dynamic socio-technical systems has been developed and tested.Key words: system, automated activity, continuous information, users, psychological readiness

Human-centered artificial intelligence is increasingly deployed in professional workplaces in Industry 4.0 to address various challenges related to the collaboration between the operators and the machines, the augmentation of their capabilities, or the improvement of the quality of their work and life in general. Intelligent systems and autonomous machines need to continuously recognize and follow the professional actions and gestures of the operators in order to collaborate with them and anticipate their trajectories for avoiding potential collisions and accidents. Nevertheless, the recognition of patterns of professional gestures is a very challenging task for both research and the industry. There are various types of human movements that the intelligent systems need to perceive, for example, gestural commands to machines and professional actions with or without the use of tools. Moreover, the interclass and intraclass spatiotemporal variances together with the very limited access to annotated human motion data constitute a major research challenge. In this paper, we introduce the Gesture Operational Model, which describes how gestures are performed based on assumptions that focus on the dynamic association of body entities, their synergies, and their serial and non-serial mediations, as well as their transitioning over time from one state to another. Then, the assumptions of the Gesture Operational Model are translated into a simultaneous equation system for each body entity through State-Space modeling. The coefficients of the equation are computed using the Maximum Likelihood Estimation method. The simulation of the model generates a confidence-bounding box for every entity that describes the tolerance of its spatial variance over time. The contribution of our approach is demonstrated for both recognizing gestures and forecasting human motion trajectories. In recognition, it is combined with continuous Hidden Markov Models to boost the recognition accuracy when the likelihoods are not confident. In forecasting, a motion trajectory can be estimated by taking as minimum input two observations only. The performance of the algorithm has been evaluated using four industrial datasets that contain gestures and actions from a TV assembly line, the glassblowing industry, the gestural commands to Automated Guided Vehicles as well as the Human–Robot Collaboration in the automotive assembly lines. The hybrid approach State-Space and HMMs outperforms standard continuous HMMs and a 3DCNN-based end-to-end deep architecture.