Shifting role for human factors in an ‘unmanned’ era

Human factors practitioners (HFPs) play many different roles in the design, creation, operation and maintenance of engineered systems. Less well known are the methods which are aimed at helping with the early stages of design, which are more systems-oriented and often involve questions of the concept of operation in which the engineered system will be fielded. Emerging from the field of cognitive engineering, these methods, including simulation, cognitive work analysis, cognitive task analyses and hierarchical task analysis, will be important as autonomous systems become increasingly capable. Even the most capable systems will continue to interact with humans, and it is at these interfaces between humans and engineered systems that HFP will continue to be needed. This paper describes recent work to leverage these methods to inform concepts of operation in aviation and space, machine learning algorithms and goal-oriented human–machine collaboration.     

Methods and tools for decision making in engineering design

This paper describes the background to the setting up of the Cambridge Engineering Design Centre. An overview of the design research and applications programme of the Cambridge EDC is given. Four research themes are identified: functional modelling, configuration and manufacturing optimization, materials and process selection, and process interpretation and management. Application areas include aerospace systems, heavy duty vehicles and medical equipment.     

Evaluation

Synthesis and evaluation are the natural driving couple within design work. This is shown by experience as well as by field and laboratory study. Attempts have been made to derive a foundation for evaluation in terms of objectives or procedures. Such attempts range from Aristotle to Hall, the latter arguing for systems engineering. Although he made an apparently comprehensive approach he did not cover some possible sources of insights nor did he make useful suggestions about the application of principles to the detailed work of design. Design has now to deal with even more complex situations and perhaps there should be a policy for evaluation. Possible policies are discussed.     

自我框架对即时、延时决策的影响

目的拓展自我框架的相关研究,重点讨论在即时、延迟水平下,自我框架对风险决策的影响。方法以整群抽样的方式,抽取160名大学男生,随机分为即时决策组与延时决策组,采用亚洲疾病问题改编的自我框架问卷进行评测。结果自我框架对风险决策的影响部分显著,在即时决策组,自我框架情绪语气越积极,被试越容易选择确定性方案(χ2=4.17,P<0.05);当自我框架确定方案比风险方案情绪语气更积极,被试偏好确定性方案(χ2=6.72,P<0.01)。在延时决策组,自我框架对决策无显著影响。结论不同延迟水平下,自我框架对风险决策会产生不同的影响。     

Computer tools for integrated conceptual design

This paper outlines the conceptual design process with reference to the integrated computer-aided design tool known as Schemebuilder, and the related work of the Lancaster University Engineering Design Centre. The aim of the Lancaster EDC is to provide highly integrated support for the rapid creation and evaluation of a wide range of outline design schemes. Particular attention is paid to the design of mechatronic systems and devices.     

救捞工程中的多指标决策方法探讨

建立了基于综合权重的双基点多指标决策模型。分别从主观和客观两个方面来分析评估指标的权重,迭加得到综合权重,并利用它进行相对贴近度分析,从而判断方案的优劣,得到最佳方案,使问题的优化与决策更加科学、合理。以拖带方案的优化决策分析为例,验证了多指标决策模型的可行性,简述了它在救捞工程中的应用方法。     

How the psychological theory of action identification can offer new advances for research in cognitive engineering

We present the psychological theory of action identification as a framework for a more in-depth understanding of a human operator's cognitive activity in the scope of cognitive engineering. A comparison of theoretical models and findings shows that both frameworks are founded on a similar theory of cognitive control based on an ontological viewpoint of means–ends relationships with the proposal that an individual mentally ‘navigates’ or ‘moves’ through a hierarchical arrangement of these relationships. However, whilst cognitive engineering begins the analysis from a viewpoint on affordances coming from the external work domain, the action identification theory starts from a viewpoint on action identities internally attributed to actions by individuals. We show that the conceptual articulation of these two approaches leads to confirming qualitative findings on an agent's cognitive activity and to proposing general cognitive principles that would explain a single agent's mental navigation through the abstraction hierarchy.     

What to do next: Using problem status to determine the course of action

Formal decision support tools are little used in engineering design. This paper explores the reasons for this and presents a method which is tailored to problems characterized by teams of stakeholders with inconsistent views who generate multiple alternatives and criteria, and who work to reach consensus. This method is especially designed to support activity when much of the information is qualitative, immature, and there is a diversity of views. The methodology assists the team in determining which alternative attributes to invest time in refining in their effort to reach consensus. The underlying mathematical structure (a Bayesian model of multi-attribute team decision making) is presented. This model supports team member belief about an alternative's ability to meet a criteria on two dimensions, knowledge and confidence. The methodology forces recording the rationale used to reach the final decision. A running example is used to explain the details.This research has been supported by the National Science Foundation under grant DDM-931996. The opinions in this paper are the authors' and do not reflect the position of the NSF or Oregon State University.     

Conceptual robustness in simultaneous engineering: A formulation in continuous spaces

This paper develops a robust and distributed decision-making procedure for mathematically modeling and computationally supporting simultaneous decision-making by members of an engineering team. The procedure (1) treats variations in the design posed by other members of the design team asconceptual noise; (2) incorporates such noise factors into conceptually robust decision-making; (3) provides preference information to other team members on the variables they control; and (4) determines whether to execute the conceptually robust decision or to wait for further design certainty. While Changet al. (1994) extended Taguchi's approach to such simultaneous decision-making, this paper uses a continuous formulation and discusses the foundations of the procedure in greater detail. The method is demonstrated by a simple distributed design process for a DC motor, and the results are compared with those obtained for the same problem using sequential decision strategies in Krishnanet al. (1991).     

论工程机械造型设计决策的认知与行为

目的帮助项目决策者和设计师更高效、更顺畅地对工程机械造型设计方案进行评判与沟通。方法以中联重科起重机设计决策过程的语言分析为基础,研究决策者和设计师对工程机械产品设计的造型认知,找到认知和语义表达上的差异。结果决策者主要通过主题概念、方案细节、工程工艺构成对工程机械产品的造型进行认知,在决策过程中存在形态认知与造型理解的碎片化现象。结论研究提出在\"决策指标\"和\"预期意象\"之间存在保留式、约束式、启发式3种决策行为及其对应的设计沟通策略。