Abstract

This chapter discusses man-machine interface. PLC has to “connect” to human operators, accepting commands from them and displaying the status of the plant in a form that can readily and easily be understood. A digital display driven in BCD normally uses one of the unused binary codes, 1010 to 1111, to generate a blank display. Simple digital inputs (pushbuttons, joysticks, switches) are normally allocated one input per motion and do not require anything particularly special. Concerning PLC with analog signals, flows, temperatures, pressures, etc., these will usually be displayed to the operator. A graphics terminal has just two connections to the outside world, a serial link connection and a power supply. The Allen Bradley Panelview family was designed to replace switches, pushbuttons, numeric displays, and similar devices. The Panelview built up a graphics screen with semigraphic characters placed on a screen with a “pick and place” menu approach. Siemens provides a vast range of operator terminals from simple text-only message displays to complete computer-based Scada systems. One major advantage of graphical displays is that mistakes can be rectified without leaving scars, albeit at some cost. The operator will need to input data and initiate actions. Where a simple text message is to be displayed, possibly with embedded data, message displays driven by a simple serial link carrying ASCII coded characters can be used. PCs have much better graphics capability than the average PLC, so it is not surprising that PCs are increasingly being used as the link between humans and PLC systems. Document type: Part of book or chapter of book

Abstract

Many industries have been transformed by the provision of service solutions characterised by personalisation and customisation - most dramatically the development of the iPhone. Personalisation and customisation stand to make an impact on cars and mobility in comparable ways. The automobile industry has a major role to play in this change, with moves towards electric vehicles, auton-omous cars, and car sharing as a service. These developments are likely to bring disruptive changes to the business of car manufacturers as well as to drivers. However, in the automobile industry, both the user's preferences and demands and also safety issues need to be confronted since the frequent use of different makes and models of cars, implied by car sharing, entails several risks due to variations in car controls depending on the manufacturer. Two constituencies, in particular, are likely to experience even more difficulties than they already do at present, namely older people and those with capability variations. To overcome these challenges, and as a means to empower a wide car user base, the paper here presents a basic concept of an intelligent driver profiling system for cars: the sys-tem would enable various car characteristics to be tailored according to individual driver-dependent profiles. It is intended that wherever possible the system will personalise the characteristics of individual car components; where this is not possible, however, an initial customisation will be performed. Document type: Part of book or chapter of book

Abstract

The runway configuration is the set of the runways at an airport that are used for arrivals and departures at any time. While many factors, including weather, expected demand, environmental considerations, and coordination of flows with neighboring airports, influence the choice of runway configuration, the actual selection decision is made by air traffic controllers in the airport tower. As a result, the capacity of an airport at any time is dependent on the behavior of human decision makers. This paper develops a statistical model to characterize the configuration selection decision process using empirical observations. The proposed approach, based on the discrete-choice modeling framework, identifies the influence of various factors in terms of the utility function of the decision maker. The parameters of the utility functions are estimated through likelihood maximization. Correlations between different alternatives are captured using a multinomial “nested logit” model. A key novelty of this study is the quantitative assessment of the effect of inertia, or the resistance to configuration changes, on the configuration selection process. The developed models are used to predict the runway configuration 3 h ahead of time, given operating conditions such as wind, visibility, and demand. Case studies based on data from Newark (EWR) and LaGuardia (LGA) airports show that the proposed model predicts runway configuration choices significantly better than a baseline model that only considers the historical frequencies of occurrence of different configurations. National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant 1239054) Document type: Article

Abstract

The evaluation of driver's steering comfort, which is mainly concerned with the haptic driver–vehicle interaction, is important for the optimization of advanced driver assistance systems. The current approaches to investigating steering comfort are mainly based on the driver's subjective evaluation, which is time-consuming, expensive, and easily influenced by individual variations. This paper makes some tentative investigation of objective evaluation, which is based on the electromyogram (EMG) and movement trajectory of the driver's upper limbs during steering maneuvers. First, a steering experiment with 21 subjects is conducted, and EMG and movement trajectories of the driver's upper limbs are measured, together with their subjective evaluation of steering comfort. Second, five evaluation indices including EMG and movement information are defined based on the measurements from the first step. Correlation analyses are conducted between each evaluation index and steering comfort rating (SCR), and the results show that all of the indices have significant correlations with SCR. Then, an artificial neural network model is devised based on the aforementioned indices and its predicting performance of SCR is demonstrated as acceptable. The results reveal that it may be feasible to establish an objective evaluation approach for vehicle steering comfort. Document type: Article

Abstract

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13437-018-0143-6 This contribution investigates the economic benefits of using weather ship routing on Short Sea Shipping (SSS) activities. The investigation is supported with the development of a ship routing system based on pathfinding algorithm, the parametrization of the wave effect on navigation, and the use of high-resolution meteo-oceanographic predictions. The optimal ship routing analysis is investigated in a European SSS system: the link between Spanish and Italian ports. The results show the economic benefits using ship routing in SSS during energetic wave episodes. The rate of cost savings may reach 18% of the total costs under particular bad weather conditions in the navigation area. The work establishes the basis of further developments in optimal route applied in relatively short distances and its systematic use in the SSS maritime industry. Peer Reviewed Document type: Article

Abstract

The Swedish code concerning car drivers’ responsibility to give way to pedestrians was strengthened in 2000. The primary aim of this study is to evaluate the short-term effects of the change in code. Another goal is to look at the effects of the reconstruction of four sites in Borås, Sweden. One site had changes made prior to the change of code, two test sites had countermeasures implemented during the study, and one comparison site was left unchanged. All the sites were chosen because schools were situated nearby. The focus of the evaluation was on children and elderly as pedestrians and cyclists."br/""br/"The goal of traffic calming of a 90 percentile driving speed below 30 km/h was not fulfilled at any of the test sites. A conclusion is that the height of a speed cushion is important. After the speed cushions were lowered from 70 mm to 55 mm, the 90 percentile speed increased from 34 km/h to 41 km/h. Sites with no speed cushions had much higher speeds."br/""br/"The design of an intersection influences road users’ behavior. At the site where one crosswalk was removed, pedestrians that were using the remaining marked crosswalk were given way to less frequently than at the other sites. At intersections where most pedestrians used marked crosswalks, the children benefited the most in mobility. At the intersection where pedestrians used marked crosswalks to a lower extent after reconstruction, children and the elderly had the smallest increase in frequency of being given way to. After reconstruction to a court-yard street, the pedestrians were given way to a lower extent compared with the other sites, though the vehicle speeds were the lowest observed at this study. At the sites were no physical changes were made, the change of code improved driver yield behavior, but no more towards children than other age groups.

Abstract

The European Road E12 through the community center of Storuman, Sweden was reconstructed in 1999 and 2000. Pedestrian walkways, traffic islands, chicanes of a type referred to as “Danish buns”, a roundabout and a two-directional cycle track along the E12 were installed. The purpose of the reconstruction was to improve safety for pedestrians and bicyclists, primarily for children, the elderly and the disabled, and to reduce the barrier effect of the E12 thoroughfare. In May 2000, the code governing the conduct of drivers at marked crosswalks in Sweden became stricter to improve safety and mobility for pedestrians. The combined effect of reconstructions and change of code was analyzed. Traffic behavior was studied at the intersection where the roundabout was constructed. Yield behavior towards pedestrians changed significantly. The difference was even greater with respect to yielding to child bicyclists – from 6% before to 84% after – even though the code change only related to pedestrians. Crash data analysis suggests a minor increase in fall injuries after reconstructions and change of code. Measures of speed, behavioral studies, questionnaires, face-to-face interviews and crash data analysis suggest that safety has increased not only along the E12 but also along adjacent roads. The final conclusion is that a bypass is not needed in a case like Storuman. Traffic calming of the main arterial through the town seems sufficient."br/""br

Abstract

Due to their disproportional representation in fatal crashes, younger and older drivers both stand to benefit from in-vehicle safety technologies, yet little is known about how they value such technologies, or their willingness to adopt them. The current study investigated older (aged 65 and greater; N = 49) and younger (ages 18-23; N = 40) adults’ valuation of a blind spot monitor and asked if self-reported visual difficulties while driving predicted the amount participants were willing to pay for a particular system (BMW's Active Blind Spot Detection System) that was demonstrated using a short video. Large and small anchor values ($250 and $500, respectively) were used as between subjects manipulations to examine the effects of initial valuation, and participants proceeded through a short staircase procedure that offered them either the free installation of the system on their current vehicle or a monetary prize ($25-$950) that changed in value according to which option they had selected in the previous step of the staircase procedure. Willingness to use other advanced driver assistance systems (lane-departure warning, automatic lane centering, emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, and self-parking systems) was also analyzed, additionally controlling for prior familiarity of those systems. Results showed that increased age was associated with a higher valuation for the Active Blind Spot Detection System in both the large and small anchor value conditions controlling for income, gender, and technology self-efficacy. Older adults valued blind spot detection about twice as much ($762) as younger adults ($383) in the large anchor condition, though both groups’ values were in the range for the current cost of an aftermarket system. Similarly, age was the most robust positive predictor of willingness to adopt other driving technologies, along with system familiarity. Difficulties with driving-related visual factors also positively predicting acceptance levels for adaptive cruise control and emergency braking systems. Results are discussed in comparison to older adults’ willingness to pay for other home-based assistive technologies aimed at improving well-being and independence.

Abstract

In May 2000, the Swedish code governing the conduct of drivers at marked crosswalks became stricter with the intent to improve safety and mobility for pedestrians. A crash analysis based on a macro study of all of Sweden suggests that the injury risk in marked, not reconstructed, crosswalks increased by 27% for pedestrians and 19% for bicyclists. The reason for this may be that pedestrians get a false sense of safety with the new code. Reconstructions aiming at lowering speeds are indeed needed for the change of code to be positive. The 90-percentile speed should not exceed 30 km/h or safety will deteriorate."br/""br/"However, low speed by itself may not guarantee optimal safety. Safety can be further improved at sites, which already have been reconstructed to ensure low speeds. Results based on field data collected at sites close to schools in Malmö, Trollhättan and Borås in Sweden, and in-depth studies and other analyses of Finnish and Swedish police-reported crashes, suggest that safety of children and elderly is further improved at sites where visibility, orientation and clarity are sufficient. Also, marking crosswalks may increase yield rates (expected improvement 6%) towards pedestrians; and speed cushions situated at a longer distance from the marked crosswalk increase yield rates towards pedestrians and cyclists compared to speed cushions closer by.

Abstract

Mental workload (MWL) is one of the most widely used concepts in ergonomics and human factors and represents a topic of increasing importance. Since modern technology in many working environments imposes ever more cognitive demands upon operators while physical demands diminish, understanding how MWL impinges on performance is increasingly critical. Yet, MWL is also one of the most nebulous concepts, with numerous definitions and dimensions associated with it. Moreover, MWL research has had a tendency to focus on complex, often safety-critical systems (e.g. transport, process control). Here we provide a general overview of the current state of affairs regarding the understanding, measurement and application of MWL in the design of complex systems over the last three decades. We conclude by discussing contemporary challenges for applied research, such as the interaction between cognitive workload and physical workload, and the quantification of workload ‘redlines’ which specify when operators are approaching or exceeding their performance tolerances.