WorldWideScience

Sample records for human-machine interfaces based

  1. Human-machine interface upgrade

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kropik, M.; Matejka, K.; Sklenka, L.; Chab, V.

    2002-01-01

    The article describes a new human-machine interface that was installed at the VR-1 training reactor. The human-machine interface upgrade was completed in the summer 2001. The interface was designed with respect to functional, ergonomic and aesthetic requirements. The interface is based on a personal computer equipped with two displays. One display enables alphanumeric communication between the reactor operator and the nuclear reactor I and C. The second display is a graphical one. It presents the status of the reactor, principal parameters (as power, period), control rods positions, course of the reactor power. Furthermore, it is possible to set parameters, to show the active core configuration, to perform reactivity calculations, etc. The software for the new human-machine interface was produced with the InTouch developing tool of the Wonder-Ware Company. It is possible to switch the language of the interface between Czech and English because of many foreign students and visitors to the reactor. Microcomputer based communication units with proper software were developed to connect the new human-machine interface with the present reactor I and C. The new human-machine interface at the VR-1 training reactor improves the comfort and safety of the reactor utilisation, facilitates experiments and training, and provides better support for foreign visitors. (orig.)

  2. Layout Design of Human-Machine Interaction Interface of Cabin Based on Cognitive Ergonomics and GA-ACA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Li Deng

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available In order to consider the psychological cognitive characteristics affecting operating comfort and realize the automatic layout design, cognitive ergonomics and GA-ACA (genetic algorithm and ant colony algorithm were introduced into the layout design of human-machine interaction interface. First, from the perspective of cognitive psychology, according to the information processing process, the cognitive model of human-machine interaction interface was established. Then, the human cognitive characteristics were analyzed, and the layout principles of human-machine interaction interface were summarized as the constraints in layout design. Again, the expression form of fitness function, pheromone, and heuristic information for the layout optimization of cabin was studied. The layout design model of human-machine interaction interface was established based on GA-ACA. At last, a layout design system was developed based on this model. For validation, the human-machine interaction interface layout design of drilling rig control room was taken as an example, and the optimization result showed the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method.

  3. Layout Design of Human-Machine Interaction Interface of Cabin Based on Cognitive Ergonomics and GA-ACA.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deng, Li; Wang, Guohua; Yu, Suihuai

    2016-01-01

    In order to consider the psychological cognitive characteristics affecting operating comfort and realize the automatic layout design, cognitive ergonomics and GA-ACA (genetic algorithm and ant colony algorithm) were introduced into the layout design of human-machine interaction interface. First, from the perspective of cognitive psychology, according to the information processing process, the cognitive model of human-machine interaction interface was established. Then, the human cognitive characteristics were analyzed, and the layout principles of human-machine interaction interface were summarized as the constraints in layout design. Again, the expression form of fitness function, pheromone, and heuristic information for the layout optimization of cabin was studied. The layout design model of human-machine interaction interface was established based on GA-ACA. At last, a layout design system was developed based on this model. For validation, the human-machine interaction interface layout design of drilling rig control room was taken as an example, and the optimization result showed the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method.

  4. New human machine interface for VR-1 training reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kropik, M.; Matejka, K.; Sklenka, L.; Chab, V.

    2002-01-01

    The contribution describes a new human machine interface that was installed at the VR-1 training reactor. The human machine interface update was completed in the summer 2001. The human machine interface enables to operate the training reactor. The interface was designed with respect to functional, ergonomic and aesthetic requirements. The interface is based on a personal computer equipped with two displays. One display enables alphanumeric communication between a reactor operator and the control and safety system of the nuclear reactor. Messages appear from the control system, the operator can write commands and send them there. The second display is a graphical one. It is possible to represent there the status of the reactor, principle parameters (as power, period), control rods' positions, the course of the reactor power. Furthermore, it is possible to set parameters, to show the active core configuration, to perform reactivity calculations, etc. The software for the new human machine interface was produced in the InTouch developing environment of the WonderWare Company. It is possible to switch the language of the interface between Czech and English because of many foreign students and visitors at the reactor. The former operator's desk was completely removed and superseded with a new one. Besides of the computer and the two displays, there are control buttons, indicators and individual numerical displays of instrumentation there. Utilised components guarantee high quality of the new equipment. Microcomputer based communication units with proper software were developed to connect the contemporary control and safety system with the personal computer of the human machine interface and the individual displays. New human machine interface at the VR-1 training reactor improves the safety and comfort of the reactor utilisation, facilitates experiments and training, and provides better support of foreign visitors.(author)

  5. The Properties of Intelligent Human-Machine Interface

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alexander Alfimtsev

    2012-04-01

    Full Text Available Intelligent human-machine interfaces based on multimodal interaction are developed separately in different application areas. No unified opinion exists about the issue of what properties should these interfaces have to provide an intuitive and natural interaction. Having carried out an analytical survey of the papers that deal with intelligent interfaces a set of properties are presented, which are necessary for intelligent interface between an information system and a human: absolute response, justification, training, personification, adaptiveness, collectivity, security, hidden persistence, portability, filtering.

  6. Human-machine interface in mobile teleoperators

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Draper, J.V.

    1985-01-01

    In this document the following point has been made: human-machine interface is not ideal, and may be improved upon: telepresence is ideal but not required; current interfaces degrade normal human inputs/outputs; available and developing technology can improve interfaces

  7. Human machine interface for research reactor instrumentation and control system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mohd Sabri Minhat; Mohd Idris Taib; Izhar Abu Hussin; Zareen Khan Abdul Jalil Khan; Nurfarhana Ayuni Joha

    2010-01-01

    Most present design of Human Machine Interface for Research Reactor Instrumentation and Control System is modular-based, comprise of several cabinets such as Reactor Protection System, Control Console, Information Console as well as Communication Console. The safety, engineering and human factor will be concerned for the design. Redundancy and separation of signal and power supply are the main factor for safety consideration. The design of Operator Interface absolutely takes consideration of human and environmental factors. Physical parameters, experiences, trainability and long-established habit patterns are very important for user interface, instead of the Aesthetic and Operator-Interface Geometry. Physical design for New Instrumentation and Control System of RTP are proposed base on the state-of- the-art Human Machine Interface design. (author)

  8. Attempt on construction of human friendly man-machine interface. Study and apply about human communication; Human friendly na man machine interface kochiku no kokoromi. Ningen no communication no kento to sono oyo

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tatsuno, J. [Tokyo University of Agriculture, Tokyo (Japan); Kokubo, Y.; Matsumura, I.; Kobayashi, H. [Hosei University, Tokyo (Japan)

    1998-04-01

    This paper describes an attempt on a construction way of human friendly man-machine interface. At first, we do a simple experiment to find out the characteristic of human verbal communication. From the experimental results, we get some rules in case in human verbal communication. We construct the man-machine interface which is based on these rules. Through teaching process, we examine our verbal communication interface comparing with conventional interfaces. From this comparison, we recognize that the verbal communication interface is valid to construct the user-friendly man-machine interface. 12 refs., 9 figs., 2 tabs.

  9. Human-machine interface for a VR-based medical imaging environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krapichler, Christian; Haubner, Michael; Loesch, Andreas; Lang, Manfred K.; Englmeier, Karl-Hans

    1997-05-01

    Modern 3D scanning techniques like magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or computed tomography (CT) produce high- quality images of the human anatomy. Virtual environments open new ways to display and to analyze those tomograms. Compared with today's inspection of 2D image sequences, physicians are empowered to recognize spatial coherencies and examine pathological regions more facile, diagnosis and therapy planning can be accelerated. For that purpose a powerful human-machine interface is required, which offers a variety of tools and features to enable both exploration and manipulation of the 3D data. Man-machine communication has to be intuitive and efficacious to avoid long accustoming times and to enhance familiarity with and acceptance of the interface. Hence, interaction capabilities in virtual worlds should be comparable to those in the real work to allow utilization of our natural experiences. In this paper the integration of hand gestures and visual focus, two important aspects in modern human-computer interaction, into a medical imaging environment is shown. With the presented human- machine interface, including virtual reality displaying and interaction techniques, radiologists can be supported in their work. Further, virtual environments can even alleviate communication between specialists from different fields or in educational and training applications.

  10. Knowledge-based support for design and operational use of human-machine interfaces

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Johannsen, G.

    1994-01-01

    The possibilities for knowledge support of different human user classes, namely operators, operational engineers and designers of human-machine interfaces, are discussed. Several human-machine interface functionalities are briefly explained. The paper deals with such questions as which type of knowledge is needed for design and operation, how to represent it, where to get it from, how to process it, and how to consider and use it. The relationships between design and operational use are thereby emphasised. (author)

  11. An intelligent human-machine system based on an ecological interface design concept

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Naito, N.

    1995-01-01

    It seems both necessary and promising to develop an intelligent human-machine system, considering the objective of the human-machine system and the recent advance in cognitive engineering and artificial intelligence together with the ever-increasing importance of human factor issues in nuclear power plant operation and maintenance. It should support human operators in their knowledge-based behaviour and allow them to cope with unanticipated abnormal events, including recovery from erroneous human actions. A top-down design approach has been adopted based on cognitive work analysis, and (1) an ecological interface, (2) a cognitive model-based advisor and (3) a robust automatic sequence controller have been established. These functions have been integrated into an experimental control room. A validation test was carried out by the participation of experienced operators and engineers. The results showed the usefulness of this system in supporting the operator's supervisory plant control tasks. ((orig.))

  12. Ecological Design of Cooperative Human-Machine Interfaces for Safety of Intelligent Transport Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Orekhov Aleksandr

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper describes research results in the domain of cooperative intelligent transport systems. The requirements for human-machine interface considering safety issue of for intelligent transport systems (ITSare analyzed. Profiling of the requirements to cooperative human-machine interface (CHMI for such systems including requirements to usability and safety is based on a set of standards for ITSs. An approach and design technique of cooperative human-machine interface for ITSs are suggested. The architecture of cloud-based CHMI for intelligent transport systems has been developed. The prototype of software system CHMI4ITSis described.

  13. Man-machine interfaces analysis system based on computer simulation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen Xiaoming; Gao Zuying; Zhou Zhiwei; Zhao Bingquan

    2004-01-01

    The paper depicts a software assessment system, Dynamic Interaction Analysis Support (DIAS), based on computer simulation technology for man-machine interfaces (MMI) of a control room. It employs a computer to simulate the operation procedures of operations on man-machine interfaces in a control room, provides quantified assessment, and at the same time carries out analysis on operational error rate of operators by means of techniques for human error rate prediction. The problems of placing man-machine interfaces in a control room and of arranging instruments can be detected from simulation results. DIAS system can provide good technical supports to the design and improvement of man-machine interfaces of the main control room of a nuclear power plant

  14. Effects of digital human-machine interface characteristics on human error in nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li Pengcheng; Zhang Li; Dai Licao; Huang Weigang

    2011-01-01

    In order to identify the effects of digital human-machine interface characteristics on human error in nuclear power plants, the new characteristics of digital human-machine interface are identified by comparing with the traditional analog control systems in the aspects of the information display, user interface interaction and management, control systems, alarm systems and procedures system, and the negative effects of digital human-machine interface characteristics on human error are identified by field research and interviewing with operators such as increased cognitive load and workload, mode confusion, loss of situation awareness. As to the adverse effects related above, the corresponding prevention and control measures of human errors are provided to support the prevention and minimization of human errors and the optimization of human-machine interface design. (authors)

  15. Human Reliability and the Current Dilemma in Human-Machine Interface Design Strategies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Passalacqua, Roberto; Yamada, Fumiaki

    2002-01-01

    Since human error dominates the probability of failures of still-existing human-requiring systems (as the Monju reactor), the human-machine interface needs to be improved. Several rationales may lead to the conclusion that 'humans' should limit themselves to monitor the 'machine'. For example, this is the trend in the aviation industry: newest aircrafts are designed to be able to return to a safe state by the use of control systems, which do not need human intervention. Thus, the dilemma whether we really need operators (for example in the nuclear industry) might arise. However, social-technical approaches in recent human error analyses are pointing out the so-called 'organizational errors' and the importance of a human-machine interface harmonization. Typically plant's operators are a 'redundant' safety system with a much lower reliability (than the machine): organizational factors and harmonization requirements suggest designing the human-machine interface in a way that allows improvement of operator's reliability. In addition, taxonomy studies of accident databases have also proved that operators' training should promote processes of decision-making. This is accomplished in the latest trends of PSA technology by introducing the concept of a 'Safety Monitor' that is a computer-based tool that uses a level 1 PSA model of the plant. Operators and maintenance schedulers of the Monju FBR will be able to perform real-time estimations of the plant risk level. The main benefits are risk awareness and improvements in decision-making by operators. Also scheduled maintenance can be approached in a more rational (safe and economic) way. (authors)

  16. All printed touchless human-machine interface based on only five functional materials

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scheipl, G.; Zirkl, M.; Sawatdee, A.; Helbig, U.; Krause, M.; Kraker, E.; Andersson Ersman, P.; Nilsson, D.; Platt, D.; Bodö, P.; Bauer, S.; Domann, G.; Mogessie, A.; Hartmann, Paul; Stadlober, B.

    2012-02-01

    We demonstrate the printing of a complex smart integrated system using only five functional inks: the fluoropolymer P(VDF:TrFE) (Poly(vinylidene fluoride trifluoroethylene) sensor ink, the conductive polymer PEDOT:PSS (poly(3,4 ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonic acid) ink, a conductive carbon paste, a polymeric electrolyte and SU8 for separation. The result is a touchless human-machine interface, including piezo- and pyroelectric sensor pixels (sensitive to pressure changes and impinging infrared light), transistors for impedance matching and signal conditioning, and an electrochromic display. Applications may not only emerge in human-machine interfaces, but also in transient temperature or pressure sensing used in safety technology, in artificial skins and in disposable sensor labels.

  17. Design for the human-machine interface of a digitalized reactor control-room

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Qu Ronghong; Zhang Liangju; Li Duo; Yu Hui

    2005-01-01

    Digitalized technology is implemented in the instrumentation and control system of an in-construction research reactor, which advances information display in both contents and styles in a nuclear reactor control-room, and greatly improves human-machine interface. In the design for a digitalized nuclear reactor control-room there are a series of new problems and technologies should be considered seriously. This paper mainly introduces the design for the digitalized control-room of the research nuclear reactor and covered topics include design principle of human-machine interface, organization and classification of interface graphics, technologies and principles based on human factors engineering and implemented in the graphics design. (authors)

  18. Layout Design of Human-Machine Interaction Interface of Cabin Based on Cognitive Ergonomics and GA-ACA

    OpenAIRE

    Deng, Li; Wang, Guohua; Yu, Suihuai

    2016-01-01

    In order to consider the psychological cognitive characteristics affecting operating comfort and realize the automatic layout design, cognitive ergonomics and GA-ACA (genetic algorithm and ant colony algorithm) were introduced into the layout design of human-machine interaction interface. First, from the perspective of cognitive psychology, according to the information processing process, the cognitive model of human-machine interaction interface was established. Then, the human cognitive cha...

  19. Flexible human machine interface for process diagnostics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reifman, J.; Graham, G.E.; Wei, T.Y.C.; Brown, K.R.; Chin, R.Y.

    1996-01-01

    A flexible human machine interface to design and display graphical and textual process diagnostic information is presented. The system operates on different computer hardware platforms, including PCs under MS Windows and UNIX Workstations under X-Windows, in a client-server architecture. The interface system is customized for specific process applications in a graphical user interface development environment by overlaying the image of the process piping and instrumentation diagram with display objects that are highlighted in color during diagnostic display. Customization of the system is presented for Commonwealth Edison's Braidwood PWR Chemical and Volume Control System with transients simulated by a full-scale operator-training simulator and diagnosed by a computer-based system

  20. Operating Comfort Prediction Model of Human-Machine Interface Layout for Cabin Based on GEP

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Li Deng

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available In view of the evaluation and decision-making problem of human-machine interface layout design for cabin, the operating comfort prediction model is proposed based on GEP (Gene Expression Programming, using operating comfort to evaluate layout scheme. Through joint angles to describe operating posture of upper limb, the joint angles are taken as independent variables to establish the comfort model of operating posture. Factor analysis is adopted to decrease the variable dimension; the model’s input variables are reduced from 16 joint angles to 4 comfort impact factors, and the output variable is operating comfort score. The Chinese virtual human body model is built by CATIA software, which will be used to simulate and evaluate the operators’ operating comfort. With 22 groups of evaluation data as training sample and validation sample, GEP algorithm is used to obtain the best fitting function between the joint angles and the operating comfort; then, operating comfort can be predicted quantitatively. The operating comfort prediction result of human-machine interface layout of driller control room shows that operating comfort prediction model based on GEP is fast and efficient, it has good prediction effect, and it can improve the design efficiency.

  1. Operating Comfort Prediction Model of Human-Machine Interface Layout for Cabin Based on GEP.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deng, Li; Wang, Guohua; Chen, Bo

    2015-01-01

    In view of the evaluation and decision-making problem of human-machine interface layout design for cabin, the operating comfort prediction model is proposed based on GEP (Gene Expression Programming), using operating comfort to evaluate layout scheme. Through joint angles to describe operating posture of upper limb, the joint angles are taken as independent variables to establish the comfort model of operating posture. Factor analysis is adopted to decrease the variable dimension; the model's input variables are reduced from 16 joint angles to 4 comfort impact factors, and the output variable is operating comfort score. The Chinese virtual human body model is built by CATIA software, which will be used to simulate and evaluate the operators' operating comfort. With 22 groups of evaluation data as training sample and validation sample, GEP algorithm is used to obtain the best fitting function between the joint angles and the operating comfort; then, operating comfort can be predicted quantitatively. The operating comfort prediction result of human-machine interface layout of driller control room shows that operating comfort prediction model based on GEP is fast and efficient, it has good prediction effect, and it can improve the design efficiency.

  2. Quantitative evaluation of impedance perception characteristics of humans in the man-machine interface

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Onish, Keiichi; Kim, Young Woo; Obinata, Goro; Hase, Kazunori

    2013-01-01

    We investigated impedance perception characteristics of humans in the man-machine interface. Sensibility or operational feel about physical properties of machine dynamics is obtained through perception process. We evaluated the impedance perception characteristics of humans who are operating a mechanical system, based on extended Scheffe's subjective evaluation method in full consideration of the influence of impedance level, impedance difference, experiment order, individual difference and so on. Constant method based quantitative evaluation was adopted to investigate the influence of motion frequency and change of the impedance on human impedance perception characteristics. Experimental results indicate that humans perceive impedance of mechanical systems based on comparison process of the dynamical characteristics of the systems. The proposed method can be applied to quantify the design requirement of man-machine interface. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified through experimental results.

  3. Quantitative evaluation of impedance perception characteristics of humans in the man-machine interface

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Onish, Keiichi [Yamaha Motor Co., Shizuoka (Japan); Kim, Young Woo [Daegu Techno Park R and D Center, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Obinata, Goro [Nagoya University, Nagoya (Japan); Hase, Kazunori [Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo (Japan)

    2013-05-15

    We investigated impedance perception characteristics of humans in the man-machine interface. Sensibility or operational feel about physical properties of machine dynamics is obtained through perception process. We evaluated the impedance perception characteristics of humans who are operating a mechanical system, based on extended Scheffe's subjective evaluation method in full consideration of the influence of impedance level, impedance difference, experiment order, individual difference and so on. Constant method based quantitative evaluation was adopted to investigate the influence of motion frequency and change of the impedance on human impedance perception characteristics. Experimental results indicate that humans perceive impedance of mechanical systems based on comparison process of the dynamical characteristics of the systems. The proposed method can be applied to quantify the design requirement of man-machine interface. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified through experimental results.

  4. A novel human-machine interface based on recognition of multi-channel facial bioelectric signals

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Razazadeh, Iman Mohammad; Firoozabadi, S. Mohammad; Golpayegani, S.M.R.H.; Hu, H.

    2011-01-01

    Full text: This paper presents a novel human-machine interface for disabled people to interact with assistive systems for a better quality of life. It is based on multichannel forehead bioelectric signals acquired by placing three pairs of electrodes (physical channels) on the Fron-tails and Temporalis facial muscles. The acquired signals are passes through a parallel filter bank to explore three different sub-bands related to facial electromyogram, electrooculogram and electroencephalogram. The root mean features of the bioelectric signals analyzed within non-overlapping 256 ms windows were extracted. The subtractive fuzzy c-means clustering method (SFCM) was applied to segment the feature space and generate initial fuzzy based Takagi-Sugeno rules. Then, an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system is exploited to tune up the premises and consequence parameters of the extracted SFCMs. rules. The average classifier discriminating ratio for eight different facial gestures (smiling, frowning, pulling up left/right lips corner, eye movement to left/right/up/down is between 93.04% and 96.99% according to different combinations and fusions of logical features. Experimental results show that the proposed interface has a high degree of accuracy and robustness for discrimination of 8 fundamental facial gestures. Some potential and further capabilities of our approach in human-machine interfaces are also discussed. (author)

  5. Steering a Tractor by Means of an EMG-Based Human-Machine Interface

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sergio Alonso-Garcia

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available An electromiographic (EMG-based human-machine interface (HMI is a communication pathway between a human and a machine that operates by means of the acquisition and processing of EMG signals. This article explores the use of EMG-based HMIs in the steering of farm tractors. An EPOC, a low-cost human-computer interface (HCI from the Emotiv Company, was employed. This device, by means of 14 saline sensors, measures and processes EMG and electroencephalographic (EEG signals from the scalp of the driver. In our tests, the HMI took into account only the detection of four trained muscular events on the driver’s scalp: eyes looking to the right and jaw opened, eyes looking to the right and jaw closed, eyes looking to the left and jaw opened, and eyes looking to the left and jaw closed. The EMG-based HMI guidance was compared with manual guidance and with autonomous GPS guidance. A driver tested these three guidance systems along three different trajectories: a straight line, a step, and a circumference. The accuracy of the EMG-based HMI guidance was lower than the accuracy obtained by manual guidance, which was lower in turn than the accuracy obtained by the autonomous GPS guidance; the computed standard deviations of error to the desired trajectory in the straight line were 16 cm, 9 cm, and 4 cm, respectively. Since the standard deviation between the manual guidance and the EMG-based HMI guidance differed only 7 cm, and this difference is not relevant in agricultural steering, it can be concluded that it is possible to steer a tractor by an EMG-based HMI with almost the same accuracy as with manual steering.

  6. Visualization tool for human-machine interface designers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prevost, Michael P.; Banda, Carolyn P.

    1991-06-01

    As modern human-machine systems continue to grow in capabilities and complexity, system operators are faced with integrating and managing increased quantities of information. Since many information components are highly related to each other, optimizing the spatial and temporal aspects of presenting information to the operator has become a formidable task for the human-machine interface (HMI) designer. The authors describe a tool in an early stage of development, the Information Source Layout Editor (ISLE). This tool is to be used for information presentation design and analysis; it uses human factors guidelines to assist the HMI designer in the spatial layout of the information required by machine operators to perform their tasks effectively. These human factors guidelines address such areas as the functional and physical relatedness of information sources. By representing these relationships with metaphors such as spring tension, attractors, and repellers, the tool can help designers visualize the complex constraint space and interacting effects of moving displays to various alternate locations. The tool contains techniques for visualizing the relative 'goodness' of a configuration, as well as mechanisms such as optimization vectors to provide guidance toward a more optimal design. Also available is a rule-based design checker to determine compliance with selected human factors guidelines.

  7. An EOG-Based Human-Machine Interface for Wheelchair Control.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Qiyun; He, Shenghong; Wang, Qihong; Gu, Zhenghui; Peng, Nengneng; Li, Kai; Zhang, Yuandong; Shao, Ming; Li, Yuanqing

    2017-07-27

    Non-manual human-machine interfaces (HMIs) have been studied for wheelchair control with the aim of helping severely paralyzed individuals regain some mobility. The challenge is to rapidly, accurately and sufficiently produce control commands, such as left and right turns, forward and backward motions, acceleration, deceleration, and stopping. In this paper, a novel electrooculogram (EOG)-based HMI is proposed for wheelchair control. Thirteen flashing buttons are presented in the graphical user interface (GUI), and each of the buttons corresponds to a command. These buttons flash on a one-by-one manner in a pre-defined sequence. The user can select a button by blinking in sync with its flashes. The algorithm detects the eye blinks from a channel of vertical EOG data and determines the user's target button based on the synchronization between the detected blinks and the button's flashes. For healthy subjects/patients with spinal cord injuries (SCIs), the proposed HMI achieved an average accuracy of 96.7%/91.7% and a response time of 3.53 s/3.67 s with 0 false positive rates (FPRs). Using only one channel of vertical EOG signals associated with eye blinks, the proposed HMI can accurately provide sufficient commands with a satisfactory response time. The proposed HMI provides a novel non-manual approach for severely paralyzed individuals to control a wheelchair. Compared with a newly established EOG-based HMI, the proposed HMI can generate more commands with higher accuracy, lower FPR and fewer electrodes.

  8. New generation of human machine interfaces for controlling UAV through depth-based gesture recognition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mantecón, Tomás.; del Blanco, Carlos Roberto; Jaureguizar, Fernando; García, Narciso

    2014-06-01

    New forms of natural interactions between human operators and UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) are demanded by the military industry to achieve a better balance of the UAV control and the burden of the human operator. In this work, a human machine interface (HMI) based on a novel gesture recognition system using depth imagery is proposed for the control of UAVs. Hand gesture recognition based on depth imagery is a promising approach for HMIs because it is more intuitive, natural, and non-intrusive than other alternatives using complex controllers. The proposed system is based on a Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier that uses spatio-temporal depth descriptors as input features. The designed descriptor is based on a variation of the Local Binary Pattern (LBP) technique to efficiently work with depth video sequences. Other major consideration is the especial hand sign language used for the UAV control. A tradeoff between the use of natural hand signs and the minimization of the inter-sign interference has been established. Promising results have been achieved in a depth based database of hand gestures especially developed for the validation of the proposed system.

  9. A Function-Behavior-State Approach to Designing Human Machine Interface for Nuclear Power Plant Operators

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Y.; Zhang, W. J.

    2005-02-01

    This paper presents an approach to human-machine interface design for control room operators of nuclear power plants. The first step in designing an interface for a particular application is to determine information content that needs to be displayed. The design methodology for this step is called the interface design framework (called framework ). Several frameworks have been proposed for applications at varying levels, including process plants. However, none is based on the design and manufacture of a plant system for which the interface is designed. This paper presents an interface design framework which originates from design theory and methodology for general technical systems. Specifically, the framework is based on a set of core concepts of a function-behavior-state model originally proposed by the artificial intelligence research community and widely applied in the design research community. Benefits of this new framework include the provision of a model-based fault diagnosis facility, and the seamless integration of the design (manufacture, maintenance) of plants and the design of human-machine interfaces. The missing linkage between design and operation of a plant was one of the causes of the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor incident. A simulated plant system is presented to explain how to apply this framework in designing an interface. The resulting human-machine interface is discussed; specifically, several fault diagnosis examples are elaborated to demonstrate how this interface could support operators' fault diagnosis in an unanticipated situation.

  10. Activities of IAEA related to human interface in man-machine system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nishiwaki, Yasushi

    1988-01-01

    The present paper outlines some activities of IAEA related to human interface in man-machine systems. It has been recognized for quite some time that in large and complex man-machine interactive systems human errors can contribute substantially to failures of these systems, and that the improvement in the human interface in man-machine systems is essential for the safety of the plant. Many important surveys have been made in some member countries. These studies and operational experience have shown that it is possible to substantially reduce this adverse impact of human errors in nuclear power plant operations by the application of human factors technology. This technology. This technology includes: (1) selection of people with the requisite skills and knowledge and providing them with job-relevant training, (2) maintenance of the necessary job qualifications for each person in the plant, (3) design of man-machine interfaces which are fully compatible with the capabilities and limitations of the people in the system, and (4) design of job operations, including written materials, to facilitate required quality of human performance. A review is made of education/training, operator support systems, human error data collection, analysis of safety significant events and future activities. (Nogami, K.)

  11. Adaptive Training and Collective Decision Support Based on Man-Machine Interface

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-03-02

    Based on Man -machine Interface The views, opinions and/or findings contained in this report are those of the author(s) and should not contrued as an...ADDRESS (ES) U.S. Army Research Office P.O. Box 12211 Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-2211 adaptive training, EEG, man -machine interface...non peer-reviewed journals: Final Report: Adaptive Training and Collective Decision Support Based on Man -machine Interface Report Title The existence of

  12. Human-Machine interface for off normal and emergency situations in nuclear power plants

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kwon, Kee Choon [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Taejeon (Korea)

    2000-01-01

    Many nuclear power plants (NPPs) have reported that a high percentage of all major failures in the plants are caused by human errors. Therefore, there has been much focus on elimination of human errors, enhancement of human performance, and general improvement of human machine interface (HMI). Both the utility management and the regulators are demanding improvement in this area. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Specialists' Meeting on 'Human-Machine Interface for Off Normal and Emergency Situations in Nuclear Power Plants' was co-organized by the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) and the Korea Power Engineering Company, INC (KOPEC), and took place in Taejeon, Republic of Korea, 1999 October 26-28. Fifty eight participants, representing nine member countries reviewed recent developments and discussed directions for future efforts in the Human-Machine Interface for Off Normal and Emergency Situations in NPPs. Twenty papers were presented, covering a wide spectrum of technical and scientific subjects including recent experience and benefits from Operational Experience with HMI, Development of HMI System, Licensing Issues for HMI and Future Development and Trends. (Author)

  13. Human-Machine interface for off normal and emergency situations in nuclear power plants

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kwon, Kee Choon [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Taejeon (Korea)

    2000-01-01

    Many nuclear power plants (NPPs) have reported that a high percentage of all major failures in the plants are caused by human errors. Therefore, there has been much focus on elimination of human errors, enhancement of human performance, and general improvement of human machine interface (HMI). Both the utility management and the regulators are demanding improvement in this area. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Specialists' Meeting on 'Human-Machine Interface for Off Normal and Emergency Situations in Nuclear Power Plants' was co-organized by the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) and the Korea Power Engineering Company, INC (KOPEC), and took place in Taejeon, Republic of Korea, 1999 October 26-28. Fifty eight participants, representing nine member countries reviewed recent developments and discussed directions for future efforts in the Human-Machine Interface for Off Normal and Emergency Situations in NPPs. Twenty papers were presented, covering a wide spectrum of technical and scientific subjects including recent experience and benefits from Operational Experience with HMI, Development of HMI System, Licensing Issues for HMI and Future Development and Trends. (Author)

  14. Development of effective tool for iterative design of human machine interfaces in nuclear power plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nakagawa, Takashi; Matsuo, Satoko; Yoshikawa, Hidekazu; Wu, Wei; Kameda, Akiyuki; Fumizawa, Motoo

    2000-01-01

    The authors have developed SEAMAID, which is a Simulation-based Evaluation and Analysis support system for MAn-machine Interface Design (SEAMAID) in the domain of nuclear power plants. The SEAMAID simulated the interaction between an operator and human machine interfaces (HMI), and supports to evaluate the HMI by using the simulation results. In this paper, a case study of evaluation for conventional center control room design was conducted. The authors were confirmed that SEAMAID is a useful tool for improvements of HMI design (J.P.N.)

  15. Future developments in brain-machine interface research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lebedev, Mikhail A; Tate, Andrew J; Hanson, Timothy L; Li, Zheng; O'Doherty, Joseph E; Winans, Jesse A; Ifft, Peter J; Zhuang, Katie Z; Fitzsimmons, Nathan A; Schwarz, David A; Fuller, Andrew M; An, Je Hi; Nicolelis, Miguel A L

    2011-01-01

    Neuroprosthetic devices based on brain-machine interface technology hold promise for the restoration of body mobility in patients suffering from devastating motor deficits caused by brain injury, neurologic diseases and limb loss. During the last decade, considerable progress has been achieved in this multidisciplinary research, mainly in the brain-machine interface that enacts upper-limb functionality. However, a considerable number of problems need to be resolved before fully functional limb neuroprostheses can be built. To move towards developing neuroprosthetic devices for humans, brain-machine interface research has to address a number of issues related to improving the quality of neuronal recordings, achieving stable, long-term performance, and extending the brain-machine interface approach to a broad range of motor and sensory functions. Here, we review the future steps that are part of the strategic plan of the Duke University Center for Neuroengineering, and its partners, the Brazilian National Institute of Brain-Machine Interfaces and the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) Center for Neuroprosthetics, to bring this new technology to clinical fruition.

  16. Future developments in brain-machine interface research

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mikhail A. Lebedev

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Neuroprosthetic devices based on brain-machine interface technology hold promise for the restoration of body mobility in patients suffering from devastating motor deficits caused by brain injury, neurologic diseases and limb loss. During the last decade, considerable progress has been achieved in this multidisciplinary research, mainly in the brain-machine interface that enacts upper-limb functionality. However, a considerable number of problems need to be resolved before fully functional limb neuroprostheses can be built. To move towards developing neuroprosthetic devices for humans, brain-machine interface research has to address a number of issues related to improving the quality of neuronal recordings, achieving stable, long-term performance, and extending the brain-machine interface approach to a broad range of motor and sensory functions. Here, we review the future steps that are part of the strategic plan of the Duke University Center for Neuroengineering, and its partners, the Brazilian National Institute of Brain-Machine Interfaces and the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL Center for Neuroprosthetics, to bring this new technology to clinical fruition.

  17. Techniques and applications for binaural sound manipulation in human-machine interfaces

    Science.gov (United States)

    Begault, Durand R.; Wenzel, Elizabeth M.

    1992-01-01

    The implementation of binaural sound to speech and auditory sound cues (auditory icons) is addressed from both an applications and technical standpoint. Techniques overviewed include processing by means of filtering with head-related transfer functions. Application to advanced cockpit human interface systems is discussed, although the techniques are extendable to any human-machine interface. Research issues pertaining to three-dimensional sound displays under investigation at the Aerospace Human Factors Division at NASA Ames Research Center are described.

  18. Human Machine Interfaces for Teleoperators and Virtual Environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Durlach, Nathaniel I. (Compiler); Sheridan, Thomas B. (Compiler); Ellis, Stephen R. (Compiler)

    1991-01-01

    In Mar. 1990, a meeting organized around the general theme of teleoperation research into virtual environment display technology was conducted. This is a collection of conference-related fragments that will give a glimpse of the potential of the following fields and how they interplay: sensorimotor performance; human-machine interfaces; teleoperation; virtual environments; performance measurement and evaluation methods; and design principles and predictive models.

  19. Human factor engineering analysis for computerized human machine interface design issues

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang Zhifang; Gu Pengfei; Zhang Jianbo

    2010-01-01

    The application of digital I and C technology in nuclear power plants is a significant improvement in terms of functional performances and flexibility, and it also poses a challenge to operation safety. Most of the new NPPs under construction are adopting advanced control room design which utilizes the computerized human machine interface (HMI) as the main operating means. Thus, it greatly changes the way the operators interact with the plant. This paper introduces the main challenges brought out by computerized technology on the human factor engineering aspect and addresses the main issues to be dealt with in the computerized HMI design process. Based on a operator task-resources-cognitive model, it states that the root cause of human errors is the mismatch between resources demand and their supply. And a task-oriented HMI design principle is discussed. (authors)

  20. Design of HumanMachine Interface and Altering of Pelvic Obliquity with RGR Trainer

    OpenAIRE

    Pietrusinski, Maciej; Unluhisarcikli, Ozer; Mavroidis, Constantinos; Cajigas, Iahn; Bonato, Paolo

    2011-01-01

    The Robotic Gait Rehabilitation (RGR) Trainer targets secondary gait deviations in stroke survivors undergoing rehabilitation. Using an impedance control strategy and a linear electromagnetic actuator, the device generates a force field to control pelvic obliquity through a Human-Machine Interface (i.e. a lower body exoskeleton). Herein we describe the design of the RGR Trainer Human-Machine Interface (HMI) and we demonstrate the system’s ability to alter the pattern of movement of the pelvis...

  1. Intelligent Human Machine Interface Design for Advanced Product Life Cycle Management Systems

    OpenAIRE

    Ahmed, Zeeshan

    2010-01-01

    Designing and implementing an intelligent and user friendly human machine interface for any kind of software or hardware oriented application is always be a challenging task for the designers and developers because it is very difficult to understand the psychology of the user, nature of the work and best suit of the environment. This research paper is basically about to propose an intelligent, flexible and user friendly machine interface for Product Life Cycle Management products or PDM Syste...

  2. Human-machine interfaces based on EMG and EEG applied to robotic systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sarcinelli-Filho Mario

    2008-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Two different Human-Machine Interfaces (HMIs were developed, both based on electro-biological signals. One is based on the EMG signal and the other is based on the EEG signal. Two major features of such interfaces are their relatively simple data acquisition and processing systems, which need just a few hardware and software resources, so that they are, computationally and financially speaking, low cost solutions. Both interfaces were applied to robotic systems, and their performances are analyzed here. The EMG-based HMI was tested in a mobile robot, while the EEG-based HMI was tested in a mobile robot and a robotic manipulator as well. Results Experiments using the EMG-based HMI were carried out by eight individuals, who were asked to accomplish ten eye blinks with each eye, in order to test the eye blink detection algorithm. An average rightness rate of about 95% reached by individuals with the ability to blink both eyes allowed to conclude that the system could be used to command devices. Experiments with EEG consisted of inviting 25 people (some of them had suffered cases of meningitis and epilepsy to test the system. All of them managed to deal with the HMI in only one training session. Most of them learnt how to use such HMI in less than 15 minutes. The minimum and maximum training times observed were 3 and 50 minutes, respectively. Conclusion Such works are the initial parts of a system to help people with neuromotor diseases, including those with severe dysfunctions. The next steps are to convert a commercial wheelchair in an autonomous mobile vehicle; to implement the HMI onboard the autonomous wheelchair thus obtained to assist people with motor diseases, and to explore the potentiality of EEG signals, making the EEG-based HMI more robust and faster, aiming at using it to help individuals with severe motor dysfunctions.

  3. Design Control Systems of Human Machine Interface in the NTVS-2894 Seat Grinder Machine to Increase the Productivity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ardi, S.; Ardyansyah, D.

    2018-02-01

    In the Manufacturing of automotive spare parts, increased sales of vehicles is resulted in increased demand for production of engine valve of the customer. To meet customer demand, we carry out improvement and overhaul of the NTVS-2894 seat grinder machine on a machining line. NTVS-2894 seat grinder machine has been decreased machine productivity, the amount of trouble, and the amount of downtime. To overcome these problems on overhaul the NTVS-2984 seat grinder machine include mechanical and programs, is to do the design and manufacture of HMI (Human Machine Interface) GP-4501T program. Because of the time prior to the overhaul, NTVS-2894 seat grinder machine does not have a backup HMI (Human Machine Interface) program. The goal of the design and manufacture in this program is to improve the achievement of production, and allows an operator to operate beside it easier to troubleshoot the NTVS-2894 seat grinder machine thereby reducing downtime on the NTVS-2894 seat grinder machine. The results after the design are HMI program successfully made it back, machine productivity increased by 34.8%, the amount of trouble, and downtime decreased 40% decrease from 3,160 minutes to 1,700 minutes. The implication of our design, it could facilitate the operator in operating machine and the technician easer to maintain and do the troubleshooting the machine problems.

  4. Development of Simulation-Based Evaluation System for Iterative Design of Human-Machine Interface in a Nuclear Power Plant - Application for Reducing Workload

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fumizawa, Motoo; Kameda, Akiyuki; Nakagawa, Takashi; Wu Wei; Yoshikawa, Hidekazu

    2003-01-01

    Development of simulation-based evaluation and analysis support system for man-machine interface design (SEAMAID) has been conducted in the Nuclear Power Engineering Corporation to simulate the behavior of a few operators and the human-machine interface (HMI) in a commercialized pressurized water reactor plant. The workload is one of the key factors with respect to reducing the human error in the operation of nuclear power plants. In order to produce a high-quality design of HMI, the evaluation method was developed to simulate and analyze the operator's workload. Our method was adopted from the cognition model proposed by Reason. The workload such as the length of the visual point movement and the moving length of the operators was visualized in a monitor image during the simulation, and then recorded as a movie-file. As a consequence, the validation of SEAMAID was clarified

  5. Human reliability analysis in the man-machine interface design review

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, I.S.

    2001-01-01

    Advanced, computer-based man-machine interface (MMI) is emerging as part of the new design of nuclear power plants. The impact of advanced MMI on the operator performance, and as a result, on plant safety should be thoroughly evaluated before such technology is actually adopted in the plants. This paper discusses the applicability of human reliability analysis (HRA) to support the design review process. Both the first-generation and the second-generation HRA methods are considered focusing on a couple of promising HRA methods, i.e. ATHEANA and CREAM, with the potential to assist the design review process

  6. A video, text, and speech-driven realistic 3-d virtual head for human-machine interface.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Jun; Wang, Zeng-Fu

    2015-05-01

    A multiple inputs-driven realistic facial animation system based on 3-D virtual head for human-machine interface is proposed. The system can be driven independently by video, text, and speech, thus can interact with humans through diverse interfaces. The combination of parameterized model and muscular model is used to obtain a tradeoff between computational efficiency and high realism of 3-D facial animation. The online appearance model is used to track 3-D facial motion from video in the framework of particle filtering, and multiple measurements, i.e., pixel color value of input image and Gabor wavelet coefficient of illumination ratio image, are infused to reduce the influence of lighting and person dependence for the construction of online appearance model. The tri-phone model is used to reduce the computational consumption of visual co-articulation in speech synchronized viseme synthesis without sacrificing any performance. The objective and subjective experiments show that the system is suitable for human-machine interaction.

  7. Human-machine interface based on muscular and brain signals applied to a robotic wheelchair

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ferreira, A; Silva, R L; Celeste, W C; Filho, T F Bastos; Filho, M Sarcinelli

    2007-01-01

    This paper presents a Human-Machine Interface (HMI) based on the signals generated by eye blinks or brain activity. The system structure and the signal acquisition and processing are shown. The signals used in this work are either the signal associated to the muscular movement corresponding to an eye blink or the brain signal corresponding to visual information processing. The variance is the feature extracted from such signals in order to detect the intention of the user. The classification is performed by a variance threshold which is experimentally determined for each user during the training stage. The command options, which are going to be sent to the commanded device, are presented to the user in the screen of a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant). In the experiments here reported, a robotic wheelchair is used as the device being commanded

  8. Human-machine interface based on muscular and brain signals applied to a robotic wheelchair

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ferreira, A; Silva, R L; Celeste, W C; Filho, T F Bastos; Filho, M Sarcinelli [Electrical Engineering Department, Federal University of Espirito Santo (UFES), Av. Fernando Ferrari, 514, Vitoria, 29075-910 (Brazil)

    2007-11-15

    This paper presents a Human-Machine Interface (HMI) based on the signals generated by eye blinks or brain activity. The system structure and the signal acquisition and processing are shown. The signals used in this work are either the signal associated to the muscular movement corresponding to an eye blink or the brain signal corresponding to visual information processing. The variance is the feature extracted from such signals in order to detect the intention of the user. The classification is performed by a variance threshold which is experimentally determined for each user during the training stage. The command options, which are going to be sent to the commanded device, are presented to the user in the screen of a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant). In the experiments here reported, a robotic wheelchair is used as the device being commanded.

  9. Brain-machine and brain-computer interfaces.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Friehs, Gerhard M; Zerris, Vasilios A; Ojakangas, Catherine L; Fellows, Mathew R; Donoghue, John P

    2004-11-01

    The idea of connecting the human brain to a computer or machine directly is not novel and its potential has been explored in science fiction. With the rapid advances in the areas of information technology, miniaturization and neurosciences there has been a surge of interest in turning fiction into reality. In this paper the authors review the current state-of-the-art of brain-computer and brain-machine interfaces including neuroprostheses. The general principles and requirements to produce a successful connection between human and artificial intelligence are outlined and the authors' preliminary experience with a prototype brain-computer interface is reported.

  10. Design of Human-Machine Interface and altering of pelvic obliquity with RGR Trainer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pietrusinski, Maciej; Unluhisarcikli, Ozer; Mavroidis, Constantinos; Cajigas, Iahn; Bonato, Paolo

    2011-01-01

    The Robotic Gait Rehabilitation (RGR) Trainer targets secondary gait deviations in stroke survivors undergoing rehabilitation. Using an impedance control strategy and a linear electromagnetic actuator, the device generates a force field to control pelvic obliquity through a Human-Machine Interface (i.e. a lower body exoskeleton). Herein we describe the design of the RGR Trainer Human-Machine Interface (HMI) and we demonstrate the system's ability to alter the pattern of movement of the pelvis during gait in a healthy subject. Results are shown for experiments during which we induced hip-hiking - in healthy subjects. Our findings indicate that the RGR Trainer has the ability of affecting pelvic obliquity during gait. Furthermore, we provide preliminary evidence of short-term retention of the modified pelvic obliquity pattern induced by the RGR Trainer. © 2011 IEEE

  11. FwWebViewPlus: integration of web technologies into WinCC OA based Human-Machine Interfaces at CERN

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Golonka, Piotr; Fabian, Wojciech; Gonzalez-Berges, Manuel; Jasiun, Piotr; Varela-Rodriguez, Fernando

    2014-01-01

    The rapid growth in popularity of web applications gives rise to a plethora of reusable graphical components, such as Google Chart Tools and JQuery Sparklines, implemented in JavaScript and run inside a web browser. In the paper we describe the tool that allows for seamless integration of web-based widgets into WinCC Open Architecture, the SCADA system used commonly at CERN to build complex Human-Machine Interfaces. Reuse of widely available widget libraries and pushing the development efforts to a higher abstraction layer based on a scripting language allow for significant reduction in maintenance of the code in multi-platform environments compared to those currently used in C++ visualization plugins. Adequately designed interfaces allow for rapid integration of new web widgets into WinCC OA. At the same time, the mechanisms familiar to HMI developers are preserved, making the use of new widgets n ative . Perspectives for further integration between the realms of WinCC OA and Web development are also discussed.

  12. FwWebViewPlus: integration of web technologies into WinCC OA based Human-Machine Interfaces at CERN

    Science.gov (United States)

    Golonka, Piotr; Fabian, Wojciech; Gonzalez-Berges, Manuel; Jasiun, Piotr; Varela-Rodriguez, Fernando

    2014-06-01

    The rapid growth in popularity of web applications gives rise to a plethora of reusable graphical components, such as Google Chart Tools and JQuery Sparklines, implemented in JavaScript and run inside a web browser. In the paper we describe the tool that allows for seamless integration of web-based widgets into WinCC Open Architecture, the SCADA system used commonly at CERN to build complex Human-Machine Interfaces. Reuse of widely available widget libraries and pushing the development efforts to a higher abstraction layer based on a scripting language allow for significant reduction in maintenance of the code in multi-platform environments compared to those currently used in C++ visualization plugins. Adequately designed interfaces allow for rapid integration of new web widgets into WinCC OA. At the same time, the mechanisms familiar to HMI developers are preserved, making the use of new widgets "native". Perspectives for further integration between the realms of WinCC OA and Web development are also discussed.

  13. Roadmap for Research, Development, and Demonstration of Instrumentation, Controls, and Human-Machine Interface Technologies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Miller, Don W.; Arndt, Steven A.; Bond, Leonard J.; Dudenhoeffer, Donald D.; Hallbert, Bruce P.; Holcomb, David E.; Wood, Richard T.; Naser, Joseph A.; O'Hara, John M.; Quinn, Edward L.

    2008-01-01

    Instrumentation, controls, and human-machine interfaces are essential enabling technologies that strongly influence nuclear power plant performance and operational costs. The nuclear power industry is currently engaged in a transition from traditional analog-based instrumentation, controls, and human-machine interface (ICHMI) systems to implementations employing digital technologies. This transition has primarily occurred in an ad hoc fashion through individual system upgrades at existing plants and has been constrained by a number of concerns. Although international implementation of evolutionary nuclear power plants and the progression toward new plants in the United States have spurred design of more fully digital plant-wide ICHMI systems, the experience base in the nuclear power application domain is limited. Additionally, design and development programs by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for advanced reactor concepts, such as the Generation IV Program and Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP), introduce different plant conditions and unique plant configurations that increase the need for enhanced ICHMI capabilities to fully achieve programmatic goals related to economic competitiveness, safety and reliability, sustainability, and proliferation resistance and physical protection. As a result, there are challenges that need to be addressed to enable the nuclear power industry to effectively and efficiently complete the transition to safe and comprehensive use of digital technology

  14. Graphic man-machine interface applied to nuclear reactor designs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pereira, Claudio M.N.A; Mol, Antonio Carlos A.

    1999-01-01

    The Man-Machine Interfaces have been of interest of many researchers in the area of nuclear human factors engineering, principally applied to monitoring systems. The clarity of information provides best adaptation of the men to the machine. This work proposes the development of a Graphic Man-Machine Interface applied to nuclear reactor designs as a tool to optimize them. Here is present a prototype of a graphic man-machine interface for the Hammer code developed for PC under the Windows environment. The results of its application are commented. (author)

  15. Development of an evaluation technique for human-machine interface

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Min, Dae Hwan; Koo, Sang Hui; Ahn, Won Yeong; Ryu, Yeong Shin [Korea Univ., Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    1997-07-15

    The purpose of this study is two-fold : firstly to establish an evaluation technique for HMI(Human Machine Interface) in NPPs(Nuclear Power Plants) and secondly to develop an architecture of a support system which can be used for the evaluation of HMI. In order to establish an evaluation technique, this study conducted literature review on basic theories of cognitive science studies and summarized the cognitive characteristics of humans. This study also surveyed evaluation techniques of HMI in general, and reviewed studies on the evaluation of HMI in NPPs. On the basis of this survey, the study established a procedure for the evaluation of HMI in NPPs in Korea and laid a foundation for empirical verification.

  16. Development of an evaluation technique for human-machine interface

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Min, Dae Hwan; Koo, Sang Hui; Ahn, Won Yeong; Ryu, Yeong Shin

    1997-07-01

    The purpose of this study is two-fold : firstly to establish an evaluation technique for HMI(Human Machine Interface) in NPPs(Nuclear Power Plants) and secondly to develop an architecture of a support system which can be used for the evaluation of HMI. In order to establish an evaluation technique, this study conducted literature review on basic theories of cognitive science studies and summarized the cognitive characteristics of humans. This study also surveyed evaluation techniques of HMI in general, and reviewed studies on the evaluation of HMI in NPPs. On the basis of this survey, the study established a procedure for the evaluation of HMI in NPPs in Korea and laid a foundation for empirical verification

  17. Computer-based diagnostic monitoring to enhance the human-machine interface of complex processes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, I.S.

    1992-02-01

    There is a growing interest in introducing an automated, on-line, diagnostic monitoring function into the human-machine interfaces (HMIs) or control rooms of complex process plants. The design of such a system should be properly integrated with other HMI systems in the control room, such as the alarms system or the Safety Parameter Display System (SPDS). This paper provides a conceptual foundation for the development of a Plant-wide Diagnostic Monitoring System (PDMS), along with functional requirements for the system and other advanced HMI systems. Insights are presented into the design of an efficient and robust PDMS, which were gained from a critical review of various methodologies developed in the nuclear power industry, the chemical process industry, and the space technological community

  18. Human-Machine Communication

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Farbrot, J.E.; Nihlwing, Ch.; Svengren, H.

    2005-01-01

    New requirements for enhanced safety and design changes in process systems often leads to a step-wise installation of new information and control equipment in the control room of older nuclear power plants, where nowadays modern digital I and C solutions with screen-based human-machine interfaces (HMI) most often are introduced. Human factors (HF) expertise is then required to assist in specifying a unified, integrated HMI, where the entire integration of information is addressed to ensure an optimal and effective interplay between human (operators) and machine (process). Following a controlled design process is the best insurance for ending up with good solutions. This paper addresses the approach taken when introducing modern human-machine communication in the Oskarshamn 1 NPP, the results, and the lessons learned from this work with high operator involvement seen from an HF point of view. Examples of possibilities modern technology might offer for the operators are also addressed. (orig.)

  19. Design of HumanMachine Interface and Altering of Pelvic Obliquity with RGR Trainer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pietrusinski, Maciej; Unluhisarcikli, Ozer; Mavroidis, Constantinos; Cajigas, Iahn; Bonato, Paolo

    2012-01-01

    The Robotic Gait Rehabilitation (RGR) Trainer targets secondary gait deviations in stroke survivors undergoing rehabilitation. Using an impedance control strategy and a linear electromagnetic actuator, the device generates a force field to control pelvic obliquity through a Human-Machine Interface (i.e. a lower body exoskeleton). Herein we describe the design of the RGR Trainer Human-Machine Interface (HMI) and we demonstrate the system’s ability to alter the pattern of movement of the pelvis during gait in a healthy subject. Results are shown for experiments during which we induced hip-hiking – in healthy subjects. Our findings indicate that the RGR Trainer has the ability of affecting pelvic obliquity during gait. Furthermore, we provide preliminary evidence of short-term retention of the modified pelvic obliquity pattern induced by the RGR Trainer. PMID:22275693

  20. Autotuning of PID controller by means of human machine interface device

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michał Awtoniuk

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available More and more control systems are based on industry microprocessors like PLC controllers (Programmable Logic Controller. The most commonly used control algorithm is PID (Proportional-Integral-Derivative algorithm. Autotuning procedure is not available in every PLC. These controllers are typically used in cooperation with HMI (Human Machine Interface devices. In the study two procedures of autotuning of the PID controller were implemented in the HMI device: step method and relay method. Six tuning rules for step methods and one for relay method were chosen. The autotuning procedures on simulated controlled object and PLC controller without build-in autotuning were tested. The object of control was first order system plus time delay.

  1. A novel device for head gesture measurement system in combination with eye-controlled human machine interface

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Chern-Sheng; Ho, Chien-Wa; Chang, Kai-Chieh; Hung, San-Shan; Shei, Hung-Jung; Yeh, Mau-Shiun

    2006-06-01

    This study describes the design and combination of an eye-controlled and a head-controlled human-machine interface system. This system is a highly effective human-machine interface, detecting head movement by changing positions and numbers of light sources on the head. When the users utilize the head-mounted display to browse a computer screen, the system will catch the images of the user's eyes with CCD cameras, which can also measure the angle and position of the light sources. In the eye-tracking system, the program in the computer will locate each center point of the pupils in the images, and record the information on moving traces and pupil diameters. In the head gesture measurement system, the user wears a double-source eyeglass frame, so the system catches images of the user's head by using a CCD camera in front of the user. The computer program will locate the center point of the head, transferring it to the screen coordinates, and then the user can control the cursor by head motions. We combine the eye-controlled and head-controlled human-machine interface system for the virtual reality applications.

  2. Materials and optimized designs for human-machine interfaces via epidermal electronics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jeong, Jae-Woong; Yeo, Woon-Hong; Akhtar, Aadeel; Norton, James J S; Kwack, Young-Jin; Li, Shuo; Jung, Sung-Young; Su, Yewang; Lee, Woosik; Xia, Jing; Cheng, Huanyu; Huang, Yonggang; Choi, Woon-Seop; Bretl, Timothy; Rogers, John A

    2013-12-17

    Thin, soft, and elastic electronics with physical properties well matched to the epidermis can be conformally and robustly integrated with the skin. Materials and optimized designs for such devices are presented for surface electromyography (sEMG). The findings enable sEMG from wide ranging areas of the body. The measurements have quality sufficient for advanced forms of human-machine interface. © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  3. Toward FRP-Based Brain-Machine Interfaces-Single-Trial Classification of Fixation-Related Potentials.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrea Finke

    Full Text Available The co-registration of eye tracking and electroencephalography provides a holistic measure of ongoing cognitive processes. Recently, fixation-related potentials have been introduced to quantify the neural activity in such bi-modal recordings. Fixation-related potentials are time-locked to fixation onsets, just like event-related potentials are locked to stimulus onsets. Compared to existing electroencephalography-based brain-machine interfaces that depend on visual stimuli, fixation-related potentials have the advantages that they can be used in free, unconstrained viewing conditions and can also be classified on a single-trial level. Thus, fixation-related potentials have the potential to allow for conceptually different brain-machine interfaces that directly interpret cortical activity related to the visual processing of specific objects. However, existing research has investigated fixation-related potentials only with very restricted and highly unnatural stimuli in simple search tasks while participant's body movements were restricted. We present a study where we relieved many of these restrictions while retaining some control by using a gaze-contingent visual search task. In our study, participants had to find a target object out of 12 complex and everyday objects presented on a screen while the electrical activity of the brain and eye movements were recorded simultaneously. Our results show that our proposed method for the classification of fixation-related potentials can clearly discriminate between fixations on relevant, non-relevant and background areas. Furthermore, we show that our classification approach generalizes not only to different test sets from the same participant, but also across participants. These results promise to open novel avenues for exploiting fixation-related potentials in electroencephalography-based brain-machine interfaces and thus providing a novel means for intuitive human-machine interaction.

  4. Mechanically Compliant Electronic Materials for Wearable Photovoltaics and Human-Machine Interfaces

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Connor, Timothy Francis, III

    Applications of stretchable electronic materials for human-machine interfaces are described herein. Intrinsically stretchable organic conjugated polymers and stretchable electronic composites were used to develop stretchable organic photovoltaics (OPVs), mechanically robust wearable OPVs, and human-machine interfaces for gesture recognition, American Sign Language Translation, haptic control of robots, and touch emulation for virtual reality, augmented reality, and the transmission of touch. The stretchable and wearable OPVs comprise active layers of poly-3-alkylthiophene:phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (P3AT:PCBM) and transparent conductive electrodes of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) and devices could only be fabricated through a deep understanding of the connection between molecular structure and the co-engineering of electronic performance with mechanical resilience. The talk concludes with the use of composite piezoresistive sensors two smart glove prototypes. The first integrates stretchable strain sensors comprising a carbon-elastomer composite, a wearable microcontroller, low energy Bluetooth, and a 6-axis accelerometer/gyroscope to construct a fully functional gesture recognition glove capable of wirelessly translating American Sign Language to text on a cell phone screen. The second creates a system for the haptic control of a 3D printed robot arm, as well as the transmission of touch and temperature information.

  5. Cognitive Human-Machine Interface Applied in Remote Support for Industrial Robot Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tomasz Kosicki

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available An attempt is currently being made to widely introduce industrial robots to Small-Medium Enterprises (SMEs. Since the enterprises usually employ too small number of robot units to afford specialized departments for robot maintenance, they must be provided with inexpensive and immediate support remotely. This paper evaluates whether the support can be provided by means of Cognitive Info-communication – communication in which human cognitive capabilities are extended irrespectively of geographical distances. The evaluations are given with an aid of experimental system that consists of local and remote rooms, which are physically separated – a six-degree-of-freedom NACHI SH133-03 industrial robot is situated in the local room, while the operator, who supervises the robot by means of audio-visual Cognitive Human-Machine Interface, is situated in the remote room. The results of simple experiments show that Cognitive Info-communication is not only efficient mean to provide the support remotely, but is probably also a powerful tool to enhance interaction with any data-rich environment that require good conceptual understanding of system's state and careful attention management. Furthermore, the paper discusses data presentation and reduction methods for data-rich environments, as well as introduces the concepts of Naturally Acquired Data and Cognitive Human-Machine Interfaces.

  6. Some trends in man-machine interface design for industrial process plants

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rasmussen, Jens

    1980-01-01

    . In the paper, problems related to interface design, operator training and human reliability are discussed in the light of this technological development, and an integrated approach to system design based on a consistent model or framework describing the man-machine interaction is advocated.The work presented......The demands for an efficient and reliable man-machine inter-face in industrial process plant are increasing due to the steadily growing size and complexity of installations. At the same time, computerized technology offers the possibility of powerful and effective solutions to designers...

  7. Human-machine interface software package

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu, D.K.; Zhang, C.Z.

    1992-01-01

    The Man-Machine Interface software Package (MMISP) is designed to configure the console software of PLS 60 Mev LINAC control system. The control system of PLS 60 Mev LINAC is a distributed control system which includes the main computer (Intel 310) four local station, and two sets of industrial level console computer. The MMISP provides the operator with the display page editor, various I/O configuration such as digital signals In/Out, analog signal In/Out, waveform TV graphic display, and interactive with operator through graphic picture display, voice explanation, and touch panel. This paper describes its function and application. (author)

  8. Human Machine Interfaces for Teleoperators and Virtual Environments Conference

    Science.gov (United States)

    1990-01-01

    In a teleoperator system the human operator senses, moves within, and operates upon a remote or hazardous environment by means of a slave mechanism (a mechanism often referred to as a teleoperator). In a virtual environment system the interactive human machine interface is retained but the slave mechanism and its environment are replaced by a computer simulation. Video is replaced by computer graphics. The auditory and force sensations imparted to the human operator are similarly computer generated. In contrast to a teleoperator system, where the purpose is to extend the operator's sensorimotor system in a manner that facilitates exploration and manipulation of the physical environment, in a virtual environment system, the purpose is to train, inform, alter, or study the human operator to modify the state of the computer and the information environment. A major application in which the human operator is the target is that of flight simulation. Although flight simulators have been around for more than a decade, they had little impact outside aviation presumably because the application was so specialized and so expensive.

  9. Evaluasi Human Machine Interface Menggunakan Kriteria Usability Pada Sistem E-learning Perguruan Tinggi

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Akhmad Qashlim

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Integration HMI with usability in user interface design process is a standart of the success of a website. The design process is done through the approach to the end user to find a problem solution of human machine interface phenomena. It can also generate the maximum level of satisfaction and success of implementation of the website. The purpose of this research is to evaluate HMI using usabilitycriteria to know the application of HMI concept in e-learning and provide proposals for improvements to the HMI. Questionnaire Data were processed using a descriptive analysis and methods of CFA to know the variables that are weakest and which indicators have an important role in shaping the research variables. Evaluation results indicate the application concept of HMI in the e-learning had been done but not the maximum. Data analysis of the results obtained that the main problem lies in the accessibility criteria in the meantime indicator latent variables from forming error prevention, learnability, memorability, visibility and accessibility of influential factor loading values indicated significantly (unidimensionalitas in shaping the criteria of latent variables in first-order CFA. The end result of this research is the proposal of improvement as a HMI solution in the form of principles and technicsuser interface design. This solution is focused on the development of standards for the quality of the interface in e-learning systems and not on the digital learning content presented on the e-learning system. Keywords: Descriptive analisis; Human machine interface; Usability; Confirmatory factor analisys; Elearning

  10. Outline of human machine interface at Rokkasho reprocessing plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Niioka, T.; Miyazaki, T.; Fujita, D.; Esashika, A.; Yoshida, Y.; Nakamura, W.; Tochigi, T.; Yoshimoto, A.; Yokoi, M.

    2006-01-01

    The Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited (JNFL) has been performing the active tests since the end of March, 2006, for its Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant using the spent fuels retrieved from the Light Water Reactors. At the early stage of the tests relatively low burn-up fuels have been used, and the burn-up will be increased at later stages until the start of commercial operation planned next year. The plant is operated from the main control room in the Control Building, where two types of operator consoles are located for plant monitoring and operation. The Operator Interface Station (OIS) driven by computer systems is chiefly used for instrumentation and control for production activities during normal operation. In addition to this, safety panels composed of hardware circuits are installed for nuclear safety functions such as criticality safety management, explosion protection, and confinement of radioactive materials. This paper outlines the Human Machine Interface features applied to the Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant. (authors)

  11. On the applicability of brain reading for predictive human-machine interfaces in robotics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kirchner, Elsa Andrea; Kim, Su Kyoung; Straube, Sirko; Seeland, Anett; Wöhrle, Hendrik; Krell, Mario Michael; Tabie, Marc; Fahle, Manfred

    2013-01-01

    The ability of today's robots to autonomously support humans in their daily activities is still limited. To improve this, predictive human-machine interfaces (HMIs) can be applied to better support future interaction between human and machine. To infer upcoming context-based behavior relevant brain states of the human have to be detected. This is achieved by brain reading (BR), a passive approach for single trial EEG analysis that makes use of supervised machine learning (ML) methods. In this work we propose that BR is able to detect concrete states of the interacting human. To support this, we show that BR detects patterns in the electroencephalogram (EEG) that can be related to event-related activity in the EEG like the P300, which are indicators of concrete states or brain processes like target recognition processes. Further, we improve the robustness and applicability of BR in application-oriented scenarios by identifying and combining most relevant training data for single trial classification and by applying classifier transfer. We show that training and testing, i.e., application of the classifier, can be carried out on different classes, if the samples of both classes miss a relevant pattern. Classifier transfer is important for the usage of BR in application scenarios, where only small amounts of training examples are available. Finally, we demonstrate a dual BR application in an experimental setup that requires similar behavior as performed during the teleoperation of a robotic arm. Here, target recognition processes and movement preparation processes are detected simultaneously. In summary, our findings contribute to the development of robust and stable predictive HMIs that enable the simultaneous support of different interaction behaviors.

  12. On the applicability of brain reading for predictive human-machine interfaces in robotics.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elsa Andrea Kirchner

    Full Text Available The ability of today's robots to autonomously support humans in their daily activities is still limited. To improve this, predictive human-machine interfaces (HMIs can be applied to better support future interaction between human and machine. To infer upcoming context-based behavior relevant brain states of the human have to be detected. This is achieved by brain reading (BR, a passive approach for single trial EEG analysis that makes use of supervised machine learning (ML methods. In this work we propose that BR is able to detect concrete states of the interacting human. To support this, we show that BR detects patterns in the electroencephalogram (EEG that can be related to event-related activity in the EEG like the P300, which are indicators of concrete states or brain processes like target recognition processes. Further, we improve the robustness and applicability of BR in application-oriented scenarios by identifying and combining most relevant training data for single trial classification and by applying classifier transfer. We show that training and testing, i.e., application of the classifier, can be carried out on different classes, if the samples of both classes miss a relevant pattern. Classifier transfer is important for the usage of BR in application scenarios, where only small amounts of training examples are available. Finally, we demonstrate a dual BR application in an experimental setup that requires similar behavior as performed during the teleoperation of a robotic arm. Here, target recognition processes and movement preparation processes are detected simultaneously. In summary, our findings contribute to the development of robust and stable predictive HMIs that enable the simultaneous support of different interaction behaviors.

  13. A Tool for Assessing the Text Legibility of Digital Human Machine Interfaces

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Roger Lew; Ronald L. Boring; Thomas A. Ulrich

    2015-08-01

    A tool intended to aid qualified professionals in the assessment of the legibility of text presented on a digital display is described. The assessment of legibility is primarily for the purposes of designing and analyzing human machine interfaces in accordance with NUREG-0700 and MIL-STD 1472G. The tool addresses shortcomings of existing guidelines by providing more accurate metrics of text legibility with greater sensitivity to design alternatives.

  14. Human reliability and the man/machine interface: what do we do after the control room review

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Folley, J.D. Jr.; Schurman, D.L.

    1983-01-01

    The nuclear industry has focused on only one aspect of the man/machine interface--human factors engineering of control rooms - to enhance nuclear power plant (NPP) safety. There are other factors that profoundly affect the reliability of the operators and maintenance personnel of NPP which, thus, affect NPP safety and availability. This paper discusses the factors of training, selection, job engineering, and work satisfaction, describing the potential effects on reactor safety of these factors at the man/machine interface. The impact of these factors on safety and plant availability is illustrated with examples of results obtained in other fields

  15. Study on HRA-based method for assessing digital man-machine interface

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li Pengcheng; Dai Licao; Zhang Li; Zhao Ming; Hu Hong

    2014-01-01

    In order to identify the design flaws of digital man-machine interface (MMI) that may trigger human errors or weaken the performance of operators, a HRA-based method (namely HCR + CREAM + HEC) for assessing digital MMI was established. Firstly, the HCR method was used to identify the risk scenarios of high human error probability from the overall event as a whole perspective. Then, for the identified high-risk scenarios, the CREAM was adopted to determine the various error modes and its error probability, and the failure probability was ranked. Finally, the human factors engineering checklist of digital MMI was established according to the characteristics of digital MMI, it was used to check the digital MMI with high error probability in order to identify the design flaws of digital MMI, and the suggestions of optimization were provided. The results show that the provided assessment method can quickly and efficiently identify the design flaws of digital MMI which easily trigger human errors, and the safety of operation of the digital control system for nuclear power plants can be enhanced by optimization of design. (authors)

  16. Ultrasensitive and Highly Stable Resistive Pressure Sensors with Biomaterial-Incorporated Interfacial Layers for Wearable Health-Monitoring and Human-Machine Interfaces.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chang, Hochan; Kim, Sungwoong; Jin, Sumin; Lee, Seung-Woo; Yang, Gil-Tae; Lee, Ki-Young; Yi, Hyunjung

    2018-01-10

    Flexible piezoresistive sensors have huge potential for health monitoring, human-machine interfaces, prosthetic limbs, and intelligent robotics. A variety of nanomaterials and structural schemes have been proposed for realizing ultrasensitive flexible piezoresistive sensors. However, despite the success of recent efforts, high sensitivity within narrower pressure ranges and/or the challenging adhesion and stability issues still potentially limit their broad applications. Herein, we introduce a biomaterial-based scheme for the development of flexible pressure sensors that are ultrasensitive (resistance change by 5 orders) over a broad pressure range of 0.1-100 kPa, promptly responsive (20 ms), and yet highly stable. We show that employing biomaterial-incorporated conductive networks of single-walled carbon nanotubes as interfacial layers of contact-based resistive pressure sensors significantly enhances piezoresistive response via effective modulation of the interlayer resistance and provides stable interfaces for the pressure sensors. The developed flexible sensor is capable of real-time monitoring of wrist pulse waves under external medium pressure levels and providing pressure profiles applied by a thumb and a forefinger during object manipulation at a low voltage (1 V) and power consumption (<12 μW). This work provides a new insight into the material candidates and approaches for the development of wearable health-monitoring and human-machine interfaces.

  17. Man machine interface based on speech recognition

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jorge, Carlos A.F.; Aghina, Mauricio A.C.; Mol, Antonio C.A.; Pereira, Claudio M.N.A.

    2007-01-01

    This work reports the development of a Man Machine Interface based on speech recognition. The system must recognize spoken commands, and execute the desired tasks, without manual interventions of operators. The range of applications goes from the execution of commands in an industrial plant's control room, to navigation and interaction in virtual environments. Results are reported for isolated word recognition, the isolated words corresponding to the spoken commands. For the pre-processing stage, relevant parameters are extracted from the speech signals, using the cepstral analysis technique, that are used for isolated word recognition, and corresponds to the inputs of an artificial neural network, that performs recognition tasks. (author)

  18. An information theory based approach for quantitative evaluation of man-machine interface complexity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kang, Hyun Gook

    1999-02-01

    In complex and high-risk work conditions, especially such as in nuclear power plants, human understanding of the plant is highly cognitive and thus largely dependent on the effectiveness of the man-machine interface system. In order to provide more effective and reliable operating conditions for future nuclear power plants, developing more credible and easy to use evaluation methods will afford great help in designing interface systems in a more efficient manner. In this study, in order to analyze the human-machine interactions, I propose the Human-processor Communication(HPC) model which is based on the information flow concept. It identifies the information flow around a human-processor. Information flow has two aspects: appearance and content. Based on the HPC model, I propose two kinds of measures for evaluating a user interface from the viewpoint of these two aspects of information flow. They measure the communicative complexity of each aspect. In this study, for the evaluation of the aspect of appearance, I propose three complexity measures: Operation Complexity, Transition Complexity, and Screen Complexity. Each one of these measures has its own physical meaning. Two experiments carried out in this work support the utility of these measures. The result of the quiz game experiment shows that as the complexity of task context increases, the usage of the interface system becomes more complex. The experimental results of the three example systems(digital view, LDP style view and hierarchy view) show the utility of the proposed complexity measures. In this study, for the evaluation of the aspect of content, I propose the degree of informational coincidence, R (K, P) as a measure for the usefulness of an alarm-processing system. It is designed to perform user-oriented evaluation based on the informational entropy concept. It will be especially useful inearly design phase because designers can estimate the usefulness of an alarm system by short calculations instead

  19. An information theory based approach for quantitative evaluation of man-machine interface complexity

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kang, Hyun Gook

    1999-02-15

    In complex and high-risk work conditions, especially such as in nuclear power plants, human understanding of the plant is highly cognitive and thus largely dependent on the effectiveness of the man-machine interface system. In order to provide more effective and reliable operating conditions for future nuclear power plants, developing more credible and easy to use evaluation methods will afford great help in designing interface systems in a more efficient manner. In this study, in order to analyze the human-machine interactions, I propose the Human-processor Communication(HPC) model which is based on the information flow concept. It identifies the information flow around a human-processor. Information flow has two aspects: appearance and content. Based on the HPC model, I propose two kinds of measures for evaluating a user interface from the viewpoint of these two aspects of information flow. They measure the communicative complexity of each aspect. In this study, for the evaluation of the aspect of appearance, I propose three complexity measures: Operation Complexity, Transition Complexity, and Screen Complexity. Each one of these measures has its own physical meaning. Two experiments carried out in this work support the utility of these measures. The result of the quiz game experiment shows that as the complexity of task context increases, the usage of the interface system becomes more complex. The experimental results of the three example systems(digital view, LDP style view and hierarchy view) show the utility of the proposed complexity measures. In this study, for the evaluation of the aspect of content, I propose the degree of informational coincidence, R (K, P) as a measure for the usefulness of an alarm-processing system. It is designed to perform user-oriented evaluation based on the informational entropy concept. It will be especially useful inearly design phase because designers can estimate the usefulness of an alarm system by short calculations instead

  20. Human machine interface based on labview for vacuum system operation of cyclotron proton DECY-13 MeV

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fajar Sidik Permana; Saminto; Kurnia Wibowo; Vika Arwida Fanita Sari

    2016-01-01

    Center of Accelerator Science and Technology (CAST), BATAN is designing DECY-13 MeV Proton Cyclotron. So far, this operation system has been conducted conventionally. In this research, an Human Machine Interface system has been successfully built for simplifying operation and monitoring pressure inside vacuum chamber of cyclotron DECY-13 MeV. HMI system is built with LabVIEW software and integrated with Programmable Logic Controller FX-2424 series and NI cRIO (NI-9025 and NI-9870) module. HMI system consist of turning on/of pumps (rotary and diffusion), opening/ closing valve automatically, and retrieving of data from sensor in real time. (author)

  1. Multichannel noninvasive human-machine interface via stretchable µm thick sEMG patches for robot manipulation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Ying; Wang, Youhua; Liu, Runfeng; Xiao, Lin; Zhang, Qin; Huang, YongAn

    2018-01-01

    Epidermal electronics (e-skin) emerging in recent years offer the opportunity to noninvasively and wearably extract biosignals from human bodies. The conventional processes of e-skin based on standard microelectronic fabrication processes and a variety of transfer printing methods, nevertheless, unquestionably constrains the size of the devices, posing a serious challenge to collecting signals via skin, the largest organ in the human body. Herein we propose a multichannel noninvasive human-machine interface (HMI) using stretchable surface electromyography (sEMG) patches to realize a robot hand mimicking human gestures. Time-efficient processes are first developed to manufacture µm thick large-scale stretchable devices. With micron thickness, the stretchable µm thick sEMG patches show excellent conformability with human skin and consequently comparable electrical performance with conventional gel electrodes. Combined with the large-scale size, the multichannel noninvasive HMI via stretchable µm thick sEMG patches successfully manipulates the robot hand with eight different gestures, whose precision is as high as conventional gel electrodes array.

  2. Controlling a virtual forehand prosthesis using an adaptive and affective Human-Machine Interface.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rezazadeh, I Mohammad; Firoozabadi, S M P; Golpayegani, S M R Hashemi; Hu, H

    2011-01-01

    This paper presents the design of an adaptable Human-Machine Interface (HMI) for controlling virtual forearm prosthesis. Direct physical performance measures (obtained score and completion time) for the requested tasks were calculated. Furthermore, bioelectric signals from the forehead were recorded using one pair of electrodes placed on the frontal region of the subject head to extract the mental (affective) measures while performing the tasks. By employing the proposed algorithm and above measures, the proposed HMI can adapt itself to the subject's mental states, thus improving the usability of the interface. The quantitative results from 15 subjects show that the proposed HMI achieved better physical performance measures in comparison to a conventional non-adaptive myoelectric controller (p < 0.001).

  3. Stretchable human-machine interface based on skin-conformal sEMG electrodes with self-similar geometry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dong, Wentao; Zhu, Chen; Hu, Wei; Xiao, Lin; Huang, Yong'an

    2018-01-01

    Current stretchable surface electrodes have attracted increasing attention owing to their potential applications in biological signal monitoring, wearable human-machine interfaces (HMIs) and the Internet of Things. The paper proposed a stretchable HMI based on a surface electromyography (sEMG) electrode with a self-similar serpentine configuration. The sEMG electrode was transfer-printed onto the skin surface conformally to monitor biological signals, followed by signal classification and controlling of a mobile robot. Such electrodes can bear rather large deformation (such as >30%) under an appropriate areal coverage. The sEMG electrodes have been used to record electrophysiological signals from different parts of the body with sharp curvature, such as the index finger, back of the neck and face, and they exhibit great potential for HMI in the fields of robotics and healthcare. The electrodes placed onto the two wrists would generate two different signals with the fist clenched and loosened. It is classified to four kinds of signals with a combination of the gestures from the two wrists, that is, four control modes. Experiments demonstrated that the electrodes were successfully used as an HMI to control the motion of a mobile robot remotely. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51635007, 91323303).

  4. Use of models and mockups in verifying man-machine interfaces

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Seminara, J.L.

    1985-01-01

    The objective of Human Factors Engineering is to tailor the design of facilities and equipment systems to match the capabilities and limitations of the personnel who will operate and maintain the system. This optimization of the man-machine interface is undertaken to enhance the prospects for safe, reliable, timely, and error-free human performance in meeting system objectives. To ensure the eventual success of a complex man-machine system it is important to systematically and progressively test and verify the adequacy of man-machine interfaces from initial design concepts to system operation. Human factors specialists employ a variety of methods to evaluate the quality of the human-system interface. These methods include: (1) Reviews of two-dimensional drawings using appropriately scaled transparent overlays of personnel spanning the anthropometric range, considering clothing and protective gear encumbrances (2) Use of articulated, scaled, plastic templates or manikins that are overlayed on equipment or facility drawings (3) Development of computerized manikins in computer aided design approaches (4) Use of three-dimensional scale models to better conceptualize work stations, control rooms or maintenance facilities (5) Full or half-scale mockups of system components to evaluate operator/maintainer interfaces (6) Part of full-task dynamic simulation of operator or maintainer tasks and interactive system responses (7) Laboratory and field research to establish human performance capabilities with alternative system design concepts or configurations. Of the design verification methods listed above, this paper will only consider the use of models and mockups in the design process

  5. The CANDU man-machine interface and simulator training

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hinchley, E.M.; Yanofsky, N.

    1982-09-01

    The most significant features of the man-machine interface for CANDU power stations are the extensive use of computer-driven colour graphics displays and the small number of manual controls. The man-machine interface in CANDU stations is designed to present the operator with concise, easy-to-understand information. Future developments in the use of computers in safety shutdown systems, and the use of data highway technologies in plant regulating systems will present special requirements and new opportunities in the application of human factors engineering to the control room. Good man-machine interaction depends on operator training as much as on control room design. In Canada computerized training simulators, which indicate plant response to operator action, are being introducted for operator training. Such simulators support training in normal operation of all plant systems and also in the fault management tasks following malfunctions

  6. Framework for man-machine interface design evaluation system considering cognitive factor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Itoh, Toru; Sasaki, Kazunori; Yoshikawa, Hidekazu; Takahashi, Makoto; Furuta, Tomihiko.

    1994-01-01

    It is necessary to improve human reliability in order to gain a higher reliability of the total plant system taking an account of development of plant automation and improvement of machine reliability. Therefore, the role of the man-machine system will come to be important. Accordingly, the evaluation of the man-machine system design information is desired in order to solve the mismatch problem between plant information presented by the man-machine system and information required by the operator comprehensively. This paper discusses required functions and software framework for the man-machine interface design evaluation system. The man-machine interface design evaluation system has features to extract the potential matters which are inherent on the design information of man-machine system by simulating the operator behavior, the plant system and the man-machine system, considering the operator's cognitive performance and time dependency. (author)

  7. Personalized keystroke dynamics for self-powered human--machine interfacing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Jun; Zhu, Guang; Yang, Jin; Jing, Qingshen; Bai, Peng; Yang, Weiqing; Qi, Xuewei; Su, Yuanjie; Wang, Zhong Lin

    2015-01-27

    The computer keyboard is one of the most common, reliable, accessible, and effective tools used for human--machine interfacing and information exchange. Although keyboards have been used for hundreds of years for advancing human civilization, studying human behavior by keystroke dynamics using smart keyboards remains a great challenge. Here we report a self-powered, non-mechanical-punching keyboard enabled by contact electrification between human fingers and keys, which converts mechanical stimuli applied to the keyboard into local electronic signals without applying an external power. The intelligent keyboard (IKB) can not only sensitively trigger a wireless alarm system once gentle finger tapping occurs but also trace and record typed content by detecting both the dynamic time intervals between and during the inputting of letters and the force used for each typing action. Such features hold promise for its use as a smart security system that can realize detection, alert, recording, and identification. Moreover, the IKB is able to identify personal characteristics from different individuals, assisted by the behavioral biometric of keystroke dynamics. Furthermore, the IKB can effectively harness typing motions for electricity to charge commercial electronics at arbitrary typing speeds greater than 100 characters per min. Given the above features, the IKB can be potentially applied not only to self-powered electronics but also to artificial intelligence, cyber security, and computer or network access control.

  8. Human-machine Interface for Presentation Robot

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Krejsa, Jiří; Ondroušek, V.

    2012-01-01

    Roč. 6, č. 2 (2012), s. 17-21 ISSN 1897-8649 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z20760514 Keywords : human-robot interface * mobile robot * presentation robot Subject RIV: JD - Computer Applications, Robotics

  9. Soft Material-Enabled, Flexible Hybrid Electronics for Medicine, Healthcare, and Human-Machine Interfaces.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herbert, Robert; Kim, Jong-Hoon; Kim, Yun Soung; Lee, Hye Moon; Yeo, Woon-Hong

    2018-01-24

    Flexible hybrid electronics (FHE), designed in wearable and implantable configurations, have enormous applications in advanced healthcare, rapid disease diagnostics, and persistent human-machine interfaces. Soft, contoured geometries and time-dynamic deformation of the targeted tissues require high flexibility and stretchability of the integrated bioelectronics. Recent progress in developing and engineering soft materials has provided a unique opportunity to design various types of mechanically compliant and deformable systems. Here, we summarize the required properties of soft materials and their characteristics for configuring sensing and substrate components in wearable and implantable devices and systems. Details of functionality and sensitivity of the recently developed FHE are discussed with the application areas in medicine, healthcare, and machine interactions. This review concludes with a discussion on limitations of current materials, key requirements for next generation materials, and new application areas.

  10. Optimal design method to minimize users' thinking mapping load in human-machine interactions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Yanqun; Li, Xu; Zhang, Jie

    2015-01-01

    The discrepancy between human cognition and machine requirements/behaviors usually results in serious mental thinking mapping loads or even disasters in product operating. It is important to help people avoid human-machine interaction confusions and difficulties in today's mental work mastered society. Improving the usability of a product and minimizing user's thinking mapping and interpreting load in human-machine interactions. An optimal human-machine interface design method is introduced, which is based on the purpose of minimizing the mental load in thinking mapping process between users' intentions and affordance of product interface states. By analyzing the users' thinking mapping problem, an operating action model is constructed. According to human natural instincts and acquired knowledge, an expected ideal design with minimized thinking loads is uniquely determined at first. Then, creative alternatives, in terms of the way human obtains operational information, are provided as digital interface states datasets. In the last, using the cluster analysis method, an optimum solution is picked out from alternatives, by calculating the distances between two datasets. Considering multiple factors to minimize users' thinking mapping loads, a solution nearest to the ideal value is found in the human-car interaction design case. The clustering results show its effectiveness in finding an optimum solution to the mental load minimizing problems in human-machine interaction design.

  11. A human-machine interface evaluation method: A difficulty evaluation method in information searching (DEMIS)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ha, Jun Su; Seong, Poong Hyun

    2009-01-01

    A human-machine interface (HMI) evaluation method, which is named 'difficulty evaluation method in information searching (DEMIS)', is proposed and demonstrated with an experimental study. The DEMIS is based on a human performance model and two measures of attentional-resource effectiveness in monitoring and detection tasks in nuclear power plants (NPPs). Operator competence and HMI design are modeled to be most significant factors to human performance. One of the two effectiveness measures is fixation-to-importance ratio (FIR) which represents attentional resource (eye fixations) spent on an information source compared to importance of the information source. The other measure is selective attention effectiveness (SAE) which incorporates FIRs for all information sources. The underlying principle of the measures is that the information source should be selectively attended to according to its informational importance. In this study, poor performance in information searching tasks is modeled to be coupled with difficulties caused by poor mental models of operators or/and poor HMI design. Human performance in information searching tasks is evaluated by analyzing the FIR and the SAE. Operator mental models are evaluated by a questionnaire-based method. Then difficulties caused by a poor HMI design are evaluated by a focused interview based on the FIR evaluation and then root causes leading to poor performance are identified in a systematic way.

  12. Man-machine interface requirements - advanced technology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Remington, R. W.; Wiener, E. L.

    1984-01-01

    Research issues and areas are identified where increased understanding of the human operator and the interaction between the operator and the avionics could lead to improvements in the performance of current and proposed helicopters. Both current and advanced helicopter systems and avionics are considered. Areas critical to man-machine interface requirements include: (1) artificial intelligence; (2) visual displays; (3) voice technology; (4) cockpit integration; and (5) pilot work loads and performance.

  13. Soft Material-Enabled, Flexible Hybrid Electronics for Medicine, Healthcare, and Human-Machine Interfaces

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herbert, Robert; Kim, Jong-Hoon; Kim, Yun Soung; Lee, Hye Moon

    2018-01-01

    Flexible hybrid electronics (FHE), designed in wearable and implantable configurations, have enormous applications in advanced healthcare, rapid disease diagnostics, and persistent human-machine interfaces. Soft, contoured geometries and time-dynamic deformation of the targeted tissues require high flexibility and stretchability of the integrated bioelectronics. Recent progress in developing and engineering soft materials has provided a unique opportunity to design various types of mechanically compliant and deformable systems. Here, we summarize the required properties of soft materials and their characteristics for configuring sensing and substrate components in wearable and implantable devices and systems. Details of functionality and sensitivity of the recently developed FHE are discussed with the application areas in medicine, healthcare, and machine interactions. This review concludes with a discussion on limitations of current materials, key requirements for next generation materials, and new application areas. PMID:29364861

  14. Soft Material-Enabled, Flexible Hybrid Electronics for Medicine, Healthcare, and Human-Machine Interfaces

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Robert Herbert

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Flexible hybrid electronics (FHE, designed in wearable and implantable configurations, have enormous applications in advanced healthcare, rapid disease diagnostics, and persistent human-machine interfaces. Soft, contoured geometries and time-dynamic deformation of the targeted tissues require high flexibility and stretchability of the integrated bioelectronics. Recent progress in developing and engineering soft materials has provided a unique opportunity to design various types of mechanically compliant and deformable systems. Here, we summarize the required properties of soft materials and their characteristics for configuring sensing and substrate components in wearable and implantable devices and systems. Details of functionality and sensitivity of the recently developed FHE are discussed with the application areas in medicine, healthcare, and machine interactions. This review concludes with a discussion on limitations of current materials, key requirements for next generation materials, and new application areas.

  15. Human-machine interface (HMI) report for 241-SY-101 data acquisition system (DACS) upgrade study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Truitt, R.W.

    1997-01-01

    This report provides an independent evaluation of information for a Windows based Human Machine Interface (HMI) to replace the existing DOS based Iconics HMI currently used in the Data Acquisition and Control System (DACS) used at Tank 241-SY-101. A fundamental reason for this evaluation is because of the difficulty of maintaining the system with obsolete, unsupported software. The DACS uses a software operator interface (Genesis for DOS HMI) that is no longer supported by its manufacturer, Iconics. In addition to its obsolescence, it is complex and difficult to train additional personnel on. The FY 1997 budget allocated $40K for phase 1 of a software/hardware upgrade that would have allowed the old DOS based system to be replaced by a current Windows based system. Unfortunately, budget constraints during FY 1997 has prompted deferral of the upgrade. The upgrade needs to be performed at the earliest possible time, before other failures render the system useless. Once completed, the upgrade could alleviate other concerns: spare pump software may be able to be incorporated into the same software as the existing pump, thereby eliminating the parallel path dilemma; and the newer, less complex software should expedite training of future personnel, and in the process, require that less technical time be required to maintain the system

  16. Neuro-robotics from brain machine interfaces to rehabilitation robotics

    CERN Document Server

    Artemiadis

    2014-01-01

    Neuro-robotics is one of the most multidisciplinary fields of the last decades, fusing information and knowledge from neuroscience, engineering and computer science. This book focuses on the results from the strategic alliance between Neuroscience and Robotics that help the scientific community to better understand the brain as well as design robotic devices and algorithms for interfacing humans and robots. The first part of the book introduces the idea of neuro-robotics, by presenting state-of-the-art bio-inspired devices. The second part of the book focuses on human-machine interfaces for pe

  17. Man-machine interface builders at the Advanced Photon Source

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anderson, M.D.

    1991-01-01

    Argonne National Laboratory is constructing a 7-GeV Advanced Photon Source for use as a synchrotron radiation source in basic and applied research. The controls and computing environment for this accelerator complex includes graphical operator interfaces to the machine based on Motif, X11, and PHIGS/PEX. Construction and operation of the control system for this accelerator relies upon interactive interface builder and diagram/editor type tools, as well as a run-time environment for the constructed displays which communicate with the physical machine via network connections. This paper discusses our experience with several commercial CUI builders, the inadequacies found in these, motivation for the development of an application- specific builder, and design and implementation strategies employed in the development of our own Man-Machine Interface builder. 5 refs

  18. Control rooms and man-machine interface in nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1990-08-01

    The importance of man-machine interface for ensuring safe and reliable operation of nuclear power plants has always been recognized. Since the early 1970's, the concepts of operator support and human factors have been increasingly used to better define the role of control rooms. In the late 1970's, the lessons learned from experience considerably accelerated the development of recommendations and regulatory requirements governing the resources and data available to operators in nuclear power plant control rooms, and specified the expertise required to assist them in case of need. This document summarizes the steps which have been taken and are being planned around the world to improve the man-machine interface for safe and economic power generation. It intends to present to the reader useful examples on some selected control room design and man-machine interface practices for operation and surveillance of nuclear power plants. 53 refs, 94 figs, 27 tabs

  19. The proposed human factors engineering program plan for man-machine interface system design of the next generation NPP in Korea

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Oh, I.S.; Lee, H.C.; Seo, S.M.; Cheon, S.W.; Park, K.O.; Lee, J.W.; Sim, B.S.

    1994-01-01

    Human factors application to nuclear power plant (NPP) design, especially, to man-machine interface system (MMIS) design becomes an important issue among the licensing requirements. Recently, the nuclear regulatory bodies require the evidence of systematic human factors application to the MMIS design. Human Factors Engineering Program Plan (HFEPP), as a basis and central one among the human factors application by the MMIS designers. This paper describes the framework of HFEPP for the MMIS design of next generation NPP (NG-NPP) in Korea. This framework provides an integral plan and some bases of the systematic application of human factors to the MMIS design, and consists of purpose and scope, codes and standards, human factors organization, human factors tasks, engineering control methodology, human factors documentations, and milestones. The proposed HFEPP is a top level document to define and describe human factors tasks, based on each step of MMIS design process, in view point of how, what, when and by whom to be performed. (author). 11 refs, 1 fig

  20. Participation in the ABWR Man-Machine interface design. Applicability to the Spanish Electrical Sector

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rodriguez, C.; Manrique Martin, A.; Nunez, J.

    1997-01-01

    Project coordinated by DTN within the advanced reactor programme. Participation in the design activities for the Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (ABWR) man-machine interface was divided into two phases: Phase I: Preparation of drawings for designing, developing and assessing the advanced control room Phase II: Application of these drawings in design activities Participation in this programme has led to the following possible future applications to the electrical sector: 1. Design and implementation of man-machine interfaces 2. Human factor criteria 3. Assessment of man-machine interfaces 4. Functional specification, computerised operating procedures 5. Computerised alarm prototypes. (Author)

  1. Human-Machine Interface for the Control of Multi-Function Systems Based on Electrocutaneous Menu: Application to Multi-Grasp Prosthetic Hands.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jose Gonzalez-Vargas

    Full Text Available Modern assistive devices are very sophisticated systems with multiple degrees of freedom. However, an effective and user-friendly control of these systems is still an open problem since conventional human-machine interfaces (HMI cannot easily accommodate the system's complexity. In HMIs, the user is responsible for generating unique patterns of command signals directly triggering the device functions. This approach can be difficult to implement when there are many functions (necessitating many command patterns and/or the user has a considerable impairment (limited number of available signal sources. In this study, we propose a novel concept for a general-purpose HMI where the controller and the user communicate bidirectionally to select the desired function. The system first presents possible choices to the user via electro-tactile stimulation; the user then acknowledges the desired choice by generating a single command signal. Therefore, the proposed approach simplifies the user communication interface (one signal to generate, decoding (one signal to recognize, and allows selecting from a number of options. To demonstrate the new concept the method was used in one particular application, namely, to implement the control of all the relevant functions in a state of the art commercial prosthetic hand without using any myoelectric channels. We performed experiments in healthy subjects and with one amputee to test the feasibility of the novel approach. The results showed that the performance of the novel HMI concept was comparable or, for some outcome measures, better than the classic myoelectric interfaces. The presented approach has a general applicability and the obtained results point out that it could be used to operate various assistive systems (e.g., prosthesis vs. wheelchair, or it could be integrated into other control schemes (e.g., myoelectric control, brain-machine interfaces in order to improve the usability of existing low

  2. Human-Machine Interface for the Control of Multi-Function Systems Based on Electrocutaneous Menu: Application to Multi-Grasp Prosthetic Hands.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gonzalez-Vargas, Jose; Dosen, Strahinja; Amsuess, Sebastian; Yu, Wenwei; Farina, Dario

    2015-01-01

    Modern assistive devices are very sophisticated systems with multiple degrees of freedom. However, an effective and user-friendly control of these systems is still an open problem since conventional human-machine interfaces (HMI) cannot easily accommodate the system's complexity. In HMIs, the user is responsible for generating unique patterns of command signals directly triggering the device functions. This approach can be difficult to implement when there are many functions (necessitating many command patterns) and/or the user has a considerable impairment (limited number of available signal sources). In this study, we propose a novel concept for a general-purpose HMI where the controller and the user communicate bidirectionally to select the desired function. The system first presents possible choices to the user via electro-tactile stimulation; the user then acknowledges the desired choice by generating a single command signal. Therefore, the proposed approach simplifies the user communication interface (one signal to generate), decoding (one signal to recognize), and allows selecting from a number of options. To demonstrate the new concept the method was used in one particular application, namely, to implement the control of all the relevant functions in a state of the art commercial prosthetic hand without using any myoelectric channels. We performed experiments in healthy subjects and with one amputee to test the feasibility of the novel approach. The results showed that the performance of the novel HMI concept was comparable or, for some outcome measures, better than the classic myoelectric interfaces. The presented approach has a general applicability and the obtained results point out that it could be used to operate various assistive systems (e.g., prosthesis vs. wheelchair), or it could be integrated into other control schemes (e.g., myoelectric control, brain-machine interfaces) in order to improve the usability of existing low-bandwidth HMIs.

  3. Towards Modern Inclusive Factories: A Methodology for the Development of Smart Adaptive Human-Machine Interfaces

    OpenAIRE

    Villani, Valeria; Sabattini, Lorenzo; Czerniak, Julia N.; Mertens, Alexander; Vogel-Heuser, Birgit; Fantuzzi, Cesare

    2017-01-01

    Modern manufacturing systems typically require high degrees of flexibility, in terms of ability to customize the production lines to the constantly changing market requests. For this purpose, manufacturing systems are required to be able to cope with changes in the types of products, and in the size of the production batches. As a consequence, the human-machine interfaces (HMIs) are typically very complex, and include a wide range of possible operational modes and commands. This generally imp...

  4. Affective Man-Machine Interface: Unveiling Human Emotions through Biosignals

    Science.gov (United States)

    van den Broek, Egon L.; Lisý, Viliam; Janssen, Joris H.; Westerink, Joyce H. D. M.; Schut, Marleen H.; Tuinenbreijer, Kees

    As is known for centuries, humans exhibit an electrical profile. This profile is altered through various psychological and physiological proce-sses, which can be measured through biosignals; e.g., electromyography (EMG) and electrodermal activity (EDA). These biosignals can reveal our emotions and, as such, can serve as an advanced man-machine interface (MMI) for empathic consumer products. However, such a MMI requires the correct classification of biosignals to emotion classes. This chapter starts with an introduction on biosignals for emotion detection. Next, a state-of-the-art review is presented on automatic emotion classification. Moreover, guidelines are presented for affective MMI. Subsequently, a research is presented that explores the use of EDA and three facial EMG signals to determine neutral, positive, negative, and mixed emotions, using recordings of 21 people. A range of techniques is tested, which resulted in a generic framework for automated emotion classification with up to 61.31% correct classification of the four emotion classes, without the need of personal profiles. Among various other directives for future research, the results emphasize the need for parallel processing of multiple biosignals.

  5. Man machine interface and its implementation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hills, B.G.; Boettcher, D.B.; Reed, R.

    1992-01-01

    Sizewell B is the latest nuclear power station to be constructed in the United Kingdom: its Man-Machine Interfaces are therefore, by definition, the state-of-the-art. This paper discusses the principal Man-Machine Interfaces used in the operation of the station, and the systems that implement them. The Man-Machine Interface facilities discussed are: in the Main Control Room, which is used for normal operation and shutdown of the plant: in the Auxiliary Shutdown Room, which allows shutdown of the reactor if evacuation of the main Control Room is necessary: and in the Technical Support Centre, which is used for remote monitoring of the plant. The Man-Machine Interfaces that are described are parts of a station-wide group of interlinked computer systems called the Data Processing and Control System. This system collects data from the plant and displays it to the operators via discrete devices and on graphical computer displays. It also acquires control inputs from the operators via switches, which are then used to provide remote manual control, modulating control and sequence control. The computer system that handles the plant process data and alarm information displays uses a windowing interface with keyboard and trackerball navigation to allow easy retrieval and viewing of information. It is this system that is the main topic of this paper. (author)

  6. Software and Human-Machine Interface Development for Environmental Controls Subsystem Support

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dobson, Matthew

    2018-01-01

    The Space Launch System (SLS) is the next premier launch vehicle for NASA. It is the next stage of manned space exploration from American soil, and will be the platform in which we push further beyond Earth orbit. In preparation of the SLS maiden voyage on Exploration Mission 1 (EM-1), the existing ground support architecture at Kennedy Space Center required significant overhaul and updating. A comprehensive upgrade of controls systems was necessary, including programmable logic controller software, as well as Launch Control Center (LCC) firing room and local launch pad displays for technician use. Environmental control acts as an integral component in these systems, being the foremost system for conditioning the pad and extremely sensitive launch vehicle until T-0. The Environmental Controls Subsystem (ECS) required testing and modification to meet the requirements of the designed system, as well as the human factors requirements of NASA software for Validation and Verification (V&V). This term saw significant strides in the progress and functionality of the human-machine interfaces used at the launch pad, and improved integration with the controller code.

  7. Gaze-and-brain-controlled interfaces for human-computer and human-robot interaction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shishkin S. L.

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Background. Human-machine interaction technology has greatly evolved during the last decades, but manual and speech modalities remain single output channels with their typical constraints imposed by the motor system’s information transfer limits. Will brain-computer interfaces (BCIs and gaze-based control be able to convey human commands or even intentions to machines in the near future? We provide an overview of basic approaches in this new area of applied cognitive research. Objective. We test the hypothesis that the use of communication paradigms and a combination of eye tracking with unobtrusive forms of registering brain activity can improve human-machine interaction. Methods and Results. Three groups of ongoing experiments at the Kurchatov Institute are reported. First, we discuss the communicative nature of human-robot interaction, and approaches to building a more e cient technology. Specifically, “communicative” patterns of interaction can be based on joint attention paradigms from developmental psychology, including a mutual “eye-to-eye” exchange of looks between human and robot. Further, we provide an example of “eye mouse” superiority over the computer mouse, here in emulating the task of selecting a moving robot from a swarm. Finally, we demonstrate a passive, noninvasive BCI that uses EEG correlates of expectation. This may become an important lter to separate intentional gaze dwells from non-intentional ones. Conclusion. The current noninvasive BCIs are not well suited for human-robot interaction, and their performance, when they are employed by healthy users, is critically dependent on the impact of the gaze on selection of spatial locations. The new approaches discussed show a high potential for creating alternative output pathways for the human brain. When support from passive BCIs becomes mature, the hybrid technology of the eye-brain-computer (EBCI interface will have a chance to enable natural, fluent, and the

  8. Principle of human system interface (HSI) design for new reactor console of PUSPATI TRIGA Reactor (RTP)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zareen Khan Abdul Jalil Khan; Ridzuan Abdul Mutalib; Mohd Idris Taib; Mohd Khairulezwan Abdul Manan; Nurfarhana Ayuni Joha; Mohd Sabri Minhat; Izhar Abu Hussin

    2013-01-01

    Full-text: This paper will describe the principle of human system interface design for new reactor console in control room at TRIGA reactor facility. In order to support these human system interface challenges in digital reactor console. Software-based instrumentation and control (I and C) system for new reactor console could lead to new human machine integration. The proposed of Human System Interface (HSI) which included the large display panels which shows reactor status, compact and computer-based workstations for monitoring, control and protection function. The proposed Human System Interface (HIS) has been evaluated using various human factor engineering. It can be concluded that the Human System Interface (HIS) is designed as to address the safety related computer controlled system. (author)

  9. Human-machine interactions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Forsythe, J Chris [Sandia Park, NM; Xavier, Patrick G [Albuquerque, NM; Abbott, Robert G [Albuquerque, NM; Brannon, Nathan G [Albuquerque, NM; Bernard, Michael L [Tijeras, NM; Speed, Ann E [Albuquerque, NM

    2009-04-28

    Digital technology utilizing a cognitive model based on human naturalistic decision-making processes, including pattern recognition and episodic memory, can reduce the dependency of human-machine interactions on the abilities of a human user and can enable a machine to more closely emulate human-like responses. Such a cognitive model can enable digital technology to use cognitive capacities fundamental to human-like communication and cooperation to interact with humans.

  10. Proceedings of the 5. International Topical Meeting on Nuclear Plant Instrumentation Controls, and Human Machine Interface Technology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2006-01-01

    Instrumentation, Controls, and Human-Machine Interface (ICHMI) technologies are essential to ensuring delivery and effective operation of nuclear power systems. The ICHMI system, together with plant personnel, is the 'central nervous system' for operating plants. It senses basic parameters, monitors performance, integrates information, and makes adjustments to plant operations as necessary. It also responds to failures and off-normal events, thus ensuring goals of efficient power production and safety. The ICHMI system embodies the sensing, communications, monitoring, control, and presentation and command systems between the process (i.e., the reactor, heat transport, and energy conversion systems) and the plant personnel. It enables plant personnel to more effectively monitor the health of the plant and to identify opportunities to improve the performance of equipment and systems as well as to anticipate, understand, and respond to potential problems. Improved controls provide the basis to operate more closely to performance margins, and the improved integration of automatic and human response enables them to work cooperatively to accomplish production and safety goals. The ICHMI system thus directly impacts the performance of the entire plant and thereby the economics, safety, and security of current and future reactor designs. The 5. International Topical Meeting on Nuclear Plant Instrumentation Control and Human-Machine Interface Technology (NPIC and HMIT 2006) is specifically devoted to advances in these important technologies. In these proceedings, more than 200 papers and panel sessions from all over the world have been assembled to share the most recent information and innovations in ICHMI technology and to discuss the important issues that face the future of the industry. The papers fall into two major groupings: instrumentation and control (I and C) and human-machine interface technology (HMIT). The I and C papers are organized into five tracks. 'Systems

  11. Proceedings of the 5. International Topical Meeting on Nuclear Plant Instrumentation Controls, and Human Machine Interface Technology

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2006-07-01

    Instrumentation, Controls, and Human-Machine Interface (ICHMI) technologies are essential to ensuring delivery and effective operation of nuclear power systems. The ICHMI system, together with plant personnel, is the 'central nervous system' for operating plants. It senses basic parameters, monitors performance, integrates information, and makes adjustments to plant operations as necessary. It also responds to failures and off-normal events, thus ensuring goals of efficient power production and safety. The ICHMI system embodies the sensing, communications, monitoring, control, and presentation and command systems between the process (i.e., the reactor, heat transport, and energy conversion systems) and the plant personnel. It enables plant personnel to more effectively monitor the health of the plant and to identify opportunities to improve the performance of equipment and systems as well as to anticipate, understand, and respond to potential problems. Improved controls provide the basis to operate more closely to performance margins, and the improved integration of automatic and human response enables them to work cooperatively to accomplish production and safety goals. The ICHMI system thus directly impacts the performance of the entire plant and thereby the economics, safety, and security of current and future reactor designs. The 5. International Topical Meeting on Nuclear Plant Instrumentation Control and Human-Machine Interface Technology (NPIC and HMIT 2006) is specifically devoted to advances in these important technologies. In these proceedings, more than 200 papers and panel sessions from all over the world have been assembled to share the most recent information and innovations in ICHMI technology and to discuss the important issues that face the future of the industry. The papers fall into two major groupings: instrumentation and control (I and C) and human-machine interface technology (HMIT). The I and C papers are organized into five tracks

  12. Human-machine interface (HMI) report for 241-SY-101 data acquisition [and control] system (DACS) upgrade study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Truitt, R.W.

    1997-10-22

    This report provides an independent evaluation of information for a Windows based Human Machine Interface (HMI) to replace the existing DOS based Iconics HMI currently used in the Data Acquisition and Control System (DACS) used at Tank 241-SY-101. A fundamental reason for this evaluation is because of the difficulty of maintaining the system with obsolete, unsupported software. The DACS uses a software operator interface (Genesis for DOS HMI) that is no longer supported by its manufacturer, Iconics. In addition to its obsolescence, it is complex and difficult to train additional personnel on. The FY 1997 budget allocated $40K for phase 1 of a software/hardware upgrade that would have allowed the old DOS based system to be replaced by a current Windows based system. Unfortunately, budget constraints during FY 1997 has prompted deferral of the upgrade. The upgrade needs to be performed at the earliest possible time, before other failures render the system useless. Once completed, the upgrade could alleviate other concerns: spare pump software may be able to be incorporated into the same software as the existing pump, thereby eliminating the parallel path dilemma; and the newer, less complex software should expedite training of future personnel, and in the process, require that less technical time be required to maintain the system.

  13. Man-machine interface for the MFTF

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Speckert, G.C.

    1979-01-01

    In any complex system, the interesting problems occur at the interface of dissimilar subsystems. Control of the Mirror Fusion Test Facility (MFTF) begins with the US Congress, which controls the dollars, which control the people, who control the nine top-level minicomputers, which control the 65 microprocessors, which control the hardware that controls the physics experiment. There are many interesting boundaries across which control must pass, and the one that this paper addresses is the man-machine one. For the MFTF, the man-machine interface consists of a system of seven control consoles, each allowing one operator to communicate with one minicomputer. These consoles are arranged in a hierarchical manner, and both hardware and software were designed in a top-down fashion. This paper describes the requirements and the design of the console system as a whole, as well as the design and operation of the hardware and software of each console, and examines the possible form of a future man-machine interface

  14. Man-machine interface for the MFTF

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Speckert, G.C.

    1979-11-09

    In any complex system, the interesting problems occur at the interface of dissimilar subsystems. Control of the Mirror Fusion Test Facility (MFTF) begins with the US Congress, which controls the dollars, which control the people, who control the nine top-level minicomputers, which control the 65 microprocessors, which control the hardware that controls the physics experiment. There are many interesting boundaries across which control must pass, and the one that this paper addresses is the man-machine one. For the MFTF, the man-machine interface consists of a system of seven control consoles, each allowing one operator to communicate with one minicomputer. These consoles are arranged in a hierarchical manner, and both hardware and software were designed in a top-down fashion. This paper describes the requirements and the design of the console system as a whole, as well as the design and operation of the hardware and software of each console, and examines the possible form of a future man-machine interface.

  15. A new man-machine-interface at BESSY

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mueller, R.; Doll, H.D.; Donasch, I.J.; Marxen, H.; Pause, H.

    1991-01-01

    A UIMS (user interface management system) has been developed, that is completely based on non-proprietary software. Central part of the UIMS are processes (mapper) that act as universal X-clients for each specified X-server. Mapper (graphic server) and applications (graphic clients) exchange requests by an event driven interface. The communication protocol is free from any graphical information. The most powerful mapper client is a form interpreter, that can be programmed to act as an equipment access server. Mapper and form interpreter allow to compose control panels and synoptic views of the machine with statements in a simple and comprehensible UIDL (user interface definition language)

  16. A Distributed Tactile Sensor for Intuitive Human-Robot Interfacing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrea Cirillo

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Safety of human-robot physical interaction is enabled not only by suitable robot control strategies but also by suitable sensing technologies. For example, if distributed tactile sensors were available on the robot, they could be used not only to detect unintentional collisions, but also as human-machine interface by enabling a new mode of social interaction with the machine. Starting from their previous works, the authors developed a conformable distributed tactile sensor that can be easily conformed to the different parts of the robot body. Its ability to estimate contact force components and to provide a tactile map with an accurate spatial resolution enables the robot to handle both unintentional collisions in safe human-robot collaboration tasks and intentional touches where the sensor is used as human-machine interface. In this paper, the authors present the characterization of the proposed tactile sensor and they show how it can be also exploited to recognize haptic tactile gestures, by tailoring recognition algorithms, well known in the image processing field, to the case of tactile images. In particular, a set of haptic gestures has been defined to test three recognition algorithms on a group of 20 users. The paper demonstrates how the same sensor originally designed to manage unintentional collisions can be successfully used also as human-machine interface.

  17. A new workstation based man/machine interface system for the JT-60 Upgrade

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yonekawa, I.; Shimono, M.; Totsuka, T.; Yamagishi, K.

    1992-01-01

    Development of a new man/machine interface system was stimulated by the requirements of making the JT-60 operator interface more 'friendly' on the basis of the past five-year operational experience. Eleven Sun/3 workstations and their supervisory mini-computer HIDIC V90/45 are connected through the standard network; Ethernet. The network is also connected to the existing 'ZENKEI' mini-computer system through the shared memory on the HIDIC V90/45 mini-computer. Improved software, such as automatic setting of the discharge conditions, consistency check among the related parameters and easy operation for discharge result data display, offered the 'user-friendly' environments. This new man/machine interface system leads to the efficient operation of the JT-60. (author)

  18. Wireless sEMG-Based Body-Machine Interface for Assistive Technology Devices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fall, Cheikh Latyr; Gagnon-Turcotte, Gabriel; Dube, Jean-Francois; Gagne, Jean Simon; Delisle, Yanick; Campeau-Lecours, Alexandre; Gosselin, Clement; Gosselin, Benoit

    2017-07-01

    Assistive technology (AT) tools and appliances are being more and more widely used and developed worldwide to improve the autonomy of people living with disabilities and ease the interaction with their environment. This paper describes an intuitive and wireless surface electromyography (sEMG) based body-machine interface for AT tools. Spinal cord injuries at C5-C8 levels affect patients' arms, forearms, hands, and fingers control. Thus, using classical AT control interfaces (keypads, joysticks, etc.) is often difficult or impossible. The proposed system reads the AT users' residual functional capacities through their sEMG activity, and converts them into appropriate commands using a threshold-based control algorithm. It has proven to be suitable as a control alternative for assistive devices and has been tested with the JACO arm, an articulated assistive device of which the vocation is to help people living with upper-body disabilities in their daily life activities. The wireless prototype, the architecture of which is based on a 3-channel sEMG measurement system and a 915-MHz wireless transceiver built around a low-power microcontroller, uses low-cost off-the-shelf commercial components. The embedded controller is compared with JACO's regular joystick-based interface, using combinations of forearm, pectoral, masseter, and trapeze muscles. The measured index of performance values is 0.88, 0.51, and 0.41 bits/s, respectively, for correlation coefficients with the Fitt's model of 0.75, 0.85, and 0.67. These results demonstrate that the proposed controller offers an attractive alternative to conventional interfaces, such as joystick devices, for upper-body disabled people using ATs such as JACO.

  19. A Human Machine Interface for EVA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hartmann, L.

    EVA astronauts work in a challenging environment that includes high rate of muscle fatigue, haptic and proprioception impairment, lack of dexterity and interaction with robotic equipment. Currently they are heavily dependent on support from on-board crew and ground station staff for information and robotics operation. They are limited to the operation of simple controls on the suit exterior and external robot controls that are difficult to operate because of the heavy gloves that are part of the EVA suit. A wearable human machine interface (HMI) inside the suit provides a powerful alternative for robot teleoperation, procedure checklist access, generic equipment operation via virtual control panels and general information retrieval and presentation. The HMI proposed here includes speech input and output, a simple 6 degree of freedom (dof) pointing device and a heads up display (HUD). The essential characteristic of this interface is that it offers an alternative to the standard keyboard and mouse interface of a desktop computer. The astronaut's speech is used as input to command mode changes, execute arbitrary computer commands and generate text. The HMI can respond with speech also in order to confirm selections, provide status and feedback and present text output. A candidate 6 dof pointing device is Measurand's Shapetape, a flexible "tape" substrate to which is attached an optic fiber with embedded sensors. Measurement of the modulation of the light passing through the fiber can be used to compute the shape of the tape and, in particular, the position and orientation of the end of the Shapetape. It can be used to provide any kind of 3d geometric information including robot teleoperation control. The HUD can overlay graphical information onto the astronaut's visual field including robot joint torques, end effector configuration, procedure checklists and virtual control panels. With suitable tracking information about the position and orientation of the EVA suit

  20. Human-machine interface aspects and use of computer-based operator support systems in control room upgrades and new control room designs for nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Berg, O.

    1997-01-01

    At the Halden Project efforts are made to explore the possibilities through design, development and validation of Computer-based Operator Support Systems (COSSes) which can assist the operators in different operational situations, ranging from normal operation to disturbance and accident conditions. The programme comprises four main activities: 1) verification and validation of safety critical software systems; 2) man-machine interaction research emphasizing improvements in man-machine interfaces on the basis of human factors studies; 3) computerized operator support systems assisting the operator in fault detection/diagnosis and planning of control actions; and 4) control room development providing a basis for retrofitting of existing control rooms and for the design of advanced concepts. The paper presents the status of this development programme, including descriptions of specific operator support functions implemented in the simulator-based, experimental control room at Halden (HAMMLAB, HAlden Man-Machine LABoratory). These operator aids comprise advanced alarms systems, diagnostic support functions, electronic procedures, critical safety functions surveillance and accident management support systems. The different operator support systems development at the Halden Project are tested and evaluated in HAMMLAB with operators from the Halden Reactor, and occasionally from commercial NPPs, as test subjects. These evaluations provide data on the merits of different operator support systems in an advanced control room setting, as well as on how such systems should be integrated to enhance operator performance. The paper discusses these aspects and the role of computerized operator support systems in plant operation based on the experience from this work at the Halden Project. 15 refs, 5 figs

  1. Human-machine interface aspects and use of computer-based operator support systems in control room upgrades and new control room designs for nuclear power plants

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Berg, O [Institutt for Energiteknikk, OECD Halden Reactor Project (Netherlands)

    1997-07-01

    At the Halden Project efforts are made to explore the possibilities through design, development and validation of Computer-based Operator Support Systems (COSSes) which can assist the operators in different operational situations, ranging from normal operation to disturbance and accident conditions. The programme comprises four main activities: 1) verification and validation of safety critical software systems; 2) man-machine interaction research emphasizing improvements in man-machine interfaces on the basis of human factors studies; 3) computerized operator support systems assisting the operator in fault detection/diagnosis and planning of control actions; and 4) control room development providing a basis for retrofitting of existing control rooms and for the design of advanced concepts. The paper presents the status of this development programme, including descriptions of specific operator support functions implemented in the simulator-based, experimental control room at Halden (HAMMLAB, HAlden Man-Machine LABoratory). These operator aids comprise advanced alarms systems, diagnostic support functions, electronic procedures, critical safety functions surveillance and accident management support systems. The different operator support systems development at the Halden Project are tested and evaluated in HAMMLAB with operators from the Halden Reactor, and occasionally from commercial NPPs, as test subjects. These evaluations provide data on the merits of different operator support systems in an advanced control room setting, as well as on how such systems should be integrated to enhance operator performance. The paper discusses these aspects and the role of computerized operator support systems in plant operation based on the experience from this work at the Halden Project. 15 refs, 5 figs.

  2. A Critique on the Effectiveness of Current Human Reliability Analysis Approach for the Human-Machine Interface Design in Nuclear Power Plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Yong Hee

    2010-01-01

    Human Reliability Analysis (HRA) in cooperation of PSA has been conducted to evaluate the safety of a system and the validity of a system design. HRA has been believed to provide a quantitative value of human error potential and the safety level of a design alternative in Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs). However, it becomes doubtful that current HRA is worth to conduct to evaluate the human factors of NPP design, since there have been many critiques upon the virtue of HRA. Inevitably, the newer the technology becomes, the larger endeavors bound for the new facilitated methods. This paper describes the limitations and the obsolescence of the current HRA, especially for the design evaluation of Human-Machine Interface (HMI) utilizing the recent digital technologies. An alternative approach to the assessment of the human error potential of HMI design is proposed

  3. A washable, stretchable, and self-powered human-machine interfacing Triboelectric nanogenerator for wireless communications and soft robotics pressure sensor arrays

    KAUST Repository

    Ahmed, Abdelsalam

    2017-01-20

    Flexible and stretchable human-machine Interfacing devices have attracted great attention due to the need for portable, ergonomic, and geometrically compatible devices in the new era of computer technology. Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENG) have shown promising potential for self-powered human–machine interacting devices. In this paper, a flexible, stretchable and self-powered keyboard is developed based on vertical contact-separation mode TENG. The keyboard is fabricated using urethane, silicone rubbers and Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs) electrodes. The structure shows a highly flexible, stretchable, and mechanically durable behavior, which can be conformal on different surfaces. The keyboard is capable of converting mechanical energy of finger tapping to electrical energy based on contact electrification, which can eliminate the need of external power source. The device can be utilized for wireless communication with computers owing to the self-powering mechanism. The keyboards also demonstrate consistent behavior in generating voltage signals regardless of touching objects’ materials and environmental effects like humidity. In addition, the proposed system can be used for keystroke dynamic-based authentication. Therefore, highly secured accessibility to the computers can be achieved owing to the keyboard’s high sensitivity and accurate selectivity of different users.

  4. A washable, stretchable, and self-powered human-machine interfacing Triboelectric nanogenerator for wireless communications and soft robotics pressure sensor arrays

    KAUST Repository

    Ahmed, Abdelsalam; Zhang, Steven L.; Hassan, Islam; Saadatnia, Zia; Zi, Yunlong; Zu, Jean; Wang, Zhong Lin

    2017-01-01

    Flexible and stretchable human-machine Interfacing devices have attracted great attention due to the need for portable, ergonomic, and geometrically compatible devices in the new era of computer technology. Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENG) have shown promising potential for self-powered human–machine interacting devices. In this paper, a flexible, stretchable and self-powered keyboard is developed based on vertical contact-separation mode TENG. The keyboard is fabricated using urethane, silicone rubbers and Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs) electrodes. The structure shows a highly flexible, stretchable, and mechanically durable behavior, which can be conformal on different surfaces. The keyboard is capable of converting mechanical energy of finger tapping to electrical energy based on contact electrification, which can eliminate the need of external power source. The device can be utilized for wireless communication with computers owing to the self-powering mechanism. The keyboards also demonstrate consistent behavior in generating voltage signals regardless of touching objects’ materials and environmental effects like humidity. In addition, the proposed system can be used for keystroke dynamic-based authentication. Therefore, highly secured accessibility to the computers can be achieved owing to the keyboard’s high sensitivity and accurate selectivity of different users.

  5. A Perspective on Remote Handling Operations and Human Machine Interface for Remote Handling in Fusion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Haist, B.; Hamilton, D.; Sanders, St.

    2006-01-01

    A large-scale fusion device presents many challenges to the remote handling operations team. This paper is based on unique operational experience at JET and gives a perspective on remote handling task development, logistics and resource management, as well as command, control and human-machine interface systems. Remote operations require an accurate perception of a dynamic environment, ideally providing the operators with the same unrestricted knowledge of the task scene as would be available if they were actually at the remote work location. Traditional camera based systems suffer from a limited number of viewpoints and also degrade quickly when exposed to high radiation. Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality software offer great assistance. The remote handling system required to maintain a tokamak requires a large number of different and complex pieces of equipment coordinating to perform a large array of tasks. The demands on the operator's skill in performing the tasks can escalate to a point where the efficiency and safety of operations are compromised. An operations guidance system designed to facilitate the planning, development, validation and execution of remote handling procedures is essential. Automatic planning of motion trajectories of remote handling equipment and the remote transfer of heavy loads will be routine and need to be reliable. This paper discusses the solutions developed at JET in these areas and also the trends in management and presentation of operational data as well as command, control and HMI technology development offering the potential to greatly assist remote handling in future fusion machines. (author)

  6. Man-machine interface systems for the Sizewell B Nuclear Power Station

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boettcher, D.B.

    2004-01-01

    Sizewell B is the first nuclear power station to be built in the United Kingdom using the Pressurised Water Reactor or PWR system. The design is based on stations operating in the United States, but many changes and new features have been introduced to bring it up to date, and to meet United Kingdom practice and regulatory requirements. The Man-Machine Interfaces (MMIs) in the control rooms have been newly designed from first principles, with special attention paid to human factors and the role of the operators. The instrumentation and control (1 and C) systems which interface the MMIs to the process plant, and automate the operation of the station, use advanced technology to achieve high performance and availability. This paper describes the development of the control rooms and 1 and C systems, explaining the thinking that lay behind the principal decisions. (author)

  7. Development of an advanced human-machine interface for next generation nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chang, Soon Heung; Choi, Seong Soo; Park, Jin Kyun; Heo, Gyunyoung; Kim, Han Gon

    1999-01-01

    An advanced human-machine interface (HMI) has been developed to enhance the safety and availability of a nuclear power plant (NPP) by improving operational reliability. The key elements of the proposed HMI are the large display panels which present synopsis of plant status and the compact, computer-based work stations for monitoring, control and protection functions. The work station consists of four consoles such as a dynamic alarm console (DAC), a system information console (SIC), a computerized operating-procedure console (COC), and a safety system information console (SSIC). The DAC provides clean alarm pictures, in which information overlapping is excluded and alarm impacts are discriminated, for quick situation awareness. The SIC supports a normal operation by offering all necessary system information and control functions over non-safety systems. In addition, it is closely linked to the other consoles in order to automatically display related system information according to situations of the DAC and the COC. The COC aids operators with proper operating procedures during normal plant startup and shutdown or after a plant trip, and it also reduces their physical/mental burden through soft automation. The SSIC continuously displays safety system status and enables operators to control safety systems. The proposed HMI has been evaluated using the checklists that are extracted from various human factors guidelines. From the evaluation results, it can be concluded that the HMI is so designed as to address the human factors issues reasonably. After sufficient validation, the concept and the design features of the proposed HMI will be reflected in the design of the main control room of the Korean Next Generation Reactor (KNGR)

  8. Consolidated fuel-reprocessing program:: man/machine interface development for the REMOTEX concept

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Garin, J.; Clarke, M.M.

    1981-01-01

    This paper describes ongoing research at ORNL to develop a man/machine interface system that can be used to remotely control a system composed of a transporter base and a force-reflecting, servo-controlled manipulator. A unique feature of the concept is the incorporation of totally remote operation. Thus, a major objective is the requirement that an operator have a sense of presence in the remote environment. Man/machine interface requirements for this totally remote operation remain to be developed. Therefore, a simulator is being built to optimize such requirements and the developments are discussed

  9. Quantative Evaluation of the Efficiency of Facial Bio-potential Signals Based on Forehead Three-Channel Electrode Placement For Facial Gesture Recognition Applicable in a Human-Machine Interface

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Iman Mohammad Rezazadeh

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: Today, facial bio-potential signals are employed in many human-machine interface applications for enhancing and empowering the rehabilitation process. The main point to achieve that goal is to record appropriate bioelectric signals from the human face by placing and configuring electrodes over it in the right way. In this paper, heuristic geometrical position and configuration of the electrodes has been proposed for improving the quality of the acquired signals and consequently enhancing the performance of the facial gesture classifier. Materials and Methods: Investigation and evaluation of the electrodes' proper geometrical position and configuration can be performed using two methods: clinical and modeling. In the clinical method, the electrodes are placed in predefined positions and the elicited signals from them are then processed. The performance of the method is evaluated based on the results obtained. On the other hand, in the modeling approach, the quality of the recorded signals and their information content are evaluated only by modeling and simulation. In this paper, both methods have been utilized together. First, suitable electrode positions and configuration were proposed and evaluated by modeling and simulation. Then, the experiment was performed with a predefined protocol on 7 healthy subjects to validate the simulation results. Here, the recorded signals were passed through parallel butterworth filter banks to obtain facial EMG, EOG and EEG signals and the RMS features of each 256 msec time slot were extracted.  By using the power of Subtractive Fuzzy C-Mean (SFCM, 8 different facial gestures (including smiling, frowning, pulling up left and right lip corners, left/right/up and down movements of the eyes were discriminated. Results: According to the three-channel electrode configuration derived from modeling of the dipoles effects on the surface electrodes and by employing the SFCM classifier, an average 94

  10. Ecological Interface Design

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Vicente, Kim J.; Rasmussen, Jens

    1992-01-01

    A theoretical framework for designing interfaces for complex human-machine systems is proposed. The framework, called ecological interface design (EID), is based on the skills, rules, knowledge taxonomy of cognitive control. The basic goal of EID is twofold: first, not to force processing...

  11. Flocking small smart machines: An experiment in cooperative, multi-machine control

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Klarer, P.R.

    1998-03-01

    The intent and purpose of this work was to investigate and demonstrate cooperative behavior among a group of mobile robot machines. The specific goal of this work was to build a small swarm of identical machines and control them in such a way as to show a coordinated movement of the group in a flocking manner, similar to that observed in nature. Control of the swarm's individual members and its overall configuration is available to the human user via a graphic man-machine interface running on a base station control computer. Any robot may be designated as the nominal leader through the interface tool, which then may be commanded to proceed to a particular geographic destination. The remainder of the flock follows the leader by maintaining their relative positions in formation, as specified by the human controller through the interface. The formation's configuration can be altered manually through an interactive graphic-based tool. An alternative mode of control allows for teleoperation of one robot, with the flock following along as described above

  12. An online brain-machine interface using decoding of movement direction from the human electrocorticogram

    Science.gov (United States)

    Milekovic, Tomislav; Fischer, Jörg; Pistohl, Tobias; Ruescher, Johanna; Schulze-Bonhage, Andreas; Aertsen, Ad; Rickert, Jörn; Ball, Tonio; Mehring, Carsten

    2012-08-01

    A brain-machine interface (BMI) can be used to control movements of an artificial effector, e.g. movements of an arm prosthesis, by motor cortical signals that control the equivalent movements of the corresponding body part, e.g. arm movements. This approach has been successfully applied in monkeys and humans by accurately extracting parameters of movements from the spiking activity of multiple single neurons. We show that the same approach can be realized using brain activity measured directly from the surface of the human cortex using electrocorticography (ECoG). Five subjects, implanted with ECoG implants for the purpose of epilepsy assessment, took part in our study. Subjects used directionally dependent ECoG signals, recorded during active movements of a single arm, to control a computer cursor in one out of two directions. Significant BMI control was achieved in four out of five subjects with correct directional decoding in 69%-86% of the trials (75% on average). Our results demonstrate the feasibility of an online BMI using decoding of movement direction from human ECoG signals. Thus, to achieve such BMIs, ECoG signals might be used in conjunction with or as an alternative to intracortical neural signals.

  13. Different protein-protein interface patterns predicted by different machine learning methods.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Wei; Yang, Yongxiao; Yin, Jianxin; Gong, Xinqi

    2017-11-22

    Different types of protein-protein interactions make different protein-protein interface patterns. Different machine learning methods are suitable to deal with different types of data. Then, is it the same situation that different interface patterns are preferred for prediction by different machine learning methods? Here, four different machine learning methods were employed to predict protein-protein interface residue pairs on different interface patterns. The performances of the methods for different types of proteins are different, which suggest that different machine learning methods tend to predict different protein-protein interface patterns. We made use of ANOVA and variable selection to prove our result. Our proposed methods taking advantages of different single methods also got a good prediction result compared to single methods. In addition to the prediction of protein-protein interactions, this idea can be extended to other research areas such as protein structure prediction and design.

  14. Man--machine interface issues for space nuclear power systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nelson, W.R.; Haugset, K.

    1991-01-01

    The deployment of nuclear reactors in space necessitates an entirely new set of guidelines for the design of the man--machine interface (MMI) when compared to earth-based applications such as commerical nuclear power plants. Although the design objectives of earth- and space-based nuclear power systems are the same, that is, to produce electrical power, the differences in the application environments mean that the operator's role will be significantly different for space-based systems. This paper explores the issues associated with establishing the necessary MMI guidelines for space nuclear power systems. The generic human performance requirements for space-based systems are described, and the operator roles that are utilized for the operation of current and advanced earth-based reactors are briefly summarized. The development of a prototype advanced control room, the Integrated Surveillance and Control System (ISACS) at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Halden Reactor Project is introduced. Finally, preliminary ideas for the use of the ISACS system as a test bed for establishing MMI guidelines for space nuclear systems are presented

  15. Simulation-based man-machine interface evaluation for plant maintenance facilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nakagawa, Takashi; Kitamura, Masashi; Nakatani, Yoshio; Umeda, Yoshikazu

    1998-01-01

    Although a lot of human errors has occurred in the maintenance of power plants, systematic approaches to the reduction of human error are not sufficient compared with those applied to operations. The authors propose a new method of evaluating and analyzing human interface design from the viewpoint of human error reduction, and have implemented the method on the DIAS system. This system consists of maintenance personnel and equipment interface simulators, and it generates a dynamic interaction between humans and the working environment. The DIAS system can calculate the human error rate and their weighted calculations according to dangerousness, the influence on the equipment, and the influence on the plant of each task by THERP, and can carry out the dynamic analysis of the panel selection error index if there is similar equipment in the neighborhood, the working time, the distance of movement, and the distance of eye movement. The authors applied this system to evaluate the interface design of actual Transformer Protection Relay Panels and their layout in a room in a nuclear power plant. Our customer accepted our evaluation and proposals modifying the panel design. (author)

  16. A New Human-Machine Interfaces of Computer-based Procedure System to Reduce the Team Errors in Nuclear Power Plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Sa Kil; Sim, Joo Hyun; Lee, Hyun Chul

    2016-01-01

    In this study, we identify the emerging types of team errors, especially, in digitalized control room of nuclear power plants such as the APR-1400 main control room of Korea. Most works in nuclear industry are to be performed by a team of more than two persons. Even though the individual errors can be detected and recovered by the qualified others and/or the well trained team, it is rather seldom that the errors by team could be easily detected and properly recovered by the team itself. Note that the team is defined as two or more people who are appropriately interacting with each other, and the team is a dependent aggregate, which accomplishes a valuable goal. Organizational errors sometimes increase the likelihood of operator errors through the active failure pathway and, at the same time, enhance the possibility of adverse outcomes through defensive weaknesses. We incorporate the crew resource management as a representative approach to deal with the team factors of the human errors. We suggest a set of crew resource management training procedures under the unsafe environments where human errors can have devastating effects. We are on the way to develop alternative interfaces against team error in a condition of using a computer-based procedure system in a digitalized main control room. The computer-based procedure system is a representative feature of digitalized control room. In this study, we will propose new interfaces of computer-based procedure system to reduce feasible team errors. We are on the way of effectiveness test to validate whether the new interface can reduce team errors during operating with a computer-based procedure system in a digitalized control room

  17. A New Human-Machine Interfaces of Computer-based Procedure System to Reduce the Team Errors in Nuclear Power Plants

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Sa Kil; Sim, Joo Hyun; Lee, Hyun Chul [Korea Atomic Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2016-10-15

    In this study, we identify the emerging types of team errors, especially, in digitalized control room of nuclear power plants such as the APR-1400 main control room of Korea. Most works in nuclear industry are to be performed by a team of more than two persons. Even though the individual errors can be detected and recovered by the qualified others and/or the well trained team, it is rather seldom that the errors by team could be easily detected and properly recovered by the team itself. Note that the team is defined as two or more people who are appropriately interacting with each other, and the team is a dependent aggregate, which accomplishes a valuable goal. Organizational errors sometimes increase the likelihood of operator errors through the active failure pathway and, at the same time, enhance the possibility of adverse outcomes through defensive weaknesses. We incorporate the crew resource management as a representative approach to deal with the team factors of the human errors. We suggest a set of crew resource management training procedures under the unsafe environments where human errors can have devastating effects. We are on the way to develop alternative interfaces against team error in a condition of using a computer-based procedure system in a digitalized main control room. The computer-based procedure system is a representative feature of digitalized control room. In this study, we will propose new interfaces of computer-based procedure system to reduce feasible team errors. We are on the way of effectiveness test to validate whether the new interface can reduce team errors during operating with a computer-based procedure system in a digitalized control room.

  18. Human machine interface to manually drive rhombic like vehicles in remote handling operations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lopes, Pedro; Vale, Alberto; Ventura, Rodrigo

    2015-01-01

    In the thermonuclear experimental reactor ITER, a vehicle named CTS is designed to transport a container with activated components inside the buildings. In nominal operations, the CTS is autonomously guided under supervision. However, in some unexpected situations, such as in rescue and recovery operations, the autonomous mode must be overridden and the CTS must be remotely guided by an operator. The CTS is a rhombic-like vehicle, with two drivable and steerable wheels along its longitudinal axis, providing omni-directional capabilities. The rhombic kinematics correspond to four control variables, which are difficult to manage in manual mode operation. This paper proposes a Human Machine Interface (HMI) to remotely guide the vehicle in manual mode. The proposed solution is implemented using a HMI with an encoder connected to a micro-controller and an analog 2-axis joystick. Experimental results were obtained comparing the proposed solution with other controller devices in different scenarios and using a software platform that simulates the kinematics and dynamics of the vehicle. (authors)

  19. Human machine interface to manually drive rhombic like vehicles in remote handling operations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lopes, Pedro; Vale, Alberto [Instituto de Plasmas e Fusao Nuclear, Instituto Superior Tecnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais 1, 1049-001 Lisboa (Portugal); Ventura, Rodrigo [Institute for Systems and Robotics, Instituto Superior Tecnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais 1, 1049-001 Lisboa (Portugal)

    2015-07-01

    In the thermonuclear experimental reactor ITER, a vehicle named CTS is designed to transport a container with activated components inside the buildings. In nominal operations, the CTS is autonomously guided under supervision. However, in some unexpected situations, such as in rescue and recovery operations, the autonomous mode must be overridden and the CTS must be remotely guided by an operator. The CTS is a rhombic-like vehicle, with two drivable and steerable wheels along its longitudinal axis, providing omni-directional capabilities. The rhombic kinematics correspond to four control variables, which are difficult to manage in manual mode operation. This paper proposes a Human Machine Interface (HMI) to remotely guide the vehicle in manual mode. The proposed solution is implemented using a HMI with an encoder connected to a micro-controller and an analog 2-axis joystick. Experimental results were obtained comparing the proposed solution with other controller devices in different scenarios and using a software platform that simulates the kinematics and dynamics of the vehicle. (authors)

  20. Some Human Factors Considerations for Designing Mixed Reality Interfaces

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Milgram, Paul

    2006-01-01

    ...), as well as the case of Augmented Virtuality (AV). In designing human-machine interfaces for mixed reality applications, a number of considerations are discussed which may potentially impact the effectiveness of the design...

  1. A basic experimental study on characteristics of on-line human information processing associated with man-machine interface

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yoshikawa, Hidekazu; Shimoda, Hiroshi; Nagai, Yoshinori; Kojima, Shin-ichi.

    1990-01-01

    Regarding human factors research on man-machine interface, a basic psychological experiment was conducted to observe psycho-physiological characteristics of on-line human cognitive behavior when cognitive tasks on learning and pattern classification were given to subjects by personal computer using a simple state transition model. During the experiment, three different types of subjects' data were recorded: (i) eye movement data by eye mark recorder, (ii) physio-electric signals by polygraph and (iii) verbal reports. Those subjects' data were analyzed with respect to: (i) the related human cognitive characteristics concerning problem solving strategy, measures of problem difficulty and mental image effect, (ii) observed eye movement characteristics such as saccade, attention, pupil reaction and blinking, etc., and (iii) obtained characteristics of skin potential response and heart rate. It was found that the application of psycho-physiological measurement would serve to objective and detailed analysis of on-line cognitive process. (author)

  2. Nano Trek Beyond: Driving Nanocars/Molecular Machines at Interfaces.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ariga, Katsuhiko; Mori, Taizo; Nakanishi, Waka

    2018-03-09

    In 2016, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded for pioneering work on molecular machines. Half a year later, in Toulouse, the first molecular car race, a "nanocar race", was held by using the tip of a scanning tunneling microscope as an electrical remote control. In this Focus Review, we discuss the current state-of-the-art in research on molecular machines at interfaces. In the first section, we briefly explain the science behind the nanocar race, followed by a selection of recent examples of controlling molecules on surfaces. Finally, motion synchronization and the functions of molecular machines at liquid interfaces are discussed. This new concept of molecular tuning at interfaces is also introduced as a method for the continuous modification and optimization of molecular structure for target functions. © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  3. Technology Roadmap Instrumentation, Control, and Human-Machine Interface to Support DOE Advanced Nuclear Energy Programs

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Donald D Dudenhoeffer; Burce P Hallbert

    2007-03-01

    Instrumentation, Controls, and Human-Machine Interface (ICHMI) technologies are essential to ensuring delivery and effective operation of optimized advanced Generation IV (Gen IV) nuclear energy systems. In 1996, the Watts Bar I nuclear power plant in Tennessee was the last U.S. nuclear power plant to go on line. It was, in fact, built based on pre-1990 technology. Since this last U.S. nuclear power plant was designed, there have been major advances in the field of ICHMI systems. Computer technology employed in other industries has advanced dramatically, and computing systems are now replaced every few years as they become functionally obsolete. Functional obsolescence occurs when newer, more functional technology replaces or supersedes an existing technology, even though an existing technology may well be in working order.Although ICHMI architectures are comprised of much of the same technology, they have not been updated nearly as often in the nuclear power industry. For example, some newer Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) or handheld computers may, in fact, have more functionality than the 1996 computer control system at the Watts Bar I plant. This illustrates the need to transition and upgrade current nuclear power plant ICHMI technologies.

  4. Man-machine interface versus full automation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hatton, V.

    1984-01-01

    As accelerators grow in size and complexity of operation there is an increasing economical as well as an operational incentive for the controls and operations teams to use computers to help the man-machine interface. At first the computer network replaced the traditional controls racks filled with knobs, buttons and digital displays of voltages and potentiometer readings. The computer system provided the operator with the extension of his hands and eyes. It was quickly found that much more could be achieved. Where previously it was necessary for the human operator to decide the order of the actions to be executed by the computer as a result of a visual indication of malfunctioning of the accelerator, now the operation is becoming more and more under the direct control of the computer system. Expert knowledge is programmed into the system to help the non-specialist make decision and to safeguard the equipment. Machine physics concepts have been incorporated and critical machine parameters can be optimised easily by the physicists or operators without any detailed knowledge of the intervening medium or of the equipment being controlled. As confidence grows and reliability improves, more and more automation can be added. How far can this process of automation replace the skilled operator. Can the accelerators of tomorrow be run like the ever increasing robotic assembly plants of today. How is the role of the operator changing in this new environment

  5. The APS intranet as a man-machine interface

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ciarlette, D.; Gerig, R.; McDowell, W.

    1997-01-01

    The Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory has implemented a number of methods for people to interact with the accelerator systems. The accelerator operators use Sun workstations running MEDM and WCL to interface interactively with the accelerator, however, many people need to view information rather than interact with the machine. One of the most common interfaces for viewing information at the Advanced Photon Source is the World Wide Web. Information such as operations logbook entries, machine status updates, and displays of archived and current data are easily available to APS personnel. This interface between people and the accelerator has proven to be quite useful. Because the Intranet is operating-system independent and inherently unidirectional, ensuring the prevention of unauthorized or accidental control of the accelerators is straightforward

  6. Taking account of human factors for interface assessment and design in monitoring automated systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Musso, J.-F.; Sicard, Y.; Martin, M.

    1990-01-01

    Optimum balance between control means and the operator capacities is sought for to achieve computerization of Man-Machine interfaces. Observation of the diagnosis activity of populations of operators in situation on simulators enables design criteria to be defined which are well-suited to the characteristics of the tasks with which they are confronted. This observation provides an assessment of the interfaces from the standpoint of the graphic layer, of the Human behaviour induced by the Machine and of the nature of the interaction between these two systems. This requires an original approach dialectically involving cognitive psychology, dynamic management of the knowledge bases (artificial intelligence) in a critical industrial control and monitoring application. (author)

  7. A study on the application of voice interaction in automotive human machine interface experience design

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Zhaohui; Huang, Xiemin

    2018-04-01

    This paper, firstly, introduces the application trend of the integration of multi-channel interactions in automotive HMI ((Human Machine Interface) from complex information models faced by existing automotive HMI and describes various interaction modes. By comparing voice interaction and touch screen, gestures and other interaction modes, the potential and feasibility of voice interaction in automotive HMI experience design are concluded. Then, the related theories of voice interaction, identification technologies, human beings' cognitive models of voices and voice design methods are further explored. And the research priority of this paper is proposed, i.e. how to design voice interaction to create more humane task-oriented dialogue scenarios to enhance interactive experiences of automotive HMI. The specific scenarios in driving behaviors suitable for the use of voice interaction are studied and classified, and the usability principles and key elements for automotive HMI voice design are proposed according to the scenario features. Then, through the user participatory usability testing experiment, the dialogue processes of voice interaction in automotive HMI are defined. The logics and grammars in voice interaction are classified according to the experimental results, and the mental models in the interaction processes are analyzed. At last, the voice interaction design method to create the humane task-oriented dialogue scenarios in the driving environment is proposed.

  8. A Machine Learning Approach for Hot-Spot Detection at Protein-Protein Interfaces

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rita Melo

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Understanding protein-protein interactions is a key challenge in biochemistry. In this work, we describe a more accurate methodology to predict Hot-Spots (HS in protein-protein interfaces from their native complex structure compared to previous published Machine Learning (ML techniques. Our model is trained on a large number of complexes and on a significantly larger number of different structural- and evolutionary sequence-based features. In particular, we added interface size, type of interaction between residues at the interface of the complex, number of different types of residues at the interface and the Position-Specific Scoring Matrix (PSSM, for a total of 79 features. We used twenty-seven algorithms from a simple linear-based function to support-vector machine models with different cost functions. The best model was achieved by the use of the conditional inference random forest (c-forest algorithm with a dataset pre-processed by the normalization of features and with up-sampling of the minor class. The method has an overall accuracy of 0.80, an F1-score of 0.73, a sensitivity of 0.76 and a specificity of 0.82 for the independent test set.

  9. Integration of an intelligent systems behavior simulator and a scalable soldier-machine interface

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, Tony; Manteuffel, Chris; Brewster, Benjamin; Tierney, Terry

    2007-04-01

    As the Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS) introduce emerging technologies and new force structures to the battlefield, soldiers will increasingly face new challenges in workload management. The next generation warfighter will be responsible for effectively managing robotic assets in addition to performing other missions. Studies of future battlefield operational scenarios involving the use of automation, including the specification of existing and proposed technologies, will provide significant insight into potential problem areas regarding soldier workload. The US Army Tank Automotive Research, Development, and Engineering Center (TARDEC) is currently executing an Army technology objective program to analyze and evaluate the effect of automated technologies and their associated control devices with respect to soldier workload. The Human-Robotic Interface (HRI) Intelligent Systems Behavior Simulator (ISBS) is a human performance measurement simulation system that allows modelers to develop constructive simulations of military scenarios with various deployments of interface technologies in order to evaluate operator effectiveness. One such interface is TARDEC's Scalable Soldier-Machine Interface (SMI). The scalable SMI provides a configurable machine interface application that is capable of adapting to several hardware platforms by recognizing the physical space limitations of the display device. This paper describes the integration of the ISBS and Scalable SMI applications, which will ultimately benefit both systems. The ISBS will be able to use the Scalable SMI to visualize the behaviors of virtual soldiers performing HRI tasks, such as route planning, and the scalable SMI will benefit from stimuli provided by the ISBS simulation environment. The paper describes the background of each system and details of the system integration approach.

  10. Development of nuclear power plant operator simulator for man-machine interface evaluation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nakagawa, Takashi; Nakatani, Yoshio; Sasaki, Kazunori; Yoshikawa, Hidekazu; Takahashi, Makoto; Furuta, Tomihiko; Hasegawa, Akira.

    1997-01-01

    The operational safety in nuclear power plants depends strongly on man machine interfaces (MMI), such as assignment of equipment on control boards and operation procedures in emergency situations. Therefore, the evaluation and analysis methods for the MMI are important. In order for the methods to be practical, the methods should be executed in each step of design and be easy for designers to use. We aim to develop SEAMAID system: a computer supported system for evaluating and analyzing the MMI by simulating the interaction between the operator and the machine. In this paper, we discuss problems of the conventional methods and the required functions of the operator simulator for the SEAMAID. The operator simulator executes not human errors but correct behavior which follows the operational procedure. The SEAMAID evaluates the MMI by finding potential human errors which could occur in the simulated interactions and points out the problematic interaction parts which could induce human errors. We construct the operator simulator by combining the human model which was proposed by Prof. Reason, and the knowledge base model based on the Petri net model. This simulator can treat frequency parameter which represents the degree of frequency of using a certain knowledge. We conduct two sample simulations in different frequency parameters in the same scenario. These simulation results show that even if the operator behaves correctly following the procedure, there are alternative task sequences. We verify that the simulated interactions are in good agreement with the actual one. Also, we propose the method to point out the problematic parts in the interactions based on the working memory consumption. (author)

  11. Development of nuclear power plant operator simulator for man-machine interface evaluation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nakagawa, Takashi; Nakatani, Yoshio; Sasaki, Kazunori [Mitsubishi Electric Corp., Amagasaki, Hyogo (Japan). Industrial Electronics and Systems Development Lab.; Yoshikawa, Hidekazu; Takahashi, Makoto; Furuta, Tomihiko; Hasegawa, Akira

    1997-08-01

    The operational safety in nuclear power plants depends strongly on man machine interfaces (MMI), such as assignment of equipment on control boards and operation procedures in emergency situations. Therefore, the evaluation and analysis methods for the MMI are important. In order for the methods to be practical, the methods should be executed in each step of design and be easy for designers to use. We aim to develop SEAMAID system: a computer supported system for evaluating and analyzing the MMI by simulating the interaction between the operator and the machine. In this paper, we discuss problems of the conventional methods and the required functions of the operator simulator for the SEAMAID. The operator simulator executes not human errors but correct behavior which follows the operational procedure. The SEAMAID evaluates the MMI by finding potential human errors which could occur in the simulated interactions and points out the problematic interaction parts which could induce human errors. We construct the operator simulator by combining the human model which was proposed by Prof. Reason, and the knowledge base model based on the Petri net model. This simulator can treat frequency parameter which represents the degree of frequency of using a certain knowledge. We conduct two sample simulations in different frequency parameters in the same scenario. These simulation results show that even if the operator behaves correctly following the procedure, there are alternative task sequences. We verify that the simulated interactions are in good agreement with the actual one. Also, we propose the method to point out the problematic parts in the interactions based on the working memory consumption. (author)

  12. Man-machine dialogue design and challenges

    CERN Document Server

    Landragin, Frederic

    2013-01-01

    This book summarizes the main problems posed by the design of a man-machine dialogue system and offers ideas on how to continue along the path towards efficient, realistic and fluid communication between humans and machines. A culmination of ten years of research, it is based on the author's development, investigation and experimentation covering a multitude of fields, including artificial intelligence, automated language processing, man-machine interfaces and notably multimodal or multimedia interfaces. Contents Part 1. Historical and Methodological Landmarks 1. An Assessment of the Evolution

  13. DESIGN AND EVALUATION OF INDIVIDUAL ELEMENTS OF THE INTERFACE FOR AN AGRICULTURAL MACHINE.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rakhra, Aadesh K; Mann, Danny D

    2018-01-29

    If a user-centered approach is not used to design information displays, the quantity and quality of information presented to the user may not match the needs of the user, or it may exceed the capability of the human operator for processing and using that information. The result may be an excessive mental workload and reduced situation awareness of the operator, which can negatively affect the machine performance and operational outcomes. The increasing use of technology in agricultural machines may expose the human operator to excessive and undesirable information if the operator's information needs and information processing capabilities are ignored. In this study, a user-centered approach was used to design specific interface elements for an agricultural air seeder. Designs of the interface elements were evaluated in a laboratory environment by developing high-fidelity prototypes. Evaluations of the user interface elements yielded significant improvement in situation awareness (up to 11%; overall mean difference = 5.0 (4.8%), 95% CI (6.4728, 3.5939), p 0.0001). Mental workload was reduced by up to 19.7% (overall mean difference = -5.2 (-7.9%), n = 30, a = 0.05). Study participants rated the overall performance of the newly designed user-centered interface elements higher in comparison to the previous designs (overall mean difference = 27.3 (189.8%), 99% CI (35.150, 19.384), p 0.0001. Copyright© by the American Society of Agricultural Engineers.

  14. CHISSL: A Human-Machine Collaboration Space for Unsupervised Learning

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Arendt, Dustin L.; Komurlu, Caner; Blaha, Leslie M.

    2017-07-14

    We developed CHISSL, a human-machine interface that utilizes supervised machine learning in an unsupervised context to help the user group unlabeled instances by her own mental model. The user primarily interacts via correction (moving a misplaced instance into its correct group) or confirmation (accepting that an instance is placed in its correct group). Concurrent with the user's interactions, CHISSL trains a classification model guided by the user's grouping of the data. It then predicts the group of unlabeled instances and arranges some of these alongside the instances manually organized by the user. We hypothesize that this mode of human and machine collaboration is more effective than Active Learning, wherein the machine decides for itself which instances should be labeled by the user. We found supporting evidence for this hypothesis in a pilot study where we applied CHISSL to organize a collection of handwritten digits.

  15. Cybernics fusion of human, machine and information systems

    CERN Document Server

    Suzuki, Kenji; Hasegawa, Yasuhisa

    2014-01-01

    Cybernics plays a significant role in coping with an aging society using state-of-the-art technologies from engineering, clinical medicine and humanities. This new interdisciplinary field studies technologies that enhance, strengthen, and support physical and cognitive functions of human beings, based on the fusion of human, machine, and information systems. The design of a seamless interface for interaction between the interior and exterior of the human body is described in this book from diverse aspects such as the physical, neurophysiological, and cognitive levels. It is the first book to cover the many aspects of cybernics, allowing readers to understand the life support robotics technology for the elderly, including remote, in-home, hospital, institutional, community medical welfare, and vital-sensing systems. Serving as a valuable resource, this volume will interest not only graduate students, scientists, and engineers but also newcomers to the field of cybernics.

  16. A comparative analysis of three non-invasive Human-Machine Interfaces for the disabled

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vikram eRavindra

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available In the framework of rehabilitation robotics, a major role is played by theHuman-Machine Interface (HMI used to gather the patient's intent from biologicalsignals, and convert them into control signals for the robotic artifact. Surprisingly,decades of research haven't yet declared what the optimal HMI is in this context;in particular, the traditional approach based upon surface electromyography (sEMGstill yields unreliable results due to the inherent variability of the signal. Toovercome this problem, the scientific community has recently been advocating thediscovery, analysis and usage of novel HMIs to supersede or augment sEMG; a comparativeanalysis of such HMIs is therefore a very desirable investigation.In this paper we compare three such HMIs employed in the detection of finger forces,namely sEMG, ultrasound imaging and pressure sensing. The comparison is performed alongfour main lines: the accuracy in the prediction, the stability over time, the wearabilityand the cost. A psychophysical experiment involving ten intact subjects engaged ina simple finger-flexion task was set up. Our results show that, at least in thisexperiment, pressure sensing and sEMG yield comparably good prediction accuraciesas opposed to ultrasound imaging; and that pressure sensing enjoys a much better stabilitythan sEMG.Given that pressure sensors are as wearable as sEMG electrodes but way cheaper, we claimthat this HMI could represent a valid alternative /augmentation to sEMG to control amulti-fingered hand prosthesis.

  17. Practical speech user interface design

    CERN Document Server

    Lewis, James R

    2010-01-01

    Although speech is the most natural form of communication between humans, most people find using speech to communicate with machines anything but natural. Drawing from psychology, human-computer interaction, linguistics, and communication theory, Practical Speech User Interface Design provides a comprehensive yet concise survey of practical speech user interface (SUI) design. It offers practice-based and research-based guidance on how to design effective, efficient, and pleasant speech applications that people can really use. Focusing on the design of speech user interfaces for IVR application

  18. A human-machine cooperation route planning method based on improved A* algorithm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Zhengsheng; Cai, Chao

    2011-12-01

    To avoid the limitation of common route planning method to blindly pursue higher Machine Intelligence and autoimmunization, this paper presents a human-machine cooperation route planning method. The proposed method includes a new A* path searing strategy based on dynamic heuristic searching and a human cooperated decision strategy to prune searching area. It can overcome the shortage of A* algorithm to fall into a local long term searching. Experiments showed that this method can quickly plan a feasible route to meet the macro-policy thinking.

  19. Technology Roadmap on Instrumentation, Control, and Human-Machine Interface to Support DOE Advanced Nuclear Energy Programs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Donald D Dudenhoeffer; Burce P Hallbert

    2007-01-01

    Instrumentation, Controls, and Human-Machine Interface (ICHMI) technologies are essential to ensuring delivery and effective operation of optimized advanced Generation IV (Gen IV) nuclear energy systems. In 1996, the Watts Bar I nuclear power plant in Tennessee was the last U.S. nuclear power plant to go on line. It was, in fact, built based on pre-1990 technology. Since this last U.S. nuclear power plant was designed, there have been major advances in the field of ICHMI systems. Computer technology employed in other industries has advanced dramatically, and computing systems are now replaced every few years as they become functionally obsolete. Functional obsolescence occurs when newer, more functional technology replaces or supersedes an existing technology, even though an existing technology may well be in working order. Although ICHMI architectures are comprised of much of the same technology, they have not been updated nearly as often in the nuclear power industry. For example, some newer Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) or handheld computers may, in fact, have more functionality than the 1996 computer control system at the Watts Bar I plant. This illustrates the need to transition and upgrade current nuclear power plant ICHMI technologies

  20. Human factors evaluation of teletherapy: Human-system interfaces and procedures. Volume 3

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kaye, R.D.; Henriksen, K.; Jones, R.; Morisseau, D.S.; Serig, D.I.

    1995-07-01

    A series of human factors evaluations was undertaken to better understand the contributing factors to human error in the teletherapy environment. Teletherapy is a multidisciplinary methodology for treating cancerous tissue through selective exposure to an external beam of ionizing radiation. The principal sources of radiation are a radioactive isotope, typically cobalt60 (Co-60), or a linear accelerator device capable of producing very high energy x-ray and electron beams. A team of human factors specialists conducted site visits to radiation oncology departments at community hospitals, university centers, and free-standing clinics. In addition, a panel of radiation oncologists, medical physicists, and radiation technologists served as subject matter experts. A function and task analysis was initially performed to guide subsequent evaluations in the areas of user-system interfaces, procedures, training and qualifications, and organizational policies and practices. The present report focuses on an evaluation of the human-system interfaces in relation to the treatment machines and supporting equipment (e.g., simulators, treatment planning computers, control consoles, patient charts) found in the teletherapy environment. The report also evaluates operating, maintenance and emergency procedures and practices involved in teletherapy. The evaluations are based on the function and task analysis and established human engineering guidelines, where applicable

  1. Human factors evaluation of teletherapy: Human-system interfaces and procedures. Volume 3

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kaye, R.D.; Henriksen, K.; Jones, R. [Hughes Training, Inc., Falls Church, VA (United States); Morisseau, D.S.; Serig, D.I. [Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC (United States). Div. of Systems Technology

    1995-07-01

    A series of human factors evaluations was undertaken to better understand the contributing factors to human error in the teletherapy environment. Teletherapy is a multidisciplinary methodology for treating cancerous tissue through selective exposure to an external beam of ionizing radiation. The principal sources of radiation are a radioactive isotope, typically cobalt60 (Co-60), or a linear accelerator device capable of producing very high energy x-ray and electron beams. A team of human factors specialists conducted site visits to radiation oncology departments at community hospitals, university centers, and free-standing clinics. In addition, a panel of radiation oncologists, medical physicists, and radiation technologists served as subject matter experts. A function and task analysis was initially performed to guide subsequent evaluations in the areas of user-system interfaces, procedures, training and qualifications, and organizational policies and practices. The present report focuses on an evaluation of the human-system interfaces in relation to the treatment machines and supporting equipment (e.g., simulators, treatment planning computers, control consoles, patient charts) found in the teletherapy environment. The report also evaluates operating, maintenance and emergency procedures and practices involved in teletherapy. The evaluations are based on the function and task analysis and established human engineering guidelines, where applicable.

  2. The Human Factors System of VGB. The body of measures implemented by the NPP operating companies for HF management and optimisation of the man-machine interface

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eisgruber, H.; Janssen, G.

    1999-01-01

    One way of ensuring high human reliability is to systematically record, analyse and optimise the identified human factors influencing the safety of operation of NPPs. There are two kinds of human factors to be considered: Those identified and characterised in their actual influence on the man-machine system after an event has happened, and the potential human factors, as far as they are known. The purpose of the paper presented is to: - explain the man-machine interface on the basis of the descriptions delivered by work science, as well as with the information model (acquisition, processing and application of information); - explain their influence on the human performance; - identify the organisational units/competences of a nuclear power plant with respect to responsibility for dealing with those factors influencing human performance; - describe suitable joint action of the responsible organisational units; - present results of HF system reviews and modifications. (orig./CB) [de

  3. The Concept of Human Error and the Design of Reliable Human-Machine Systems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rasmussen, Jens

    1995-01-01

    The concept of human error is unreliable as a basis for design of reliable human-machine systems. Humans are basically highly adaptive and 'errors' are closely related to the process of adaptation and learning. Therefore, reliability of system operation depends on an interface that is not designed...... so as to support a pre-conceived operating procedure, but, instead, makes visible the deep, functional structure of the system together with the boundaries of acceptable operation in away that allows operators to 'touch' the boundaries and to learn to cope with the effects of errors in a reversible...... way. The concepts behind such 'ecological' interfaces are discussed, an it is argued that a 'typology' of visualization concepts is a pressing research need....

  4. Cognitive task analysis of nuclear power plant operators for man-machine interface design

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Itoh, J.I.; Yoshimura, S.; Ohtsuka, T.

    1990-01-01

    This paper aims to ascertain and further develop design guidelines for a man-machine interface compatible with plant operators' problem solving strategies. As the framework for this study, operator's information processing activities were modeled, based on J. Rasmussen's framework for cognitive task analysis. Two experiments were carried out. One was an experiment aimed at gaining an understanding of internal mechanisms involved in mistakes and slips which occurred in operators' responses to incidents and accidents. As a result of fifteen cases of operator performance analysis, sixty one human errors were identified. Further analysis of the errors showed that frequently occurring error mechanisms were absent-mindedness, lack of recognition of patterns in diagnosis and failed procedure formulation due to memory lapses. The other kind of experiment was carried out to identify the envelope of trajectories for the operator's search in the problem space consisting of the two dimensions of means-ends and whole-part relations while dealing with transients. Two cases of experimental sessions were conducted with the thinking-aloud method. From analyses based on verbal protocols, trajectories of operator's search were derived, covering from the whole plant level through the component level in the whole-part dimension and covering from the functional purpose level through the physical form level in the means-ends dimension. The findings obtained from these analyses serve as a basis for developing design guidelines for man-machine interfaces in control rooms of nuclear power plants

  5. Analysis of neural activity in human motor cortex -- Towards brain machine interface system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Secundo, Lavi

    The discovery of directional tuned neurons in the primary motor cortex has advanced motor research in several domains. For instance, in the area of brain machine interface (BMI), researchers have exploited the robust characteristic of tuned motor neurons to allow monkeys to learn control of various machines. In the first chapter of this work we examine whether this phenomena can be observed using the less invasive method of recording electrocorticographic signals (ECoG) from the surface of a human's brain. Our findings reveal that individual ECoG channels contain complex movement information about the neuronal population. While some ECoG channels are tuned to hand movement direction (direction specific channels), others are associated to movement but do not contain information regarding movement direction (non-direction specific channels). More specifically, directionality can vary temporally and by frequency within one channel. In addition, a handful of channels contain no significant information regarding movement at all. These findings strongly suggest that directional and non-directional regions of cortex can be identified with ECoG and provide solutions to decoding movement at the signal resolution provided by ECoG. In the second chapter we examine the influence of movement context on movement reconstruction accuracy. We recorded neuronal signals recorded from electro-corticography (ECoG) during performance of cued- and self-initiated movements. ECoG signals were used to train a reconstruction algorithm to reconstruct continuous hand movement. We found that both cued- and self-initiated movements could be reconstructed with similar accuracy from the ECoG data. However, while an algorithm trained on the cued task could reconstruct performance on a subsequent cued trial, it failed to reconstruct self-initiated arm movement. The same task-specificity was observed when the algorithm was trained with self-initiated movement data and tested on the cued task. Thus

  6. Gesture-controlled interfaces for self-service machines and other applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cohen, Charles J. (Inventor); Beach, Glenn (Inventor); Cavell, Brook (Inventor); Foulk, Gene (Inventor); Jacobus, Charles J. (Inventor); Obermark, Jay (Inventor); Paul, George (Inventor)

    2004-01-01

    A gesture recognition interface for use in controlling self-service machines and other devices is disclosed. A gesture is defined as motions and kinematic poses generated by humans, animals, or machines. Specific body features are tracked, and static and motion gestures are interpreted. Motion gestures are defined as a family of parametrically delimited oscillatory motions, modeled as a linear-in-parameters dynamic system with added geometric constraints to allow for real-time recognition using a small amount of memory and processing time. A linear least squares method is preferably used to determine the parameters which represent each gesture. Feature position measure is used in conjunction with a bank of predictor bins seeded with the gesture parameters, and the system determines which bin best fits the observed motion. Recognizing static pose gestures is preferably performed by localizing the body/object from the rest of the image, describing that object, and identifying that description. The disclosure details methods for gesture recognition, as well as the overall architecture for using gesture recognition to control of devices, including self-service machines.

  7. Design Concept of Human Interface System for Risk Monitoring for Proactive Trouble Prevention

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yoshikawa, Hidekazu; Yang, Ming; Zhang, Zhijian; Hashim, Muhammad [Harbin Engineering University, Harbin (China); Lind, Morten [Technical University of Denmark, Kongens Lyngby (Djibouti); Tamayama, Kiyoshi; Okusa, Kyoichi [Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Tsuruga (Japan)

    2011-08-15

    A new concept is first proposed of distributed human interface system to integrate both operation and maintenance of nuclear power plant. Then, a method of constructing human interface system is introduced by integrating the plant knowledge database system based on Multilevel Flow Model (MFM) with the risk monitor to watch Defense-in Depth plant safety functions. The proposed concept is applied for a liquid metal fast reactor Monju and necessary R and D subjects are reviewed to realize human interface system for the maintenance work in Monju plant. Because of using high temperature liquid sodium as reactor coolant in Monju plant, the maintenance for Monju should utilize more automated equipment of remote control and robotics than that of light water reactor. It is necessary to design optimum task allocation between human and automated machine as the requisites for good communication design of human interface systems to support the collaboration work between workers at local workplace and the main control room. In this paper, the general issues are reviewed on how to configure the whole human interface system for helping proactive trouble prevention and risk evaluation on the basis of the presented target plant model before the concrete proposition of the hardware and software systems development to be used by both the staffs of operation and maintenance of NPP.

  8. Design Concept of Human Interface System for Risk Monitoring for Proactive Trouble Prevention

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yoshikawa, Hidekazu; Yang, Ming; Zhang, Zhijian; Hashim, Muhammad; Lind, Morten; Tamayama, Kiyoshi; Okusa, Kyoichi

    2011-01-01

    A new concept is first proposed of distributed human interface system to integrate both operation and maintenance of nuclear power plant. Then, a method of constructing human interface system is introduced by integrating the plant knowledge database system based on Multilevel Flow Model (MFM) with the risk monitor to watch Defense-in Depth plant safety functions. The proposed concept is applied for a liquid metal fast reactor Monju and necessary R and D subjects are reviewed to realize human interface system for the maintenance work in Monju plant. Because of using high temperature liquid sodium as reactor coolant in Monju plant, the maintenance for Monju should utilize more automated equipment of remote control and robotics than that of light water reactor. It is necessary to design optimum task allocation between human and automated machine as the requisites for good communication design of human interface systems to support the collaboration work between workers at local workplace and the main control room. In this paper, the general issues are reviewed on how to configure the whole human interface system for helping proactive trouble prevention and risk evaluation on the basis of the presented target plant model before the concrete proposition of the hardware and software systems development to be used by both the staffs of operation and maintenance of NPP

  9. A Brain-Machine Interface Based on ERD/ERS for an Upper-Limb Exoskeleton Control.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tang, Zhichuan; Sun, Shouqian; Zhang, Sanyuan; Chen, Yumiao; Li, Chao; Chen, Shi

    2016-12-02

    To recognize the user's motion intention, brain-machine interfaces (BMI) usually decode movements from cortical activity to control exoskeletons and neuroprostheses for daily activities. The aim of this paper is to investigate whether self-induced variations of the electroencephalogram (EEG) can be useful as control signals for an upper-limb exoskeleton developed by us. A BMI based on event-related desynchronization/synchronization (ERD/ERS) is proposed. In the decoder-training phase, we investigate the offline classification performance of left versus right hand and left hand versus both feet by using motor execution (ME) or motor imagery (MI). The results indicate that the accuracies of ME sessions are higher than those of MI sessions, and left hand versus both feet paradigm achieves a better classification performance, which would be used in the online-control phase. In the online-control phase, the trained decoder is tested in two scenarios (wearing or without wearing the exoskeleton). The MI and ME sessions wearing the exoskeleton achieve mean classification accuracy of 84.29% ± 2.11% and 87.37% ± 3.06%, respectively. The present study demonstrates that the proposed BMI is effective to control the upper-limb exoskeleton, and provides a practical method by non-invasive EEG signal associated with human natural behavior for clinical applications.

  10. Operator-machine interface at a large laser-fusion facility

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sutton, J.G.; Howell, J.A.

    1982-01-01

    The operator-machine interface at the Antares Laser Facility provides the operator with a means of controlling the laser system and obtaining operational and performance information. The goal of this interface is to provide an operator with access to the control system in a comfortable way, and to facilitate meeting operational requirements. We describe the philosophy and requirements behind this interface, the hardware used in building it, and the software environment

  11. A review on progress of man-machine interface system designs for Japanese PWRs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yoshikawa, Hidekazu; Yamamoto, Yoshihiro; Magari, Takayuki.

    1994-01-01

    Historical development of Instrumentation and Control (I and C) system designing for the PWR plants in Kansai Electric Co. Ltd is firstly reviewed with respect to the conventional PWRs in the past, brand-new PWRs (Ohi 3/4 units) and advanced PWRs (APWR) in Japan. The major features of the APWR I and C system design are extensive application of digital computer control technology and advanced man-machine interface in order to enhance safety and reliability of total I and C system and to improve human factors in nuclear power plant operation. Comparative study of the APWR's I and C system design with the EPRI's User Requirement Definitions (URD) resulted in that the current Japanese APWR I and C system design meets generally with the EPRI URD conditions except for those items mainly set by the present national regulatory guidelines. The remaining problems in the current I and C system design are discussed which include the issues on future direction of man-machine interface development. (author)

  12. Concept Representation Analysis in the Context of Human-Machine Interactions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Badie, Farshad

    2016-01-01

    an inductive machine learning paradigm). The results will support figuring out the most significant key points for constructing a conceptual linkage between a human learning theory and a machine learning paradigm. Accordingly, I will construct a conceptual ground for expressing and analysing concepts......This article attempts to make a conceptual and epistemological junction between human learning and machine learning. I will be concerned with specifying and analysing the structure of concepts in the common ground between a concept-based human learning theory and a concept-based machine learning...... in the common ground of human and informatics sciences and in the context of human-machine interplays....

  13. European public deliberation on brain machine interface technology: five convergence seminars.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jebari, Karim; Hansson, Sven-Ove

    2013-09-01

    We present a novel procedure to engage the public in ethical deliberations on the potential impacts of brain machine interface technology. We call this procedure a convergence seminar, a form of scenario-based group discussion that is founded on the idea of hypothetical retrospection. The theoretical background of this procedure and the results of five seminars are presented.

  14. A Prototyping Environment for Research on Human-Machine Interfaces in Process Control: Use of Microsoft WPF for Microworld and Distributed Control System Development

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Roger Lew; Ronald L. Boring; Thomas A. Ulrich

    2014-08-01

    Operators of critical processes, such as nuclear power production, must contend with highly complex systems, procedures, and regulations. Developing human-machine interfaces (HMIs) that better support operators is a high priority for ensuring the safe and reliable operation of critical processes. Human factors engineering (HFE) provides a rich and mature set of tools for evaluating the performance of HMIs, but the set of tools for developing and designing HMIs is still in its infancy. Here we propose that Microsoft Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) is well suited for many roles in the research and development of HMIs for process control.

  15. Human factors evaluation of man-machine interface for periodic safety review of nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Yong Hee; Lee, Jung Woon; Park, Jae Chang; Hwang, In Koo; Lee, Hyun Cheol; Jang, Tong Il; Ku, Jin Young; Kim, Soo Jin

    2004-12-01

    This report describes the research results of human factors assessment on the MMI(Man Machine Interface) equipment as part of Periodic Safety Review(PSR) of Nuclear Power Plants(NPPs). As MMI is a key factor among human factors to be reviewed in PSR, we reviewed the MMI components of nuclear power plants in aspect of human factors engineering. The availability, suitability, and effectiveness of the MMI devices were chosen to be reviewed. The MMI devices were investigated through the review of design documents related to the MMI, survey of control panels, evaluation of experts, and experimental assessment. Checklists were used to perform this assessment and record the review results. The items mentioned by the expert comments to review in detail in relation with task procedures were tested by experiments with operators' participation. For some questionable issues arisen during this MMI review, operator workload and possibility of errors in operator actions were analysed. The reviewed MMI devices contain MCR(Main Control Room), SPDS(Safety Parameter Display System), RSP(Remote Shutdown Panel), and the selected LCBs(Local Control Boards) importantly related to safety. As results of the assessments, any significant problem challenging the safety was not found on human factors in the MMI devices. However, several small items to be changed and improved in suitability of MMI devices were discovered. An action plan is recommended to accommodate the suggestions and review comments. It will enhance the plant safety on MMI area

  16. A basic experimental study on mental workload for human cognitive work at man-machine interface

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yoshikawa, Hidekazu; Shimoda, Hiroshi; Wakamori, Osamu; Nagai, Yoshinori

    1995-01-01

    The nature and measurement methods of mental workload (MWL) for human cognitive activity at man-machine interface (MMI) were firstly discussed from the viewpoint of human information process model. Then, a model VDT experiment which simplifies the actual human-computer-interaction situation at MMI, was conducted for several subjects, where two subjects participated in experiment series and tried to solve the same cognitive task in competition. Adopted experimental parameters were (i)different kinds of cognitive task, and (ii)cycle time of information display, to see the influence on MWL characteristics from psycho-physiological viewpoint. A special processing unit for eye camera was developed and used for measuring subjects' eye movement characteristics. Concerning data analysis, total number of display presentation until problem solving (ie., total information needed for problem solving) was assumed as anchoring objective measure for MWL, and the investigations were conducted from two aspects; (i)global interpretation on MWL characteristics seen in the subjects' behavior from viewpoint of human information process model, and (ii)applicability of MWL by means of biocybernetic method. As regards to applicability of biocybernetic method, the nature of MWL characteristics was first divided into two aspects : (i)efficiency of visual information acquisition, and (ii)difficulty of inner cognitive process to solve problem, both in time pressure situation. Then, the data analysis results for eye movement characteristics were correlated to (i), while for heart rate characteristics, (ii). (author)

  17. Body-Machine Interfaces after Spinal Cord Injury: Rehabilitation and Brain Plasticity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ismael Seáñez-González

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to identify rehabilitative effects and changes in white matter microstructure in people with high-level spinal cord injury following bilateral upper-extremity motor skill training. Five subjects with high-level (C5–C6 spinal cord injury (SCI performed five visuo-spatial motor training tasks over 12 sessions (2–3 sessions per week. Subjects controlled a two-dimensional cursor with bilateral simultaneous movements of the shoulders using a non-invasive inertial measurement unit-based body-machine interface. Subjects’ upper-body ability was evaluated before the start, in the middle and a day after the completion of training. MR imaging data were acquired before the start and within two days of the completion of training. Subjects learned to use upper-body movements that survived the injury to control the body-machine interface and improved their performance with practice. Motor training increased Manual Muscle Test scores and the isometric force of subjects’ shoulders and upper arms. Moreover, motor training increased fractional anisotropy (FA values in the cingulum of the left hemisphere by 6.02% on average, indicating localized white matter microstructure changes induced by activity-dependent modulation of axon diameter, myelin thickness or axon number. This body-machine interface may serve as a platform to develop a new generation of assistive-rehabilitative devices that promote the use of, and that re-strengthen, the motor and sensory functions that survived the injury.

  18. Academic Training: The LHC machine /experiment interface

    CERN Multimedia

    Françoise Benz

    2005-01-01

    2004-2005 ACADEMIC TRAINING PROGRAMME LECTURE SERIES 18, 19, 20, 21 & 22 April from 11.00 to 12.00 hrs - Main Auditorium, bldg. 500 The LHC machine /experiment interface S. TAPPROGGE, Univ. of Mainz, D, R. ASSMANN, CERN-AB E. TSESMELIS and D. MACINA, CERN-TS This series of lectures will cover some of the major issues at the boundary between the LHC machine and the experiments: 1) The physics motivation and expectations of the experiments regarding the machine operation. This will include an overview of the LHC physics programme (in pp and PbPb collisions), of the experimental signatures (from high pT objects to leading nucleons) and of the expected trigger rates as well as the data sets needed for specific measurements. Furthermore, issues related to various modes of operation of the machine (e.g. bunch spacings of 25 ns. vs. 75 ns.) and special requirements of the detectors for their commissioning will be described. 2) The LHC machine aspects: introduction of the main LHC parameters and discu...

  19. Academic Training: The LHC machine /experiment interface

    CERN Multimedia

    Françoise Benz

    2005-01-01

    2004-2005 ACADEMIC TRAINING PROGRAMME LECTURE SERIES 18, 19, 20, 21 & 22 April from 11.00 to 12.00 hrs - Main Auditorium, bldg. 500 The LHC machine /experiment interface S. TAPPROGGE, Univ. of Mainz, D, R. ASSMANN, CERN-AB E. TSESMELIS and D. MACINA, CERN-TS This series of lectures will cover some of the major issues at the boundary between the LHC machine and the experiments: 1) The physics motivation and expectations of the experiments regarding the machine operation. This will include an overview of the LHC physics programme (in pp and PbPb collisions), of the experimental signatures (from high pT objects to leading nucleons) and of the expected trigger rates as well as the data sets needed for specific measurements. Furthermore, issues related to various modes of operation of the machine (e.g. bunch spacings of 25 ns. vs. 75 ns.) and special requirements of the detectors for their commissioning will be described. 2) The LHC machine aspects: introduction of the main LHC parameters and disc...

  20. Human-machine interfaces for teleoperators: an overview of research and development at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Consolidated Fuel Reprocessing Program

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Draper, J.V.; Feldman, M.J.

    1985-01-01

    This paper surveys the contributions of human factors to the mission of the Remote Control Engineering (RCE) task over the last six years. These contributions can be divided into two areas, research efforts and design efforts. Some of the topics covered in human factors research are manipulator comparisons, investigation of viewing system characteristics, research into the effects of force reflection, and studies of crew size and task allocation. In the area of component design the human factors group was primarily responsible for the conceptual design of the Advanced Integrated Maintenance System (AIMS) control room, including all operator work stations and overall control room architecture. The human factors group also contributed to the design of the AIMS master controller handle. Recent research at the RCE task has centered on comparison of manipulator systems. This research was planned and conducted by the human factors group and other ORNL personnel. The research is aimed at evaluating three important characteristics of manipulator systems: system dynamics, force feedback, and human-machine interface

  1. Study and application of human reliability analysis for digital human-system interface

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jia Ming; Liu Yanzi; Zhang Jianbo

    2014-01-01

    The knowledge of human-orientated abilities and limitations could be used to digital human-system interface (HSI) design by human reliability analysis (HRA) technology. Further, control room system design could achieve the perfect match of man-machine-environment. This research was conducted to establish an integrated HRA method. This method identified HSI potential design flaws which may affect human performance and cause human error. Then a systematic approach was adopted to optimize HSI. It turns out that this method is practical and objective, and effectively improves the safety, reliability and economy of nuclear power plant. This method was applied to CRP1000 projects under construction successfully with great potential. (authors)

  2. Flexible software architecture for user-interface and machine control in laboratory automation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arutunian, E B; Meldrum, D R; Friedman, N A; Moody, S E

    1998-10-01

    We describe a modular, layered software architecture for automated laboratory instruments. The design consists of a sophisticated user interface, a machine controller and multiple individual hardware subsystems, each interacting through a client-server architecture built entirely on top of open Internet standards. In our implementation, the user-interface components are built as Java applets that are downloaded from a server integrated into the machine controller. The user-interface client can thereby provide laboratory personnel with a familiar environment for experiment design through a standard World Wide Web browser. Data management and security are seamlessly integrated at the machine-controller layer using QNX, a real-time operating system. This layer also controls hardware subsystems through a second client-server interface. This architecture has proven flexible and relatively easy to implement and allows users to operate laboratory automation instruments remotely through an Internet connection. The software architecture was implemented and demonstrated on the Acapella, an automated fluid-sample-processing system that is under development at the University of Washington.

  3. Screen-Printed Washable Electronic Textiles as Self-Powered Touch/Gesture Tribo-Sensors for Intelligent Human-Machine Interaction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cao, Ran; Pu, Xianjie; Du, Xinyu; Yang, Wei; Wang, Jiaona; Guo, Hengyu; Zhao, Shuyu; Yuan, Zuqing; Zhang, Chi; Li, Congju; Wang, Zhong Lin

    2018-05-22

    Multifunctional electronic textiles (E-textiles) with embedded electric circuits hold great application prospects for future wearable electronics. However, most E-textiles still have critical challenges, including air permeability, satisfactory washability, and mass fabrication. In this work, we fabricate a washable E-textile that addresses all of the concerns and shows its application as a self-powered triboelectric gesture textile for intelligent human-machine interfacing. Utilizing conductive carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and screen-printing technology, this kind of E-textile embraces high conductivity (0.2 kΩ/sq), high air permeability (88.2 mm/s), and can be manufactured on common fabric at large scales. Due to the advantage of the interaction between the CNTs and the fabrics, the electrode shows excellent stability under harsh mechanical deformation and even after being washed. Moreover, based on a single-electrode mode triboelectric nanogenerator and electrode pattern design, our E-textile exhibits highly sensitive touch/gesture sensing performance and has potential applications for human-machine interfacing.

  4. A Brain-Machine Interface Based on ERD/ERS for an Upper-Limb Exoskeleton Control

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhichuan Tang

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available To recognize the user’s motion intention, brain-machine interfaces (BMI usually decode movements from cortical activity to control exoskeletons and neuroprostheses for daily activities. The aim of this paper is to investigate whether self-induced variations of the electroencephalogram (EEG can be useful as control signals for an upper-limb exoskeleton developed by us. A BMI based on event-related desynchronization/synchronization (ERD/ERS is proposed. In the decoder-training phase, we investigate the offline classification performance of left versus right hand and left hand versus both feet by using motor execution (ME or motor imagery (MI. The results indicate that the accuracies of ME sessions are higher than those of MI sessions, and left hand versus both feet paradigm achieves a better classification performance, which would be used in the online-control phase. In the online-control phase, the trained decoder is tested in two scenarios (wearing or without wearing the exoskeleton. The MI and ME sessions wearing the exoskeleton achieve mean classification accuracy of 84.29% ± 2.11% and 87.37% ± 3.06%, respectively. The present study demonstrates that the proposed BMI is effective to control the upper-limb exoskeleton, and provides a practical method by non-invasive EEG signal associated with human natural behavior for clinical applications.

  5. Combining human and machine processes (CHAMP)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sudit, Moises; Sudit, David; Hirsch, Michael

    2015-05-01

    Machine Reasoning and Intelligence is usually done in a vacuum, without consultation of the ultimate decision-maker. The late consideration of the human cognitive process causes some major problems in the use of automated systems to provide reliable and actionable information that users can trust and depend to make the best Course-of-Action (COA). On the other hand, if automated systems are created exclusively based on human cognition, then there is a danger of developing systems that don't push the barrier of technology and are mainly done for the comfort level of selected subject matter experts (SMEs). Our approach to combining human and machine processes (CHAMP) is based on the notion of developing optimal strategies for where, when, how, and which human intelligence should be injected within a machine reasoning and intelligence process. This combination is based on the criteria of improving the quality of the output of the automated process while maintaining the required computational efficiency for a COA to be actuated in timely fashion. This research addresses the following problem areas: • Providing consistency within a mission: Injection of human reasoning and intelligence within the reliability and temporal needs of a mission to attain situational awareness, impact assessment, and COA development. • Supporting the incorporation of data that is uncertain, incomplete, imprecise and contradictory (UIIC): Development of mathematical models to suggest the insertion of a cognitive process within a machine reasoning and intelligent system so as to minimize UIIC concerns. • Developing systems that include humans in the loop whose performance can be analyzed and understood to provide feedback to the sensors.

  6. Using Ontology to Drive an Adaptive Learning Interface

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrew Crapo

    2004-10-01

    Full Text Available Intelligent, adaptive interfaces are a pre-requisite to elevating computer-based applications to the realm of collaborative decision support in complex, relatively open-ended domains such as logistics and planning. This is because the composition and effective presentation of even the most useful information must be tailored to constantly changing circumstances. Our objective is to not only achieve an adaptive human-machine interface, but to imbue the software with a significant portion of the responsibility for effectively controlling the adaptation, freeing the user from unnecessary distraction and making the human-machine relationship more collaborative in nature. The foundational concepts of interface adaptation are discussed and a specific logistics application is described as an example.

  7. Rapid Prototyping Human Interfaces Using Stretchable Strain Sensor

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tokiya Yamaji

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available In the modern society with a variety of information electronic devices, human interfaces increase their importance in a boundary of a human and a device. In general, the human is required to get used to the device. Even if the device is designed as a universal device or a high-usability device, the device is not suitable for all users. The usability of the device depends on the individual user. Therefore, personalized and customized human interfaces are effective for the user. To create customized interfaces, we propose rapid prototyping human interfaces using stretchable strain sensors. The human interfaces comprise parts formed by a three-dimensional printer and the four strain sensors. The three-dimensional printer easily makes customized human interfaces. The outputs of the interface are calculated based on the sensor’s lengths. Experiments evaluate three human interfaces: a sheet-shaped interface, a sliding lever interface, and a tilting lever interface. We confirm that the three human interfaces obtain input operations with a high accuracy.

  8. Human factors and man-machine-interaction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bohr-Bruckmayr, E.

    1985-01-01

    Definitions of the man-machine-interface concept are given. The importance of ergonomics in planning, construction, start-up and operation of a nuclear power plant is highlighted. A comprehensive task analysis is the basis of man-machine-interaction. Personnel performance, work shaping and security are discussed

  9. Robotic devices and brain-machine interfaces for hand rehabilitation post-stroke.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McConnell, Alistair C; Moioli, Renan C; Brasil, Fabricio L; Vallejo, Marta; Corne, David W; Vargas, Patricia A; Stokes, Adam A

    2017-06-28

    To review the state of the art of robotic-aided hand physiotherapy for post-stroke rehabilitation, including the use of brain-machine interfaces. Each patient has a unique clinical history and, in response to personalized treatment needs, research into individualized and at-home treatment options has expanded rapidly in recent years. This has resulted in the development of many devices and design strategies for use in stroke rehabilitation. The development progression of robotic-aided hand physiotherapy devices and brain-machine interface systems is outlined, focussing on those with mechanisms and control strategies designed to improve recovery outcomes of the hand post-stroke. A total of 110 commercial and non-commercial hand and wrist devices, spanning the 2 major core designs: end-effector and exoskeleton are reviewed. The growing body of evidence on the efficacy and relevance of incorporating brain-machine interfaces in stroke rehabilitation is summarized. The challenges involved in integrating robotic rehabilitation into the healthcare system are discussed. This review provides novel insights into the use of robotics in physiotherapy practice, and may help system designers to develop new devices.

  10. Investigation of human-robot interface performance in household environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cremer, Sven; Mirza, Fahad; Tuladhar, Yathartha; Alonzo, Rommel; Hingeley, Anthony; Popa, Dan O.

    2016-05-01

    Today, assistive robots are being introduced into human environments at an increasing rate. Human environments are highly cluttered and dynamic, making it difficult to foresee all necessary capabilities and pre-program all desirable future skills of the robot. One approach to increase robot performance is semi-autonomous operation, allowing users to intervene and guide the robot through difficult tasks. To this end, robots need intuitive Human-Machine Interfaces (HMIs) that support fine motion control without overwhelming the operator. In this study we evaluate the performance of several interfaces that balance autonomy and teleoperation of a mobile manipulator for accomplishing several household tasks. Our proposed HMI framework includes teleoperation devices such as a tablet, as well as physical interfaces in the form of piezoresistive pressure sensor arrays. Mobile manipulation experiments were performed with a sensorized KUKA youBot, an omnidirectional platform with a 5 degrees of freedom (DOF) arm. The pick and place tasks involved navigation and manipulation of objects in household environments. Performance metrics included time for task completion and position accuracy.

  11. Soft brain-machine interfaces for assistive robotics: A novel control approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schiatti, Lucia; Tessadori, Jacopo; Barresi, Giacinto; Mattos, Leonardo S; Ajoudani, Arash

    2017-07-01

    Robotic systems offer the possibility of improving the life quality of people with severe motor disabilities, enhancing the individual's degree of independence and interaction with the external environment. In this direction, the operator's residual functions must be exploited for the control of the robot movements and the underlying dynamic interaction through intuitive and effective human-robot interfaces. Towards this end, this work aims at exploring the potential of a novel Soft Brain-Machine Interface (BMI), suitable for dynamic execution of remote manipulation tasks for a wide range of patients. The interface is composed of an eye-tracking system, for an intuitive and reliable control of a robotic arm system's trajectories, and a Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) unit, for the control of the robot Cartesian stiffness, which determines the interaction forces between the robot and environment. The latter control is achieved by estimating in real-time a unidimensional index from user's electroencephalographic (EEG) signals, which provides the probability of a neutral or active state. This estimated state is then translated into a stiffness value for the robotic arm, allowing a reliable modulation of the robot's impedance. A preliminary evaluation of this hybrid interface concept provided evidence on the effective execution of tasks with dynamic uncertainties, demonstrating the great potential of this control method in BMI applications for self-service and clinical care.

  12. A study on dynamic evaluation methods for human-machine interfaces in advanced control rooms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Park, Jin Kyun

    1998-02-01

    Extensive efforts have been performed to reveal factors that largely affect to the safety of nuclear power plants (NPPs). Among them, human factors were known as a dominant cause of a severe accident, such as Three Mile Island and Chernobyl accidents. Thus a lot of efforts to resolve human factors related problems have been spent, and one of these efforts is an advanced control room (ACR) design to enhance human performance and the safety of NPPs. There are two important trends in the design of ACRs. The first one is increasing automation level, and the second one is the development of computer based compact workstations for control room operations including intelligent operator aid systems. However, several problems have been reported when another factors are not properly incorporated into the design of ACRs. Among them, one of the most important factors that significantly affect to operator performance is the design of human machine interfaces (HMIs). Thus, HMI evaluation should be emphasized to ensure appropriateness of HMI designs and the safety of NPPs. In general, two kinds of evaluations have been frequently used to assess appropriateness of the proposed HMI design. The one is the static evaluation and the other is the dynamic evaluation. Here, the static evaluation is the one based on guidelines that are extracted from various researches on HMI designs. And the dynamic evaluation generally attempts to evaluate and predict human performance through a model that can describe cognitive behaviors of human or interactions between HMIs and human. However, the static evaluation seems to be inappropriate because it can't properly capture context of task environment that strongly affects to human performance. In addition, in case of dynamic evaluations, development of a model that can sufficiently describe interactions or cognitive behaviors of human operators is very arduous and laborious. To overcome these problems, dynamic evaluation methods that can

  13. Human Machine Learning Symbiosis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walsh, Kenneth R.; Hoque, Md Tamjidul; Williams, Kim H.

    2017-01-01

    Human Machine Learning Symbiosis is a cooperative system where both the human learner and the machine learner learn from each other to create an effective and efficient learning environment adapted to the needs of the human learner. Such a system can be used in online learning modules so that the modules adapt to each learner's learning state both…

  14. Collaborative Video Search Combining Video Retrieval with Human-Based Visual Inspection

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hudelist, M.A.; Cobârzan, C.; Beecks, C.; van de Werken, Rob; Kletz, S.; Hürst, W.O.; Schoeffmann, K.

    2016-01-01

    We propose a novel video browsing approach that aims at optimally integrating traditional, machine-based retrieval methods with an interface design optimized for human browsing performance. Advanced video retrieval and filtering (e.g., via color and motion signatures, and visual concepts) on a

  15. HUMAN MACHINE INTERFACE (HMI) EVALUATION OF ROOMS TA-50-1-60/60A AT THE RADIOACTIVE LIQUID WASTE TREATMENT FACILITY (RLWTF)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gilmore, Walter E. [Los Alamos National Laboratory; Stender, Kerith K. [Los Alamos National Laboratory

    2012-08-29

    This effort addressed an evaluation of human machine interfaces (HMIs) in Room TA-50-1-60/60A of the Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility (RLWTF). The evaluation was performed in accordance with guidance outlined in DOE-STD-3009, DOE Standard Preparation Guide for U.S. Department of Energy Nonreactor Nuclear Facility Documented Safety Analyses, 2006 [DOE 2006]. Specifically, Chapter 13 of DOE 2006 highlights the 10 CFR 830, Nuclear Safety Management, 2012, [CFR 2012] and DOE G 421.1-2 [DOE 2001a] requirements as they relate to the human factors process and, in this case, the safety of the RLWTF. The RLWTF is a Hazard Category 3 facility and, consequently, does not have safety-class (SSCs). However, safety-significant SSCs are identified. The transuranic (TRU) wastewater tanks and associated piping are the only safety-significant SSCs in Rooms TA-50-1-60/60A [LANL 2010]. Hence, the human factors evaluation described herein is only applicable to this particular assemblage of tanks and piping.

  16. Craniux: a LabVIEW-based modular software framework for brain-machine interface research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Degenhart, Alan D; Kelly, John W; Ashmore, Robin C; Collinger, Jennifer L; Tyler-Kabara, Elizabeth C; Weber, Douglas J; Wang, Wei

    2011-01-01

    This paper presents "Craniux," an open-access, open-source software framework for brain-machine interface (BMI) research. Developed in LabVIEW, a high-level graphical programming environment, Craniux offers both out-of-the-box functionality and a modular BMI software framework that is easily extendable. Specifically, it allows researchers to take advantage of multiple features inherent to the LabVIEW environment for on-the-fly data visualization, parallel processing, multithreading, and data saving. This paper introduces the basic features and system architecture of Craniux and describes the validation of the system under real-time BMI operation using simulated and real electrocorticographic (ECoG) signals. Our results indicate that Craniux is able to operate consistently in real time, enabling a seamless work flow to achieve brain control of cursor movement. The Craniux software framework is made available to the scientific research community to provide a LabVIEW-based BMI software platform for future BMI research and development.

  17. Craniux: A LabVIEW-Based Modular Software Framework for Brain-Machine Interface Research

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alan D. Degenhart

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents “Craniux,” an open-access, open-source software framework for brain-machine interface (BMI research. Developed in LabVIEW, a high-level graphical programming environment, Craniux offers both out-of-the-box functionality and a modular BMI software framework that is easily extendable. Specifically, it allows researchers to take advantage of multiple features inherent to the LabVIEW environment for on-the-fly data visualization, parallel processing, multithreading, and data saving. This paper introduces the basic features and system architecture of Craniux and describes the validation of the system under real-time BMI operation using simulated and real electrocorticographic (ECoG signals. Our results indicate that Craniux is able to operate consistently in real time, enabling a seamless work flow to achieve brain control of cursor movement. The Craniux software framework is made available to the scientific research community to provide a LabVIEW-based BMI software platform for future BMI research and development.

  18. Selectivity and Longevity of Peripheral-Nerve and Machine Interfaces: A Review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Usman Ghafoor

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available For those individuals with upper-extremity amputation, a daily normal living activity is no longer possible or it requires additional effort and time. With the aim of restoring their sensory and motor functions, theoretical and technological investigations have been carried out in the field of neuroprosthetic systems. For transmission of sensory feedback, several interfacing modalities including indirect (non-invasive, direct-to-peripheral-nerve (invasive, and cortical stimulation have been applied. Peripheral nerve interfaces demonstrate an edge over the cortical interfaces due to the sensitivity in attaining cortical brain signals. The peripheral nerve interfaces are highly dependent on interface designs and are required to be biocompatible with the nerves to achieve prolonged stability and longevity. Another criterion is the selection of nerves that allows minimal invasiveness and damages as well as high selectivity for a large number of nerve fascicles. In this paper, we review the nerve-machine interface modalities noted above with more focus on peripheral nerve interfaces, which are responsible for provision of sensory feedback. The invasive interfaces for recording and stimulation of electro-neurographic signals include intra-fascicular, regenerative-type interfaces that provide multiple contact channels to a group of axons inside the nerve and the extra-neural-cuff-type interfaces that enable interaction with many axons around the periphery of the nerve. Section Current Prosthetic Technology summarizes the advancements made to date in the field of neuroprosthetics toward the achievement of a bidirectional nerve-machine interface with more focus on sensory feedback. In the Discussion section, the authors propose a hybrid interface technique for achieving better selectivity and long-term stability using the available nerve interfacing techniques.

  19. Selectivity and Longevity of Peripheral-Nerve and Machine Interfaces: A Review

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghafoor, Usman; Kim, Sohee; Hong, Keum-Shik

    2017-01-01

    For those individuals with upper-extremity amputation, a daily normal living activity is no longer possible or it requires additional effort and time. With the aim of restoring their sensory and motor functions, theoretical and technological investigations have been carried out in the field of neuroprosthetic systems. For transmission of sensory feedback, several interfacing modalities including indirect (non-invasive), direct-to-peripheral-nerve (invasive), and cortical stimulation have been applied. Peripheral nerve interfaces demonstrate an edge over the cortical interfaces due to the sensitivity in attaining cortical brain signals. The peripheral nerve interfaces are highly dependent on interface designs and are required to be biocompatible with the nerves to achieve prolonged stability and longevity. Another criterion is the selection of nerves that allows minimal invasiveness and damages as well as high selectivity for a large number of nerve fascicles. In this paper, we review the nerve-machine interface modalities noted above with more focus on peripheral nerve interfaces, which are responsible for provision of sensory feedback. The invasive interfaces for recording and stimulation of electro-neurographic signals include intra-fascicular, regenerative-type interfaces that provide multiple contact channels to a group of axons inside the nerve and the extra-neural-cuff-type interfaces that enable interaction with many axons around the periphery of the nerve. Section Current Prosthetic Technology summarizes the advancements made to date in the field of neuroprosthetics toward the achievement of a bidirectional nerve-machine interface with more focus on sensory feedback. In the Discussion section, the authors propose a hybrid interface technique for achieving better selectivity and long-term stability using the available nerve interfacing techniques. PMID:29163122

  20. Brain Machine Interfaces : technology status, applications and the way to the future

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Erp, J.B.F. van; Duistermaat, M.; Philippens, I.H.C.H.M.; Veen, H.A.H.C. van; Werkhoven, P.J.

    2006-01-01

    Brain Machine Interfaces (BMIs) enable direct communication between the brain or nervous system and a machine without involving the sensory-motor system. BMIs are an embryonic technology and remarkable accomplishments have recently been reported. BMIs have a high potential and possibly an enormous

  1. Wireless brain-machine interface using EEG and EOG: brain wave classification and robot control

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oh, Sechang; Kumar, Prashanth S.; Kwon, Hyeokjun; Varadan, Vijay K.

    2012-04-01

    A brain-machine interface (BMI) links a user's brain activity directly to an external device. It enables a person to control devices using only thought. Hence, it has gained significant interest in the design of assistive devices and systems for people with disabilities. In addition, BMI has also been proposed to replace humans with robots in the performance of dangerous tasks like explosives handling/diffusing, hazardous materials handling, fire fighting etc. There are mainly two types of BMI based on the measurement method of brain activity; invasive and non-invasive. Invasive BMI can provide pristine signals but it is expensive and surgery may lead to undesirable side effects. Recent advances in non-invasive BMI have opened the possibility of generating robust control signals from noisy brain activity signals like EEG and EOG. A practical implementation of a non-invasive BMI such as robot control requires: acquisition of brain signals with a robust wearable unit, noise filtering and signal processing, identification and extraction of relevant brain wave features and finally, an algorithm to determine control signals based on the wave features. In this work, we developed a wireless brain-machine interface with a small platform and established a BMI that can be used to control the movement of a robot by using the extracted features of the EEG and EOG signals. The system records and classifies EEG as alpha, beta, delta, and theta waves. The classified brain waves are then used to define the level of attention. The acceleration and deceleration or stopping of the robot is controlled based on the attention level of the wearer. In addition, the left and right movements of eye ball control the direction of the robot.

  2. Survey of the problems posed by the man-machine interface, as seen from the angle of facility operators

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Heinbuch, R.

    1995-01-01

    The man-machine interface in nuclear power plants is an area very much influenced by the vigorous progress in computer technology. The paper describes the causes underlying the innovative power in this field and its impacts on the man-machine interface in nuclear power plants. The benefits brought by the advanced computer systems in the design of the man-machine interface as well as the problems posed through application in practice to safety-relevant plant systems are discussed, and examples are given showing the experience accumulated so far, and the significant changes effected in the man-machine interface. (orig.) [de

  3. Overview Electrotactile Feedback for Enhancing Human Computer Interface

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pamungkas, Daniel S.; Caesarendra, Wahyu

    2018-04-01

    To achieve effective interaction between a human and a computing device or machine, adequate feedback from the computing device or machine is required. Recently, haptic feedback is increasingly being utilised to improve the interactivity of the Human Computer Interface (HCI). Most existing haptic feedback enhancements aim at producing forces or vibrations to enrich the user’s interactive experience. However, these force and/or vibration actuated haptic feedback systems can be bulky and uncomfortable to wear and only capable of delivering a limited amount of information to the user which can limit both their effectiveness and the applications they can be applied to. To address this deficiency, electrotactile feedback is used. This involves delivering haptic sensations to the user by electrically stimulating nerves in the skin via electrodes placed on the surface of the skin. This paper presents a review and explores the capability of electrotactile feedback for HCI applications. In addition, a description of the sensory receptors within the skin for sensing tactile stimulus and electric currents alsoseveral factors which influenced electric signal to transmit to the brain via human skinare explained.

  4. Human Factors Evaluation of Man-Machine Interface for Periodic Safety Review of Yonggwang Unit no. 1, 2

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Yong Hee; Lee, Jung Woon; Park, Jae Chang

    2006-01-01

    This report describes the research results of human factors assessment on the MMI(Man Machine Interface) equipment as part of Periodic Safety Review(PSR) of Yonggwang Unit no. 1, 2. As MMI is a key factor among human factors to be reviewed in PSR, we reviewed the MMI components of nuclear power plants in aspect of human factors engineering. The availability, suitability, and effectiveness of the MMI devices were chosen to be reviewed. The MMI devices were investigated through the review of design documents related to the MMI, survey of control panels, evaluation of experts, and experimental assessment. Checklists were used to perform this assessment and record the review results. The items mentioned by the expert comments to review in detail in relation with task procedures were tested by experiments with operators' participation. For some questionable issues arisen during this MMI review, operator workload and possibility of errors in operator actions were analysed. The reviewed MMI devices contain MCR(Main Control Room), SPDS(Safety Parameter Display System), RSP(Remote Shutdown Panel), and the selected LCBs(Local Control Boards) importantly related to safety. As results of the assessments, any significant problem challenging the safety was not found on human factors in the MMI devices. However, several small items to be changed and improved in suitability of MMI devices were discovered. An action plan is recommended to accommodate the suggestions and review comments. It will enhance the plant safety on MMI area

  5. Human Factors Evaluation of Man-Machine Interface for Periodic Safety Review of Yonggwang Unit no. 1, 2

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, Yong Hee; Lee, Jung Woon; Park, Jae Chang (and others)

    2006-01-15

    This report describes the research results of human factors assessment on the MMI(Man Machine Interface) equipment as part of Periodic Safety Review(PSR) of Yonggwang Unit no. 1, 2. As MMI is a key factor among human factors to be reviewed in PSR, we reviewed the MMI components of nuclear power plants in aspect of human factors engineering. The availability, suitability, and effectiveness of the MMI devices were chosen to be reviewed. The MMI devices were investigated through the review of design documents related to the MMI, survey of control panels, evaluation of experts, and experimental assessment. Checklists were used to perform this assessment and record the review results. The items mentioned by the expert comments to review in detail in relation with task procedures were tested by experiments with operators' participation. For some questionable issues arisen during this MMI review, operator workload and possibility of errors in operator actions were analysed. The reviewed MMI devices contain MCR(Main Control Room), SPDS(Safety Parameter Display System), RSP(Remote Shutdown Panel), and the selected LCBs(Local Control Boards) importantly related to safety. As results of the assessments, any significant problem challenging the safety was not found on human factors in the MMI devices. However, several small items to be changed and improved in suitability of MMI devices were discovered. An action plan is recommended to accommodate the suggestions and review comments. It will enhance the plant safety on MMI area.

  6. Optimal design method for a digital human–computer interface based on human reliability in a nuclear power plant. Part 3: Optimization method for interface task layout

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jiang, Jianjun; Wang, Yiqun; Zhang, Li; Xie, Tian; Li, Min; Peng, Yuyuan; Wu, Daqing; Li, Peiyao; Ma, Congmin; Shen, Mengxu; Wu, Xing; Weng, Mengyun; Wang, Shiwei; Xie, Cen

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • The authors present an optimization algorithm for interface task layout. • The performing process of the proposed algorithm was depicted. • The performance evaluation method adopted neural network method. • The optimization layouts of an event interface tasks were obtained by experiments. - Abstract: This is the last in a series of papers describing the optimal design for a digital human–computer interface of a nuclear power plant (NPP) from three different points based on human reliability. The purpose of this series is to propose different optimization methods from varying perspectives to decrease human factor events that arise from the defects of a human–computer interface. The present paper mainly solves the optimization method as to how to effectively layout interface tasks into different screens. The purpose of this paper is to decrease human errors by reducing the distance that an operator moves among different screens in each operation. In order to resolve the problem, the authors propose an optimization process of interface task layout for digital human–computer interface of a NPP. As to how to automatically layout each interface task into one of screens in each operation, the paper presents a shortest moving path optimization algorithm with dynamic flag based on human reliability. To test the algorithm performance, the evaluation method uses neural network based on human reliability. The less the human error probabilities are, the better the interface task layouts among different screens are. Thus, by analyzing the performance of each interface task layout, the optimization result is obtained. Finally, the optimization layouts of spurious safety injection event interface tasks of the NPP are obtained by an experiment, the proposed methods has a good accuracy and stabilization.

  7. A model for assessing the degree of importance of ergonomics criteria to human machine interface

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Araujo, Cesar Ribeiro de; Domech More, Jesus [Universidade Estacio de Sa do Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil). Mestrado em Desenvolvimento Empresarial - MADE]. E-mail: cesararaujobr@yahoo.com.br; jesus.more@estacio.br; Silva, Aretha Felix Thomaz da [Coordenacao dos Programas de Pos-graduacao de Engenharia (COPPE/UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil). Programa de Engenharia Civil. Sistemas Computacionais Orientados a Industria do Petroleo]. E-mail: aretha@coc.ufrj.br

    2007-07-01

    This paper intends to show a model to help us to incorporate ergonomics criteria into the usability of the human computer interface (HCI). The techniques based on fuzzy set theory are appropriate tools for the treatment of subjective and vague concepts that are inherent to usability for the HCI. The application consists of analysis concepts. This approach allows the use of natural language expressions of importance in ergonomics criteria estimation. The above-mentioned model shows the degree of importance of the ergonomics criteria present in the software interface used in the medical area. In this work, as entry data, the system developer opinions are used and as a result we had the hierarchy of 18 ergonomic criteria. The ergonomic criteria are those already validated by the market, which are linked to the ErgoList checklists. The fuzzy model created will allow knowing the most important criteria to health governmental companies. Its Information Technology (IT) professionals will concentrate efforts when treating the usability of the software interface and its systems. (author)

  8. A model for assessing the degree of importance of ergonomics criteria to human machine interface

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Araujo, Cesar Ribeiro de; Domech More, Jesus; Silva, Aretha Felix Thomaz da

    2007-01-01

    This paper intends to show a model to help us to incorporate ergonomics criteria into the usability of the human computer interface (HCI). The techniques based on fuzzy set theory are appropriate tools for the treatment of subjective and vague concepts that are inherent to usability for the HCI. The application consists of analysis concepts. This approach allows the use of natural language expressions of importance in ergonomics criteria estimation. The above-mentioned model shows the degree of importance of the ergonomics criteria present in the software interface used in the medical area. In this work, as entry data, the system developer opinions are used and as a result we had the hierarchy of 18 ergonomic criteria. The ergonomic criteria are those already validated by the market, which are linked to the ErgoList checklists. The fuzzy model created will allow knowing the most important criteria to health governmental companies. Its Information Technology (IT) professionals will concentrate efforts when treating the usability of the software interface and its systems. (author)

  9. The human error rate assessment and optimizing system HEROS - a new procedure for evaluating and optimizing the man-machine interface in PSA

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Richei, A.; Hauptmanns, U.; Unger, H.

    2001-01-01

    A new procedure allowing the probabilistic evaluation and optimization of the man-machine system is presented. This procedure and the resulting expert system HEROS, which is an acronym for Human Error Rate Assessment and Optimizing System, is based on the fuzzy set theory. Most of the well-known procedures employed for the probabilistic evaluation of human factors involve the use of vague linguistic statements on performance shaping factors to select and to modify basic human error probabilities from the associated databases. This implies a large portion of subjectivity. Vague statements are expressed here in terms of fuzzy numbers or intervals which allow mathematical operations to be performed on them. A model of the man-machine system is the basis of the procedure. A fuzzy rule-based expert system was derived from ergonomic and psychological studies. Hence, it does not rely on a database, whose transferability to situations different from its origin is questionable. In this way, subjective elements are eliminated to a large extent. HEROS facilitates the importance analysis for the evaluation of human factors, which is necessary for optimizing the man-machine system. HEROS is applied to the analysis of a simple diagnosis of task of the operating personnel in a nuclear power plant

  10. Ergonomic Models of Anthropometry, Human Biomechanics and Operator-Equipment Interfaces

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kroemer, Karl H. E. (Editor); Snook, Stover H. (Editor); Meadows, Susan K. (Editor); Deutsch, Stanley (Editor)

    1988-01-01

    The Committee on Human Factors was established in October 1980 by the Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education of the National Research Council. The committee is sponsored by the Office of Naval Research, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the National Science Foundation. The workshop discussed the following: anthropometric models; biomechanical models; human-machine interface models; and research recommendations. A 17-page bibliography is included.

  11. Interface design and human factors considerations for model-based tight glycemic control in critical care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ward, Logan; Steel, James; Le Compte, Aaron; Evans, Alicia; Tan, Chia-Siong; Penning, Sophie; Shaw, Geoffrey M; Desaive, Thomas; Chase, J Geoffrey

    2012-01-01

    Tight glycemic control (TGC) has shown benefits but has been difficult to implement. Model-based methods and computerized protocols offer the opportunity to improve TGC quality and compliance. This research presents an interface design to maximize compliance, minimize real and perceived clinical effort, and minimize error based on simple human factors and end user input. The graphical user interface (GUI) design is presented by construction based on a series of simple, short design criteria based on fundamental human factors engineering and includes the use of user feedback and focus groups comprising nursing staff at Christchurch Hospital. The overall design maximizes ease of use and minimizes (unnecessary) interaction and use. It is coupled to a protocol that allows nurse staff to select measurement intervals and thus self-manage workload. The overall GUI design is presented and requires only one data entry point per intervention cycle. The design and main interface are heavily focused on the nurse end users who are the predominant users, while additional detailed and longitudinal data, which are of interest to doctors guiding overall patient care, are available via tabs. This dichotomy of needs and interests based on the end user's immediate focus and goals shows how interfaces must adapt to offer different information to multiple types of users. The interface is designed to minimize real and perceived clinical effort, and ongoing pilot trials have reported high levels of acceptance. The overall design principles, approach, and testing methods are based on fundamental human factors principles designed to reduce user effort and error and are readily generalizable. © 2012 Diabetes Technology Society.

  12. Design Concept of Human Interface System for Risk Monitoring for Proactive Trouble Prevention

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hidekazu, Yoshikawa; Ming, Yang; Zhijian, Zhang

    2011-01-01

    interface systems to support the collaboration work between workers at local workplace and the main control room. In this paper, the general issues are reviewed on how to configure the whole human interface system for helping proactive trouble prevention and risk evaluation on the basis of the presented......) with the risk monitor to watch Defense-in Depth plant safety functions. The proposed concept is applied for a liquid metal fast reactor Monju and necessary R&D subjects are reviewed to realize human interface system for the maintenance work in Monju plant. Because of using high temperature liquid sodium...... as reactor coolant in Monju plant, the maintenance for Monju should utilize more automated equipments of remote control and robotics than that of light water reactor. It is necessary to design optimum task allocation between human and automated machine as the requisites for good communication design of human...

  13. Structural health monitoring for bolt loosening via a non-invasive vibro-haptics human-machine cooperative interface

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pekedis, Mahmut; Mascerañas, David; Turan, Gursoy; Ercan, Emre; Farrar, Charles R.; Yildiz, Hasan

    2015-08-01

    For the last two decades, developments in damage detection algorithms have greatly increased the potential for autonomous decisions about structural health. However, we are still struggling to build autonomous tools that can match the ability of a human to detect and localize the quantity of damage in structures. Therefore, there is a growing interest in merging the computational and cognitive concepts to improve the solution of structural health monitoring (SHM). The main object of this research is to apply the human-machine cooperative approach on a tower structure to detect damage. The cooperation approach includes haptic tools to create an appropriate collaboration between SHM sensor networks, statistical compression techniques and humans. Damage simulation in the structure is conducted by releasing some of the bolt loads. Accelerometers are bonded to various locations of the tower members to acquire the dynamic response of the structure. The obtained accelerometer results are encoded in three different ways to represent them as a haptic stimulus for the human subjects. Then, the participants are subjected to each of these stimuli to detect the bolt loosened damage in the tower. Results obtained from the human-machine cooperation demonstrate that the human subjects were able to recognize the damage with an accuracy of 88 ± 20.21% and response time of 5.87 ± 2.33 s. As a result, it is concluded that the currently developed human-machine cooperation SHM may provide a useful framework to interact with abstract entities such as data from a sensor network.

  14. Human machine interface to manually drive rhombic like vehicles such as transport casks in ITER

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lopes, Pedro; Vale, Alberto [Instituto de Plasmas e Fusao Nuclear, Instituto Superior Tecnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais 1, 1049-001 Lisboa (Portugal); Ventura, Rodrigo [Institute for Systems and Robotics, Instituto Superior Tecnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais 1, 1049-001 Lisboa (Portugal)

    2015-07-01

    The Cask and Plug Remote Handling System (CPRHS) and the respective Cask Transfer System (CTS) are designed to transport activated components between the reactor and the hot cell buildings of ITER during maintenance operations. In nominal operation, the CPRHS/CTS shall operate autonomously under human supervision. However, in some unexpected situations, the automatic mode must be overridden and the vehicle must be remotely guided by a human operator due to the harsh conditions of the environment. The CPRHS/CTS is a rhombic-like vehicle with two independent steerable and drivable wheels along its longitudinal axis, giving it omni-directional capabilities. During manual guidance, the human operator has to deal with four degrees of freedom, namely the orientations and speeds of two wheels. This work proposes a Human Machine Interface (HMI) to manage the degrees of freedom and to remotely guide the CPRHS/CTS in ITER taking the most advantages of rhombic like capabilities. Previous work was done to drive each wheel independently, i.e., control the orientation and speed of each wheel independently. The results have shown that the proposed solution is inefficient. The attention of the human operator becomes focused in a single wheel. In addition, the proposed solution cannot assure that the commands accomplish the physical constrains of the vehicle, resulting in slippage or even in clashes. This work proposes a solution that consists in the control of the vehicle looking at the position of its center of mass and its heading in the world frame. The solution is implemented using a rotational disk to control the vehicle heading and a common analogue joystick to control the vector speed of the center of the mass of the vehicle. The number of degrees of freedom reduces to three, i.e., two angles (vehicle heading and the orientation of the vector speed) and a scalar (the magnitude of the speed vector). This is possible using a kinematic model based on the vehicle Instantaneous

  15. Human machine interface to manually drive rhombic like vehicles such as transport casks in ITER

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lopes, Pedro; Vale, Alberto; Ventura, Rodrigo

    2015-01-01

    The Cask and Plug Remote Handling System (CPRHS) and the respective Cask Transfer System (CTS) are designed to transport activated components between the reactor and the hot cell buildings of ITER during maintenance operations. In nominal operation, the CPRHS/CTS shall operate autonomously under human supervision. However, in some unexpected situations, the automatic mode must be overridden and the vehicle must be remotely guided by a human operator due to the harsh conditions of the environment. The CPRHS/CTS is a rhombic-like vehicle with two independent steerable and drivable wheels along its longitudinal axis, giving it omni-directional capabilities. During manual guidance, the human operator has to deal with four degrees of freedom, namely the orientations and speeds of two wheels. This work proposes a Human Machine Interface (HMI) to manage the degrees of freedom and to remotely guide the CPRHS/CTS in ITER taking the most advantages of rhombic like capabilities. Previous work was done to drive each wheel independently, i.e., control the orientation and speed of each wheel independently. The results have shown that the proposed solution is inefficient. The attention of the human operator becomes focused in a single wheel. In addition, the proposed solution cannot assure that the commands accomplish the physical constrains of the vehicle, resulting in slippage or even in clashes. This work proposes a solution that consists in the control of the vehicle looking at the position of its center of mass and its heading in the world frame. The solution is implemented using a rotational disk to control the vehicle heading and a common analogue joystick to control the vector speed of the center of the mass of the vehicle. The number of degrees of freedom reduces to three, i.e., two angles (vehicle heading and the orientation of the vector speed) and a scalar (the magnitude of the speed vector). This is possible using a kinematic model based on the vehicle Instantaneous

  16. A foundation for allocating control functions to humans and machines in future CANDU nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lupton, L.R.; Lipsett, J.J.; Davey, E.C.; Olmstead, R.A.

    1990-06-01

    Since the control room for the Atomic Energy of Canada Limited CANDU 6 plant was designed in the 1970s, requirements for control rooms have changed dramatically as a result of new licensing requirements, evolution of major new standards for control centre design and technological advances. The role of the human operator has become prominent in the design and operation of industrial and, in particular, nuclear plants. Major industrial accidents in the last decade have highlighted the need for paying significantly more attention to the requirements of the human as an integral part of the plant control system. A Functional Design Methodology has been defined that addresses the issues related to maximizing the strengths of the human and the machine in the next generation of CANDU plants. This method is based, in part, on the recently issued international standard IEC 964. The application of this method will lead to the definition of the requirements for detailed design of the control room, including man-machine interfaces, preliminary operating procedures, staffing and training. Further, it provides a basis for the verification and validation of the allocation of functions to the operator and the machine

  17. Design of an Adaptive Human-Machine System Based on Dynamical Pattern Recognition of Cognitive Task-Load.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Jianhua; Yin, Zhong; Wang, Rubin

    2017-01-01

    This paper developed a cognitive task-load (CTL) classification algorithm and allocation strategy to sustain the optimal operator CTL levels over time in safety-critical human-machine integrated systems. An adaptive human-machine system is designed based on a non-linear dynamic CTL classifier, which maps a set of electroencephalogram (EEG) and electrocardiogram (ECG) related features to a few CTL classes. The least-squares support vector machine (LSSVM) is used as dynamic pattern classifier. A series of electrophysiological and performance data acquisition experiments were performed on seven volunteer participants under a simulated process control task environment. The participant-specific dynamic LSSVM model is constructed to classify the instantaneous CTL into five classes at each time instant. The initial feature set, comprising 56 EEG and ECG related features, is reduced to a set of 12 salient features (including 11 EEG-related features) by using the locality preserving projection (LPP) technique. An overall correct classification rate of about 80% is achieved for the 5-class CTL classification problem. Then the predicted CTL is used to adaptively allocate the number of process control tasks between operator and computer-based controller. Simulation results showed that the overall performance of the human-machine system can be improved by using the adaptive automation strategy proposed.

  18. Prediction of hot spot residues at protein-protein interfaces by combining machine learning and energy-based methods

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pontil Massimiliano

    2009-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Alanine scanning mutagenesis is a powerful experimental methodology for investigating the structural and energetic characteristics of protein complexes. Individual amino-acids are systematically mutated to alanine and changes in free energy of binding (ΔΔG measured. Several experiments have shown that protein-protein interactions are critically dependent on just a few residues ("hot spots" at the interface. Hot spots make a dominant contribution to the free energy of binding and if mutated they can disrupt the interaction. As mutagenesis studies require significant experimental efforts, there is a need for accurate and reliable computational methods. Such methods would also add to our understanding of the determinants of affinity and specificity in protein-protein recognition. Results We present a novel computational strategy to identify hot spot residues, given the structure of a complex. We consider the basic energetic terms that contribute to hot spot interactions, i.e. van der Waals potentials, solvation energy, hydrogen bonds and Coulomb electrostatics. We treat them as input features and use machine learning algorithms such as Support Vector Machines and Gaussian Processes to optimally combine and integrate them, based on a set of training examples of alanine mutations. We show that our approach is effective in predicting hot spots and it compares favourably to other available methods. In particular we find the best performances using Transductive Support Vector Machines, a semi-supervised learning scheme. When hot spots are defined as those residues for which ΔΔG ≥ 2 kcal/mol, our method achieves a precision and a recall respectively of 56% and 65%. Conclusion We have developed an hybrid scheme in which energy terms are used as input features of machine learning models. This strategy combines the strengths of machine learning and energy-based methods. Although so far these two types of approaches have mainly been

  19. The Human/Machine Humanities: A Proposal

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ollivier Dyens

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available What does it mean to be human in the 21st century? The pull of engineering on every aspect of our lives, the impact of machines on how we represent ourselves, the influence of computers on our understanding of free-will, individuality and species, and the effect of microorganisms on our behaviour are so great that one cannot discourse on humanity and humanities without considering their entanglement with technology and with the multiple new dimensions of reality that it opens up. The future of humanities should take into account AI, bacteria, software, viruses (both organic and inorganic, hardware, machine language, parasites, big data, monitors, pixels, swarms systems and the Internet. One cannot think of humanity and humanities as distinct from technology anymore.

  20. Concept Representation Analysis in the Context of Human-Machine Interactions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Badie, Farshad

    2016-01-01

    This article attempts to make a conceptual and epistemological junction between human learning and machine learning. I will be concerned with specifying and analysing the structure of concepts in the common ground between a concept-based human learning theory and a concept-based machine learning...... paradigm. I will focus on (i) humans’ conceptual representations in the framework of constructivism (as an educational theory of learning and model of knowing) and constructionism (as a theory for conceptualising learning) and (ii) concept representations in the framework of inductive concept learning (as...... an inductive machine learning paradigm). The results will support figuring out the most significant key points for constructing a conceptual linkage between a human learning theory and a machine learning paradigm. Accordingly, I will construct a conceptual ground for expressing and analysing concepts...

  1. An Improved Unscented Kalman Filter Based Decoder for Cortical Brain-Machine Interfaces.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Simin; Li, Jie; Li, Zheng

    2016-01-01

    Brain-machine interfaces (BMIs) seek to connect brains with machines or computers directly, for application in areas such as prosthesis control. For this application, the accuracy of the decoding of movement intentions is crucial. We aim to improve accuracy by designing a better encoding model of primary motor cortical activity during hand movements and combining this with decoder engineering refinements, resulting in a new unscented Kalman filter based decoder, UKF2, which improves upon our previous unscented Kalman filter decoder, UKF1. The new encoding model includes novel acceleration magnitude, position-velocity interaction, and target-cursor-distance features (the decoder does not require target position as input, it is decoded). We add a novel probabilistic velocity threshold to better determine the user's intent to move. We combine these improvements with several other refinements suggested by others in the field. Data from two Rhesus monkeys indicate that the UKF2 generates offline reconstructions of hand movements (mean CC 0.851) significantly more accurately than the UKF1 (0.833) and the popular position-velocity Kalman filter (0.812). The encoding model of the UKF2 could predict the instantaneous firing rate of neurons (mean CC 0.210), given kinematic variables and past spiking, better than the encoding models of these two decoders (UKF1: 0.138, p-v Kalman: 0.098). In closed-loop experiments where each monkey controlled a computer cursor with each decoder in turn, the UKF2 facilitated faster task completion (mean 1.56 s vs. 2.05 s) and higher Fitts's Law bit rate (mean 0.738 bit/s vs. 0.584 bit/s) than the UKF1. These results suggest that the modeling and decoder engineering refinements of the UKF2 improve decoding performance. We believe they can be used to enhance other decoders as well.

  2. Toward human-centered man-machine system in nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tanabe, Fumiya

    1993-01-01

    The Japanese LWR power plants are classified into 4 categories, from the viewpoints of the control panel in central control room and the extent of automation. Their characteristics are outlined. The potential weaknesses indwelt in the conventional approaches are discussed; that are the loss of applicability to the unanticipated facts and the loss of morale of the operators. The need for the construction of human-centered man-machine system is emphasized in order to overcome these potential weaknesses. The most important features required for the system are, in short term, to support operators in dificulties, and at the same time, in long term, to assure the acquisition and conservation of the personnels' morale and potential to cope with the problems. The concepts of the 'ecological interface' and 'adaptive aiding' system are introduced as the design concepts for the human-centered man-machine system. (J.P.N.)

  3. A Symbiotic Brain-Machine Interface through Value-Based Decision Making

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mahmoudi, Babak; Sanchez, Justin C.

    2011-01-01

    Background In the development of Brain Machine Interfaces (BMIs), there is a great need to enable users to interact with changing environments during the activities of daily life. It is expected that the number and scope of the learning tasks encountered during interaction with the environment as well as the pattern of brain activity will vary over time. These conditions, in addition to neural reorganization, pose a challenge to decoding neural commands for BMIs. We have developed a new BMI framework in which a computational agent symbiotically decoded users' intended actions by utilizing both motor commands and goal information directly from the brain through a continuous Perception-Action-Reward Cycle (PARC). Methodology The control architecture designed was based on Actor-Critic learning, which is a PARC-based reinforcement learning method. Our neurophysiology studies in rat models suggested that Nucleus Accumbens (NAcc) contained a rich representation of goal information in terms of predicting the probability of earning reward and it could be translated into an evaluative feedback for adaptation of the decoder with high precision. Simulated neural control experiments showed that the system was able to maintain high performance in decoding neural motor commands during novel tasks or in the presence of reorganization in the neural input. We then implanted a dual micro-wire array in the primary motor cortex (M1) and the NAcc of rat brain and implemented a full closed-loop system in which robot actions were decoded from the single unit activity in M1 based on an evaluative feedback that was estimated from NAcc. Conclusions Our results suggest that adapting the BMI decoder with an evaluative feedback that is directly extracted from the brain is a possible solution to the problem of operating BMIs in changing environments with dynamic neural signals. During closed-loop control, the agent was able to solve a reaching task by capturing the action and reward

  4. A symbiotic brain-machine interface through value-based decision making.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Babak Mahmoudi

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: In the development of Brain Machine Interfaces (BMIs, there is a great need to enable users to interact with changing environments during the activities of daily life. It is expected that the number and scope of the learning tasks encountered during interaction with the environment as well as the pattern of brain activity will vary over time. These conditions, in addition to neural reorganization, pose a challenge to decoding neural commands for BMIs. We have developed a new BMI framework in which a computational agent symbiotically decoded users' intended actions by utilizing both motor commands and goal information directly from the brain through a continuous Perception-Action-Reward Cycle (PARC. METHODOLOGY: The control architecture designed was based on Actor-Critic learning, which is a PARC-based reinforcement learning method. Our neurophysiology studies in rat models suggested that Nucleus Accumbens (NAcc contained a rich representation of goal information in terms of predicting the probability of earning reward and it could be translated into an evaluative feedback for adaptation of the decoder with high precision. Simulated neural control experiments showed that the system was able to maintain high performance in decoding neural motor commands during novel tasks or in the presence of reorganization in the neural input. We then implanted a dual micro-wire array in the primary motor cortex (M1 and the NAcc of rat brain and implemented a full closed-loop system in which robot actions were decoded from the single unit activity in M1 based on an evaluative feedback that was estimated from NAcc. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that adapting the BMI decoder with an evaluative feedback that is directly extracted from the brain is a possible solution to the problem of operating BMIs in changing environments with dynamic neural signals. During closed-loop control, the agent was able to solve a reaching task by capturing the action and

  5. Application of EMD-Based SVD and SVM to Coal-Gangue Interface Detection

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wei Liu

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Coal-gangue interface detection during top-coal caving mining is a challenging problem. This paper proposes a new vibration signal analysis approach to detecting the coal-gangue interface based on singular value decomposition (SVD techniques and support vector machines (SVMs. Due to the nonstationary characteristics in vibration signals of the tail boom support of the longwall mining machine in this complicated environment, the empirical mode decomposition (EMD is used to decompose the raw vibration signals into a number of intrinsic mode functions (IMFs by which the initial feature vector matrices can be formed automatically. By applying the SVD algorithm to the initial feature vector matrices, the singular values of matrices can be obtained and used as the input feature vectors of SVMs classifier. The analysis results of vibration signals from the tail boom support of a longwall mining machine show that the method based on EMD, SVD, and SVM is effective for coal-gangue interface detection even when the number of samples is small.

  6. Optimal design methods for a digital human-computer interface based on human reliability in a nuclear power plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jiang, Jianjun; Zhang, Li; Xie, Tian; Wu, Daqing; Li, Min; Wang, Yiqun; Peng, Yuyuan; Peng, Jie; Zhang, Mengjia; Li, Peiyao; Ma, Congmin; Wu, Xing

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • A complete optimization process is established for digital human-computer interfaces of Npps. • A quick convergence search method is proposed. • The authors propose an affinity error probability mapping function to test human reliability. - Abstract: This is the second in a series of papers describing the optimal design method for a digital human-computer interface of nuclear power plant (Npp) from three different points based on human reliability. The purpose of this series is to explore different optimization methods from varying perspectives. This present paper mainly discusses the optimal design method for quantity of components of the same factor. In monitoring process, quantity of components has brought heavy burden to operators, thus, human errors are easily triggered. To solve the problem, the authors propose an optimization process, a quick convergence search method and an affinity error probability mapping function. Two balanceable parameter values of the affinity error probability function are obtained by experiments. The experimental results show that the affinity error probability mapping function about human-computer interface has very good sensitivity and stability, and that quick convergence search method for fuzzy segments divided by component quantity has better performance than general algorithm.

  7. Brain Machine Interfaces for Robotic Control in Space Applications, Phase I

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — This SBIR will study the application of a brain machine interface (BMI) to enable crew to remotely operate and monitor robots from inside a flight vehicle, habitat...

  8. How artificial intelligence can help [man-machine interface

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Elm, W.C.

    1988-01-01

    The operator is ultimately responsible for the safe and economical operation of the plant, and must evaluate the accuracy of any system-recommended action or other output. Decision support systems offer a means to improve the man-machine interface by explicitly supporting operator problem solving, rather than complicating decision-making by the need to request an explanation of the rationale behind an expert system's advice during a high stress situation. (author)

  9. Intention concepts and brain-machine interfacing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Franziska eThinnes-Elker

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available Intentions, including their temporal properties and semantic content, are receiving increased attention, and neuroscientific studies in humans vary with respect to the topography of intention-related neural responses. This may reflect the fact that the kind of intentions investigated in one study may not be exactly the same kind investigated in the other. Fine-grained intention taxonomies developed in the philosophy of mind may be useful to identify the neural correlates of well-defined types of intentions, as well as to disentangle them from other related mental states, such as mere urges to perform an action. Intention-related neural signals may be exploited by brain-machine interfaces (BMIs that are currently being developed to restore speech and motor control in paralyzed subjects. Such BMI devices record the brain activity of the agent, interpret (‘decode’ the agent’s intended action, and send the corresponding execution command to an artificial effector system, e.g., a computer cursor or a robotic arm. In the present paper, we evaluate the potential of intention concepts from philosophy of mind to improve the performance and safety of BMIs based on higher-order, intention-related control signals. To this end, we address the distinction between future-, present-directed, and motor intentions, as well as the organization of intentions in time, specifically to what extent it is sequential or hierarchical. This has consequences as to whether these different types of intentions can be expected to occur simultaneously or not. We further illustrate how it may be useful or even necessary to distinguish types of intentions exposited in philosophy, including yes- vs. no-intentions and oblique vs. direct intentions, to accurately decode the agent’s intentions from neural signals in practical BMI applications.

  10. Intention concepts and brain-machine interfacing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thinnes-Elker, Franziska; Iljina, Olga; Apostolides, John Kyle; Kraemer, Felicitas; Schulze-Bonhage, Andreas; Aertsen, Ad; Ball, Tonio

    2012-01-01

    Intentions, including their temporal properties and semantic content, are receiving increased attention, and neuroscientific studies in humans vary with respect to the topography of intention-related neural responses. This may reflect the fact that the kind of intentions investigated in one study may not be exactly the same kind investigated in the other. Fine-grained intention taxonomies developed in the philosophy of mind may be useful to identify the neural correlates of well-defined types of intentions, as well as to disentangle them from other related mental states, such as mere urges to perform an action. Intention-related neural signals may be exploited by brain-machine interfaces (BMIs) that are currently being developed to restore speech and motor control in paralyzed patients. Such BMI devices record the brain activity of the agent, interpret ("decode") the agent's intended action, and send the corresponding execution command to an artificial effector system, e.g., a computer cursor or a robotic arm. In the present paper, we evaluate the potential of intention concepts from philosophy of mind to improve the performance and safety of BMIs based on higher-order, intention-related control signals. To this end, we address the distinction between future-, present-directed, and motor intentions, as well as the organization of intentions in time, specifically to what extent it is sequential or hierarchical. This has consequences as to whether these different types of intentions can be expected to occur simultaneously or not. We further illustrate how it may be useful or even necessary to distinguish types of intentions exposited in philosophy, including yes- vs. no-intentions and oblique vs. direct intentions, to accurately decode the agent's intentions from neural signals in practical BMI applications.

  11. Multidimensional control using a mobile-phone based brain-muscle-computer interface.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vernon, Scott; Joshi, Sanjay S

    2011-01-01

    Many well-known brain-computer interfaces measure signals at the brain, and then rely on the brain's ability to learn via operant conditioning in order to control objects in the environment. In our lab, we have been developing brain-muscle-computer interfaces, which measure signals at a single muscle and then rely on the brain's ability to learn neuromuscular skills via operant conditioning. Here, we report a new mobile-phone based brain-muscle-computer interface prototype for severely paralyzed persons, based on previous results from our group showing that humans may actively create specified power levels in two separate frequency bands of a single sEMG signal. Electromyographic activity on the surface of a single face muscle (Auricularis superior) is recorded with a standard electrode. This analog electrical signal is imported into an Android-based mobile phone. User-modulated power in two separate frequency band serves as two separate and simultaneous control channels for machine control. After signal processing, the Android phone sends commands to external devices via Bluetooth. Users are trained to use the device via biofeedback, with simple cursor-to-target activities on the phone screen.

  12. Computerized operator support system with new man-machine interface for BWR power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Monta, K.; Naito, N.; Sugawara, M.; Sato, N.; Mori, N.; Tai, I.; Fukumoto, A.; Tsuchida, M.

    1984-01-01

    Improvement of the man-machine interface of nuclear power plants is an important contribution to the further enhancement of operational safety. In addition, recent advances in computer technology seem to offer the greatest opportunity to date for achieving improvement in the man-machine interface. The development of a computerized operator support system for BWRs has been undertaken since 1980 with the support of the Japanese Government. The conceptual design of this system is based on the role of the operators. The main functions are standby system management, disturbance analysis and post-trip operational guidance. The objective of the standby system management is to monitor the standby status of the engineered safety feature during normal operation to assure its proper functioning at the onset of emergency situations. The disturbance analysis system detects disturbances in the plant in their early stages and informs the plant operators about, for example, the cause of the disturbances, the plant status and possible propagations. Consequently, operators can take corrective actions to prevent unnecessary plant shutdown. The objective of the post trip operational guide is to support operators in diagnosis and corrective action after a plant trip. Its functions are to monitor the performance of the engineered safety feature, to identify the plant status and to guide the appropriate corrective action to achieve safe plant shutdown. The information from the computerized operator support system is supplied to operators through a colour CRT operator console. The authors have evaluated the performance of various new man-machine interfacing tools and proposed a new operator console design. A prototype system has been developed and verification/validation is proceeding with a BWR plant simulator. (author)

  13. Towards Semantic Analysis of Training-Learning Relationships within Human-Machine Interactions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Badie, Farshad

    2016-01-01

    In this article First-Order Predicate Logic (FOL) is employed for analysing some relationships between human beings and machines. Based on FOL, I will be conceptually and logically concerned with semantic analysis of training-learning relationships in human-machine interaction. The central focus...

  14. A man-machine interface for simulation purposes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Galan, J.M.; Almeida, J.M.; Duque, J.M.

    1990-01-01

    This paper describes a man-machine interface, to link any simulator program to a control panel made up of an array of color graphic screens. This task is performed by a communications program which extracts the data from the simulator program, sorts the data, and sends it, through the network, to graphics programs running in workstations. There, the data is displayed on color graphic screens. A graphics package was specifically designed to assist the user handling of complex circuits, and the formatting and display of data on the screens. (author)

  15. Towards passive brain-computer interfaces: applying brain-computer interface technology to human-machine systems in general.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zander, Thorsten O; Kothe, Christian

    2011-04-01

    Cognitive monitoring is an approach utilizing realtime brain signal decoding (RBSD) for gaining information on the ongoing cognitive user state. In recent decades this approach has brought valuable insight into the cognition of an interacting human. Automated RBSD can be used to set up a brain-computer interface (BCI) providing a novel input modality for technical systems solely based on brain activity. In BCIs the user usually sends voluntary and directed commands to control the connected computer system or to communicate through it. In this paper we propose an extension of this approach by fusing BCI technology with cognitive monitoring, providing valuable information about the users' intentions, situational interpretations and emotional states to the technical system. We call this approach passive BCI. In the following we give an overview of studies which utilize passive BCI, as well as other novel types of applications resulting from BCI technology. We especially focus on applications for healthy users, and the specific requirements and demands of this user group. Since the presented approach of combining cognitive monitoring with BCI technology is very similar to the concept of BCIs itself we propose a unifying categorization of BCI-based applications, including the novel approach of passive BCI.

  16. Brain-Computer Interfaces Applying Our Minds to Human-computer Interaction

    CERN Document Server

    Tan, Desney S

    2010-01-01

    For generations, humans have fantasized about the ability to create devices that can see into a person's mind and thoughts, or to communicate and interact with machines through thought alone. Such ideas have long captured the imagination of humankind in the form of ancient myths and modern science fiction stories. Recent advances in cognitive neuroscience and brain imaging technologies have started to turn these myths into a reality, and are providing us with the ability to interface directly with the human brain. This ability is made possible through the use of sensors that monitor physical p

  17. What limits the performance of current invasive Brain Machine Interfaces?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gytis eBaranauskas

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available The concept of a brain-machine interface (BMI or a computer-brain interface is simple: BMI creates a communication pathway for a direct control by brain of an external device. In reality BMIs are very complex devices and only recently the increase in computing power of microprocessors enabled a boom in BMI research that continues almost unabated to this date, the high point being the insertion of electrode arrays into the brains of 5 human patients in a clinical trial run by Cyberkinetics with few other clinical tests still in progress. Meanwhile several EEG-based BMI devices (non-invasive BMIs were launched commercially. Modern electronics and dry electrode technology made possible to drive the cost of some of these devices below few hundred dollars. However, the initial excitement of the direct control by brain waves of a computer or other equipment is dampened by large efforts required for learning, high error rates and slow response speed. All these problems are directly related to low information transfer rates typical for such EEG-based BMIs. In invasive BMIs employing multiple electrodes inserted into the brain one may expect much higher information transfer rates than in EEG-based BMIs because, in theory, each electrode provides an independent information channel. However, although invasive BMIs require more expensive equipment and have ethical problems related to the need to insert electrodes in the live brain, such financial and ethical costs are often not offset by a dramatic improvement in the information transfer rate. Thus the main topic of this review is why in invasive BMIs an apparently much larger information content obtained with multiple extracellular electrodes does not translate into much higher rates of information transfer? This paper explores possible answers to this question by concluding that more research on what movement parameters are encoded by neurons in motor cortex is needed before we can enjoy the next

  18. Integrated human-machine intelligence in space systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boy, Guy A.

    1992-01-01

    The integration of human and machine intelligence in space systems is outlined with respect to the contributions of artificial intelligence. The current state-of-the-art in intelligent assistant systems (IASs) is reviewed, and the requirements of some real-world applications of the technologies are discussed. A concept of integrated human-machine intelligence is examined in the contexts of: (1) interactive systems that tolerate human errors; (2) systems for the relief of workloads; and (3) interactive systems for solving problems in abnormal situations. Key issues in the development of IASs include the compatibility of the systems with astronauts in terms of inputs/outputs, processing, real-time AI, and knowledge-based system validation. Real-world applications are suggested such as the diagnosis, planning, and control of enginnered systems.

  19. A nonadhesive solid-gel electrode for a non-invasive brain–machine interface

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shigeru eToyama

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available A non-invasive brain–machine interface (BMI or brain-computer interface (BCI is a technology for helping individuals with disabilities and utilizes neurophysiological signals from the brain to control external machines or computers without requiring surgery. However, when applying EEG methodology, users must place EEG electrodes on the scalp each time, and the development of easy-to-use electrodes for clinical use is required. In this study, we developed a conductive nonadhesive solid-gel electrode for practical non-invasive BMIs. We performed basic material testing, including examining the volume resistivity, viscoelasticity, and moisture-retention properties of the solid gel. Then, we compared the performance of the solid gel, a conventional paste, and an in-house metal pin-based electrode using impedance measurements and P300-BMI testing. The solid gel was observed to be conductive (volume resistivity 13.2 Ωcm and soft (complex modulus 105.4 kPa, and it remained wet for a prolonged period (>10 hours in a dry environment. Impedance measurements revealed that the impedance of the solid-gel-based and conventional paste-based electrodes was superior to that of the pin-based electrode. The EEG measurement suggested that the signals obtained with the solid-gel electrode were comparable to those with the conventional paste-based electrode. Moreover, the P300-BMI study suggested that systems using the solid-gel or pin-based electrodes were effective. One of the advantages of the solid gel is that it does not require cleaning after use, whereas the conventional paste adheres to the hair, which requires washing. Furthermore, the solid-gel electrode was not painful compared with a metal-pin electrode. Taken together, the results suggest that the solid-gel electrode worked well for practical BMIs and could be useful for bedridden patients such as those with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

  20. Protein-RNA interface residue prediction using machine learning: an assessment of the state of the art.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walia, Rasna R; Caragea, Cornelia; Lewis, Benjamin A; Towfic, Fadi; Terribilini, Michael; El-Manzalawy, Yasser; Dobbs, Drena; Honavar, Vasant

    2012-05-10

    RNA molecules play diverse functional and structural roles in cells. They function as messengers for transferring genetic information from DNA to proteins, as the primary genetic material in many viruses, as catalysts (ribozymes) important for protein synthesis and RNA processing, and as essential and ubiquitous regulators of gene expression in living organisms. Many of these functions depend on precisely orchestrated interactions between RNA molecules and specific proteins in cells. Understanding the molecular mechanisms by which proteins recognize and bind RNA is essential for comprehending the functional implications of these interactions, but the recognition 'code' that mediates interactions between proteins and RNA is not yet understood. Success in deciphering this code would dramatically impact the development of new therapeutic strategies for intervening in devastating diseases such as AIDS and cancer. Because of the high cost of experimental determination of protein-RNA interfaces, there is an increasing reliance on statistical machine learning methods for training predictors of RNA-binding residues in proteins. However, because of differences in the choice of datasets, performance measures, and data representations used, it has been difficult to obtain an accurate assessment of the current state of the art in protein-RNA interface prediction. We provide a review of published approaches for predicting RNA-binding residues in proteins and a systematic comparison and critical assessment of protein-RNA interface residue predictors trained using these approaches on three carefully curated non-redundant datasets. We directly compare two widely used machine learning algorithms (Naïve Bayes (NB) and Support Vector Machine (SVM)) using three different data representations in which features are encoded using either sequence- or structure-based windows. Our results show that (i) Sequence-based classifiers that use a position-specific scoring matrix (PSSM)-based

  1. Logical Characterisation of Concept Transformations from Human into Machine relying on Predicate Logic

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Badie, Farshad

    2016-01-01

    Providing more human-like concept learning in machines has always been one of the most significant goals of machine learning paradigms and of human-machine interaction techniques. This article attempts to provide a logical specification of conceptual mappings from humans’ minds into machines......’ knowledge bases. I will focus on the representation of the mappings (transformations) relying on First-Order Predicate Logic. Additionally, the structure of concepts in the common ground between humans and machines will be analysed. It seems quite necessary to pay attention to the philosophy...

  2. Ultra-low-cost 3D gaze estimation: an intuitive high information throughput compliment to direct brain-machine interfaces

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abbott, W. W.; Faisal, A. A.

    2012-08-01

    Eye movements are highly correlated with motor intentions and are often retained by patients with serious motor deficiencies. Despite this, eye tracking is not widely used as control interface for movement in impaired patients due to poor signal interpretation and lack of control flexibility. We propose that tracking the gaze position in 3D rather than 2D provides a considerably richer signal for human machine interfaces by allowing direct interaction with the environment rather than via computer displays. We demonstrate here that by using mass-produced video-game hardware, it is possible to produce an ultra-low-cost binocular eye-tracker with comparable performance to commercial systems, yet 800 times cheaper. Our head-mounted system has 30 USD material costs and operates at over 120 Hz sampling rate with a 0.5-1 degree of visual angle resolution. We perform 2D and 3D gaze estimation, controlling a real-time volumetric cursor essential for driving complex user interfaces. Our approach yields an information throughput of 43 bits s-1, more than ten times that of invasive and semi-invasive brain-machine interfaces (BMIs) that are vastly more expensive. Unlike many BMIs our system yields effective real-time closed loop control of devices (10 ms latency), after just ten minutes of training, which we demonstrate through a novel BMI benchmark—the control of the video arcade game ‘Pong’.

  3. Development of simulation-based evaluation system for iterative design of HMI to reduce human workload of operating crew in nuclear power plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fumizawa, Motoo; Kameda, Akiyuki; Nakagawa, Takashi; Wu, Wei; Yoshikawa, Hidekazu

    2001-01-01

    Human workload is one of the key factors to reduce the human error during the operation in the commercialized nuclear power plants (NPP). In order to produce a high quality design of human machine interface (HMI), the evaluation and simulation method was developed to analyze operator's workload, where the model of operator crew was adopted on the basis of the model proposed by Reason. The workload such as length of the eye movement and moving length of the operators were visualized in the CRT image as well as the movie-file during the simulation. The developed computer code system was named simulation-based evaluation and analysis support system for man-machine interface design (SEAMAID), which was a simulation-based evaluation and analysis support system for man-machine interface design in the domain of NPP. The SEAMAID simulates the interaction between the operating crew and HMI, thus supports to evaluate the HMI by using the simulation results. The case study was conducted to evaluate the conventional central control room design. As a consequence, the authors were confirmed that SEAMAID was a useful tool to improve HMI design evaluating the workload data among several iterative design. (author)

  4. A wireless brain-machine interface for real-time speech synthesis.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Frank H Guenther

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available Brain-machine interfaces (BMIs involving electrodes implanted into the human cerebral cortex have recently been developed in an attempt to restore function to profoundly paralyzed individuals. Current BMIs for restoring communication can provide important capabilities via a typing process, but unfortunately they are only capable of slow communication rates. In the current study we use a novel approach to speech restoration in which we decode continuous auditory parameters for a real-time speech synthesizer from neuronal activity in motor cortex during attempted speech.Neural signals recorded by a Neurotrophic Electrode implanted in a speech-related region of the left precentral gyrus of a human volunteer suffering from locked-in syndrome, characterized by near-total paralysis with spared cognition, were transmitted wirelessly across the scalp and used to drive a speech synthesizer. A Kalman filter-based decoder translated the neural signals generated during attempted speech into continuous parameters for controlling a synthesizer that provided immediate (within 50 ms auditory feedback of the decoded sound. Accuracy of the volunteer's vowel productions with the synthesizer improved quickly with practice, with a 25% improvement in average hit rate (from 45% to 70% and 46% decrease in average endpoint error from the first to the last block of a three-vowel task.Our results support the feasibility of neural prostheses that may have the potential to provide near-conversational synthetic speech output for individuals with severely impaired speech motor control. They also provide an initial glimpse into the functional properties of neurons in speech motor cortical areas.

  5. Formal Analysis and Design of Supervisor and User Interface Allowing for Non-Deterministic Choices Using Weak Bi-Simulation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shazada Muhammad Umair Khan

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available In human machine systems, a user display should contain sufficient information to encapsulate expressive and normative human operator behavior. Failure in such system that is commanded by supervisor can be difficult to anticipate because of unexpected interactions between the different users and machines. Currently, most interfaces have non-deterministic choices at state of machine. Inspired by the theories of single user of an interface established on discrete event system, we present a formal model of multiple users, multiple machines, a supervisor and a supervisor machine. The syntax and semantics of these models are based on the system specification using timed automata that adheres to desirable specification properties conducive to solving the non-deterministic choices for usability properties of the supervisor and user interface. Further, the succinct interface developed by applying the weak bi-simulation relation, where large classes of potentially equivalent states are refined into a smaller one, enables the supervisor and user to perform specified task correctly. Finally, the proposed approach is applied to a model of a manufacturing system with several users interacting with their machines, a supervisor with several users and a supervisor with a supervisor machine to illustrate the design procedure of human–machine systems. The formal specification is validated by z-eves toolset.

  6. Can machine learning explain human learning?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vahdat, M.; Oneto, L.; Anguita, D.; Funk, M.; Rauterberg, G.W.M.

    2016-01-01

    Learning Analytics (LA) has a major interest in exploring and understanding the learning process of humans and, for this purpose, benefits from both Cognitive Science, which studies how humans learn, and Machine Learning, which studies how algorithms learn from data. Usually, Machine Learning is

  7. Human-machine interaction in nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yoshikawa, Hidekazu

    2005-01-01

    Advanced nuclear power plants are generally large complex systems automated by computers. Whenever a rate plant emergency occurs the plant operators must cope with the emergency under severe mental stress without committing any fatal errors. Furthermore, the operators must train to improve and maintain their ability to cope with every conceivable situation, though it is almost impossible to be fully prepared for an infinite variety of situations. In view of the limited capability of operators in emergency situations, there has been a new approach to preventing the human error caused by improper human-machine interaction. The new approach has been triggered by the introduction of advanced information systems that help operators recognize and counteract plant emergencies. In this paper, the adverse effect of automation in human-machine systems is explained. The discussion then focuses on how to configure a joint human-machine system for ideal human-machine interaction. Finally, there is a new proposal on how to organize technologies that recognize the different states of such a joint human-machine system

  8. A Conceptual Architecture for Adaptive Human-Computer Interface of a PT Operation Platform Based on Context-Awareness

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Qing Xue

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available We present a conceptual architecture for adaptive human-computer interface of a PT operation platform based on context-awareness. This architecture will form the basis of design for such an interface. This paper describes components, key technologies, and working principles of the architecture. The critical contents covered context information modeling, processing, relationship establishing between contexts and interface design knowledge by use of adaptive knowledge reasoning, and visualization implementing of adaptive interface with the aid of interface tools technology.

  9. Challenges for coexistence of machine to machine and human to human applications in mobile network

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sanyal, R.; Cianca, E.; Prasad, Ramjee

    2012-01-01

    A key factor for the evolution of the mobile networks towards 4G is to bring to fruition high bandwidth per mobile node. Eventually, due to the advent of a new class of applications, namely, Machine-to-Machine, we foresee new challenges where bandwidth per user is no more the primal driver...... be evolved to address various nuances of the mobile devices used by man and machines. The bigger question is as follows. Is the state-of-the-art mobile network designed optimally to cater both the Human-to-Human and Machine-to-Machine applications? This paper presents the primary challenges....... As an immediate impact of the high penetration of M2M devices, we envisage a surge in the signaling messages for mobility and location management. The cell size will shrivel due to high tele-density resulting in even more signaling messages related to handoff and location updates. The mobile network should...

  10. Proton storage ring: man/machine interface

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lander, R.F.; Clout, P.N.

    1985-01-01

    The human interface of the Proton Storage Ring Control System at Los Alamos is described in some detail, together with the software environment in which operator interaction programs are written. Some examples of operator interaction programs are given

  11. Computer-assisted machine-to-human protocols for authentication of a RAM-based embedded system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Idrissa, Abdourhamane; Aubert, Alain; Fournel, Thierry

    2012-06-01

    Mobile readers used for optical identification of manufactured products can be tampered in different ways: with hardware Trojan or by powering up with fake configuration data. How a human verifier can authenticate the reader to be handled for goods verification? In this paper, two cryptographic protocols are proposed to achieve the verification of a RAM-based system through a trusted auxiliary machine. Such a system is assumed to be composed of a RAM memory and a secure block (in practice a FPGA or a configurable microcontroller). The system is connected to an input/output interface and contains a Non Volatile Memory where the configuration data are stored. Here, except the secure block, all the blocks are exposed to attacks. At the registration stage of the first protocol, the MAC of both the secret and the configuration data, denoted M0 is computed by the mobile device without saving it then transmitted to the user in a secure environment. At the verification stage, the reader which is challenged with nonces sendsMACs / HMACs of both nonces and MAC M0 (to be recomputed), keyed with the secret. These responses are verified by the user through a trusted auxiliary MAC computer unit. Here the verifier does not need to tract a (long) list of challenge / response pairs. This makes the protocol tractable for a human verifier as its participation in the authentication process is increased. In counterpart the secret has to be shared with the auxiliary unit. This constraint is relaxed in a second protocol directly derived from Fiat-Shamir's scheme.

  12. What turns assistive into restorative brain-machine interfaces?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alireza Gharabaghi

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available Brain-machine interfaces (BMI may support motor impaired patients during activities of daily living by controlling external devices such as prostheses (assistive BMI. Moreover, BMIs are applied in conjunction with robotic orthoses for rehabilitation of lost motor function via neurofeedback training (restorative BMI. Using assistive BMI in a rehabilitation context does not automatically turn them into restorative devices. This perspective article suggests key features of restorative BMI and provides the supporting evidence:In summary, BMI may be referred to as restorative tools when demonstrating subsequently (i operant learning and progressive evolution of specific brain states/dynamics, (ii correlated modulations of functional networks related to the therapeutic goal, (iii subsequent improvement in a specific task, and (iv an explicit correlation between the modulated brain dynamics and the achieved behavioral gains. Such findings would provide the rationale for translating BMI-based interventions into clinical settings for reinforcement learning and motor rehabilitation following stroke.

  13. Human friendly man-machine system with advanced media technology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ogino, Takamichi; Sasaki, Kazunori

    1993-01-01

    This paper deals with the methodology to implement the man-machine system (MMS) with enhanced human friendliness for nuclear power plants. The relevant technologies are investigated from the two view points: One is integrated multi-media usage for user-computer interface and the other cognitive engineering for user-task interaction. Promising MMS design methodologies, concepts, and their limitations are discussed. To overcome uncertain factors found in human behaviors or individual differences in performance and preference of operators, a design appproach to natural and flexible man-computer interactive environment is proposed by intergrated use of not only cognitive and psychological knowledge but also advanced media technology. Multi-media operator support system under development is shown as an example to evaluate the effectiveness of the new approach and future advancement is prospected. (orig.)

  14. Simulation of the «COSMONAUT-ROBOT» System Interaction on the Lunar Surface Based on Methods of Machine Vision and Computer Graphics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kryuchkov, B. I.; Usov, V. M.; Chertopolokhov, V. A.; Ronzhin, A. L.; Karpov, A. A.

    2017-05-01

    Extravehicular activity (EVA) on the lunar surface, necessary for the future exploration of the Moon, involves extensive use of robots. One of the factors of safe EVA is a proper interaction between cosmonauts and robots in extreme environments. This requires a simple and natural man-machine interface, e.g. multimodal contactless interface based on recognition of gestures and cosmonaut's poses. When travelling in the "Follow Me" mode (master/slave), a robot uses onboard tools for tracking cosmonaut's position and movements, and on the basis of these data builds its itinerary. The interaction in the system "cosmonaut-robot" on the lunar surface is significantly different from that on the Earth surface. For example, a man, dressed in a space suit, has limited fine motor skills. In addition, EVA is quite tiring for the cosmonauts, and a tired human being less accurately performs movements and often makes mistakes. All this leads to new requirements for the convenient use of the man-machine interface designed for EVA. To improve the reliability and stability of human-robot communication it is necessary to provide options for duplicating commands at the task stages and gesture recognition. New tools and techniques for space missions must be examined at the first stage of works in laboratory conditions, and then in field tests (proof tests at the site of application). The article analyzes the methods of detection and tracking of movements and gesture recognition of the cosmonaut during EVA, which can be used for the design of human-machine interface. A scenario for testing these methods by constructing a virtual environment simulating EVA on the lunar surface is proposed. Simulation involves environment visualization and modeling of the use of the "vision" of the robot to track a moving cosmonaut dressed in a spacesuit.

  15. US Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor man-machine interface program

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vaurio, J.K.; Change, S.A.

    1982-01-01

    The US LMFBR Man-Machine Interface Program is supportive to and an integral part of the LMFBR Safety Program. This paper describes the goal and objectives of the program, and the necessary research and development efforts with a logical structure for the orderly and timely implementation of the prgoram. Current status and near-term and long-term priority activities are also summarized

  16. Interface unit and software of X-ray television automatic machine

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Molodykh, V.A.; Yamanaev, M.S.

    1983-01-01

    Description of the interface unit and specialized software of X-ray television automatic machine is presented. An algorithm for automatic defect survey, measuring of defect geometric parameters with a successive estimate of control quality in accordance with technical norms is proposed. Experimental investigation results on the quality of welded joints of steel tubes obtained using the above system are summarized

  17. The LHC machine-experiment interface

    CERN Multimedia

    CERN. Geneva; Tsesmelis, Emmanuel; Brüning, Oliver Sim

    2002-01-01

    This series of three lectures will provide an overview of issues arising at the interface between the LHC machine and the experiments, which are required for guiding the interaction between the collider and the experiments when operation of the LHC commences. A basic description of the LHC Collider and its operating parameters, such as its energy, currents, bunch structure and luminosity, as well as variations on these parameters, will be given. Furthermore, the optics foreseen for the experimental insertions, the sources and intensities of beam losses and the running-in scenarios for the various phases of operation will be discussed. A second module will cover the specific requirements and expectations of each experiment in terms of the layout of experimental areas, the matters related to radiation monitoring and shielding, the design of the beam pipe and the vacuum system, alignment issues and the measurement of the total cross-section and absolute luminosity by the experiments. Finally an analysis of infor...

  18. Feasibility of task-specific brain-machine interface training for upper-extremity paralysis in patients with chronic hemiparetic stroke.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nishimoto, Atsuko; Kawakami, Michiyuki; Fujiwara, Toshiyuki; Hiramoto, Miho; Honaga, Kaoru; Abe, Kaoru; Mizuno, Katsuhiro; Ushiba, Junichi; Liu, Meigen

    2018-01-10

    Brain-machine interface training was developed for upper-extremity rehabilitation for patients with severe hemiparesis. Its clinical application, however, has been limited because of its lack of feasibility in real-world rehabilitation settings. We developed a new compact task-specific brain-machine interface system that enables task-specific training, including reach-and-grasp tasks, and studied its clinical feasibility and effectiveness for upper-extremity motor paralysis in patients with stroke. Prospective beforeâ€"after study. Twenty-six patients with severe chronic hemiparetic stroke. Participants were trained with the brain-machine interface system to pick up and release pegs during 40-min sessions and 40 min of standard occupational therapy per day for 10 days. Fugl-Meyer upper-extremity motor (FMA) and Motor Activity Log-14 amount of use (MAL-AOU) scores were assessed before and after the intervention. To test its feasibility, 4 occupational therapists who operated the system for the first time assessed it with the Quebec User Evaluation of Satisfaction with assistive Technology (QUEST) 2.0. FMA and MAL-AOU scores improved significantly after brain-machine interface training, with the effect sizes being medium and large, respectively (pmachine interface system is feasible for use in real-world clinical settings.

  19. sw-SVM: sensor weighting support vector machines for EEG-based brain-computer interfaces.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jrad, N; Congedo, M; Phlypo, R; Rousseau, S; Flamary, R; Yger, F; Rakotomamonjy, A

    2011-10-01

    In many machine learning applications, like brain-computer interfaces (BCI), high-dimensional sensor array data are available. Sensor measurements are often highly correlated and signal-to-noise ratio is not homogeneously spread across sensors. Thus, collected data are highly variable and discrimination tasks are challenging. In this work, we focus on sensor weighting as an efficient tool to improve the classification procedure. We present an approach integrating sensor weighting in the classification framework. Sensor weights are considered as hyper-parameters to be learned by a support vector machine (SVM). The resulting sensor weighting SVM (sw-SVM) is designed to satisfy a margin criterion, that is, the generalization error. Experimental studies on two data sets are presented, a P300 data set and an error-related potential (ErrP) data set. For the P300 data set (BCI competition III), for which a large number of trials is available, the sw-SVM proves to perform equivalently with respect to the ensemble SVM strategy that won the competition. For the ErrP data set, for which a small number of trials are available, the sw-SVM shows superior performances as compared to three state-of-the art approaches. Results suggest that the sw-SVM promises to be useful in event-related potentials classification, even with a small number of training trials.

  20. SVM Classifier - a comprehensive java interface for support vector machine classification of microarray data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pirooznia, Mehdi; Deng, Youping

    2006-12-12

    Graphical user interface (GUI) software promotes novelty by allowing users to extend the functionality. SVM Classifier is a cross-platform graphical application that handles very large datasets well. The purpose of this study is to create a GUI application that allows SVM users to perform SVM training, classification and prediction. The GUI provides user-friendly access to state-of-the-art SVM methods embodied in the LIBSVM implementation of Support Vector Machine. We implemented the java interface using standard swing libraries. We used a sample data from a breast cancer study for testing classification accuracy. We achieved 100% accuracy in classification among the BRCA1-BRCA2 samples with RBF kernel of SVM. We have developed a java GUI application that allows SVM users to perform SVM training, classification and prediction. We have demonstrated that support vector machines can accurately classify genes into functional categories based upon expression data from DNA microarray hybridization experiments. Among the different kernel functions that we examined, the SVM that uses a radial basis kernel function provides the best performance. The SVM Classifier is available at http://mfgn.usm.edu/ebl/svm/.

  1. Fuzzy Decision-Making Fuser (FDMF for Integrating Human-Machine Autonomous (HMA Systems with Adaptive Evidence Sources

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yu-Ting Liu

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available A brain-computer interface (BCI creates a direct communication pathway between the human brain and an external device or system. In contrast to patient-oriented BCIs, which are intended to restore inoperative or malfunctioning aspects of the nervous system, a growing number of BCI studies focus on designing auxiliary systems that are intended for everyday use. The goal of building these BCIs is to provide capabilities that augment existing intact physical and mental capabilities. However, a key challenge to BCI research is human variability; factors such as fatigue, inattention, and stress vary both across different individuals and for the same individual over time. If these issues are addressed, autonomous systems may provide additional benefits that enhance system performance and prevent problems introduced by individual human variability. This study proposes a human-machine autonomous (HMA system that simultaneously aggregates human and machine knowledge to recognize targets in a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP task. The HMA focuses on integrating an RSVP BCI with computer vision techniques in an image-labeling domain. A fuzzy decision-making fuser (FDMF is then applied in the HMA system to provide a natural adaptive framework for evidence-based inference by incorporating an integrated summary of the available evidence (i.e., human and machine decisions and associated uncertainty. Consequently, the HMA system dynamically aggregates decisions involving uncertainties from both human and autonomous agents. The collaborative decisions made by an HMA system can achieve and maintain superior performance more efficiently than either the human or autonomous agents can achieve independently. The experimental results shown in this study suggest that the proposed HMA system with the FDMF can effectively fuse decisions from human brain activities and the computer vision techniques to improve overall performance on the RSVP recognition task. This

  2. Fuzzy Decision-Making Fuser (FDMF) for Integrating Human-Machine Autonomous (HMA) Systems with Adaptive Evidence Sources.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Yu-Ting; Pal, Nikhil R; Marathe, Amar R; Wang, Yu-Kai; Lin, Chin-Teng

    2017-01-01

    A brain-computer interface (BCI) creates a direct communication pathway between the human brain and an external device or system. In contrast to patient-oriented BCIs, which are intended to restore inoperative or malfunctioning aspects of the nervous system, a growing number of BCI studies focus on designing auxiliary systems that are intended for everyday use. The goal of building these BCIs is to provide capabilities that augment existing intact physical and mental capabilities. However, a key challenge to BCI research is human variability; factors such as fatigue, inattention, and stress vary both across different individuals and for the same individual over time. If these issues are addressed, autonomous systems may provide additional benefits that enhance system performance and prevent problems introduced by individual human variability. This study proposes a human-machine autonomous (HMA) system that simultaneously aggregates human and machine knowledge to recognize targets in a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) task. The HMA focuses on integrating an RSVP BCI with computer vision techniques in an image-labeling domain. A fuzzy decision-making fuser (FDMF) is then applied in the HMA system to provide a natural adaptive framework for evidence-based inference by incorporating an integrated summary of the available evidence (i.e., human and machine decisions) and associated uncertainty. Consequently, the HMA system dynamically aggregates decisions involving uncertainties from both human and autonomous agents. The collaborative decisions made by an HMA system can achieve and maintain superior performance more efficiently than either the human or autonomous agents can achieve independently. The experimental results shown in this study suggest that the proposed HMA system with the FDMF can effectively fuse decisions from human brain activities and the computer vision techniques to improve overall performance on the RSVP recognition task. This conclusion

  3. A SEMI-AUTOMATIC RULE SET BUILDING METHOD FOR URBAN LAND COVER CLASSIFICATION BASED ON MACHINE LEARNING AND HUMAN KNOWLEDGE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H. Y. Gu

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Classification rule set is important for Land Cover classification, which refers to features and decision rules. The selection of features and decision are based on an iterative trial-and-error approach that is often utilized in GEOBIA, however, it is time-consuming and has a poor versatility. This study has put forward a rule set building method for Land cover classification based on human knowledge and machine learning. The use of machine learning is to build rule sets effectively which will overcome the iterative trial-and-error approach. The use of human knowledge is to solve the shortcomings of existing machine learning method on insufficient usage of prior knowledge, and improve the versatility of rule sets. A two-step workflow has been introduced, firstly, an initial rule is built based on Random Forest and CART decision tree. Secondly, the initial rule is analyzed and validated based on human knowledge, where we use statistical confidence interval to determine its threshold. The test site is located in Potsdam City. We utilised the TOP, DSM and ground truth data. The results show that the method could determine rule set for Land Cover classification semi-automatically, and there are static features for different land cover classes.

  4. A method to evaluate the perceived ease of use of human-machine interface in agricultural tractors equipped with Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Caffaro, F.; Bisaglia, C.; Cutini, M.; Cremasco, M.M.; Cavallo, E.

    2017-07-01

    At the end of the 20th century the adoption of the Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) was one of the disruptive technological advances in agricultural tractors. Several changes in the Human Machine Interface (HMI) of the tractor cab have been introduced to accommodate this technology. HMIs are known to raise issues about their ease of use; however, this topic has been under-investigated in the agricultural sector. The present study introduces a method to investigate the perceived ease of use of the HMI of agricultural tractors equipped with technological innovations. The HMI required to manage a CVT tractor was evaluated by sixteen tractor drivers (8 novices and 8 experts). During the first contact with the machine and after having performed two targeted tasks with the tractor, participants filled in a questionnaire about the ease of use of the controls and of the touch-screen display, and evaluated the general perception of ease of use, safety, quality and solidity of the machine. The trial pointed out some significant differences between novices and experts, thus confirming the validity of the proposed method. In particular, novice users showed some difficulties when interacting for the first time with the HMI of the CVT tractor working station, whereas experts did not report similar difficulties. Thus, expertise seems to play a role in determining the quality of the interaction with the HMI. Training interventions should be designed to help novices in increasing their expertise effectively, avoiding effort and errors and improving user’s comfort and system performance.

  5. A method to evaluate the perceived ease of use of human-machine interface in agricultural tractors equipped with Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Federica Caffaro

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available At the end of the 20th century the adoption of the Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT was one of the disruptive technological advances in agricultural tractors. Several changes in the Human Machine Interface (HMI of the tractor cab have been introduced to accommodate this technology. HMIs are known to raise issues about their ease of use; however, this topic has been under-investigated in the agricultural sector. The present study introduces a method to investigate the perceived ease of use of the HMI of agricultural tractors equipped with technological innovations. The HMI required to manage a CVT tractor was evaluated by sixteen tractor drivers (8 novices and 8 experts. During the first contact with the machine and after having performed two targeted tasks with the tractor, participants filled in a questionnaire about the ease of use of the controls and of the touch-screen display, and evaluated the general perception of ease of use, safety, quality and solidity of the machine. The trial pointed out some significant differences between novices and experts, thus confirming the validity of the proposed method. In particular, novice users showed some difficulties when interacting for the first time with the HMI of the CVT tractor working station, whereas experts did not report similar difficulties. Thus, expertise seems to play a role in determining the quality of the interaction with the HMI. Training interventions should be designed to help novices in increasing their expertise effectively, avoiding effort and errors and improving user’s comfort and system performance.

  6. A method to evaluate the perceived ease of use of human-machine interface in agricultural tractors equipped with Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Caffaro, F.; Bisaglia, C.; Cutini, M.; Cremasco, M.M.; Cavallo, E.

    2017-01-01

    At the end of the 20th century the adoption of the Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) was one of the disruptive technological advances in agricultural tractors. Several changes in the Human Machine Interface (HMI) of the tractor cab have been introduced to accommodate this technology. HMIs are known to raise issues about their ease of use; however, this topic has been under-investigated in the agricultural sector. The present study introduces a method to investigate the perceived ease of use of the HMI of agricultural tractors equipped with technological innovations. The HMI required to manage a CVT tractor was evaluated by sixteen tractor drivers (8 novices and 8 experts). During the first contact with the machine and after having performed two targeted tasks with the tractor, participants filled in a questionnaire about the ease of use of the controls and of the touch-screen display, and evaluated the general perception of ease of use, safety, quality and solidity of the machine. The trial pointed out some significant differences between novices and experts, thus confirming the validity of the proposed method. In particular, novice users showed some difficulties when interacting for the first time with the HMI of the CVT tractor working station, whereas experts did not report similar difficulties. Thus, expertise seems to play a role in determining the quality of the interaction with the HMI. Training interventions should be designed to help novices in increasing their expertise effectively, avoiding effort and errors and improving user’s comfort and system performance.

  7. Energetic optimization of a piezo-based touch-operated button for man–machine interfaces

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sun, Hao; De Vries, Theo J A; De Vries, Rene; Van Dalen, Harry

    2012-01-01

    This paper discusses the optimization of a touch-operated button for man–machine interfaces based on piezoelectric energy harvesting techniques. In the mechanical button, a common piezoelectric diaphragm, is assembled to harvest the ambient energy from the source, i.e. the operator’s touch. Under touch force load, the integrated diaphragm will have a bending deformation. Then, its mechanical strain is converted into the required electrical energy by means of the piezoelectric effect presented to the diaphragm. Structural design (i) makes the piezoceramic work under static compressive stress instead of static or dynamic tensile stress, (ii) achieves a satisfactory stress level and (iii) provides the diaphragm and the button with a fatigue lifetime in excess of millions of touch operations. To improve the button’s function, the effect of some key properties consisting of dimension, boundary condition and load condition on electrical behavior of the piezoelectric diaphragm are evaluated by electromechanical coupling analysis in ANSYS. The finite element analysis (FEA) results indicate that the modification of these properties could enhance the diaphragm significantly. Based on the key properties’ different contributions to the improvement of the diaphragm’s electrical energy output, they are incorporated into the piezoelectric diaphragm’s redesign or the structural design of the piezo-based button. The comparison of the original structure and the optimal result shows that electrical energy stored in the diaphragm and the voltage output are increased by 1576% and 120%, respectively, and the volume of the piezoceramic is reduced to 33.6%. These results will be adopted to update the design of the self-powered button, thus enabling a large decrease of energy consumption and lifetime cost of the MMI. (paper)

  8. CONTROL OF A ROBOTIC ARM THROUGH A BRAIN MACHINE INTERFACE WITH MUTUAL LEARNING

    OpenAIRE

    ALEXANDRE ORMIGA GALVAO BARBOSA

    2010-01-01

    Esse trabalho apresenta o desenvolvimento de uma interface cérebro-máquina (Brain Machine Interface - BMI) como um meio alternativo de comunicação para uso na robótica. O trabalho engloba o projeto e construção de um eletroencefalógrafo (EEG), assim como o desenvolvimento de todos os algoritmos computacionais e demais técnicas necessárias para o reconhecimento de atividades mentais. A interface cérebro-máquina desenvolvida é utilizada para comandar os movimentos de um manipulador robótico MA2...

  9. The ELETTRA man-machine interface

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Potepan, F.; Surace, G.; Mignacco, M.

    1992-01-01

    ELETTRA is a third generation Synchrotron Light Source under construction in Trieste (Italy), with beam energies between 1.5 and 2 GeV. Two networks connect three layers of computers in a fully distributed architecture. An ergonomic and unified approach in the realization of the human interface for the ELETTRA storage ring has led to the adoption of artificial reality criteria for the definition of the system synoptic representation and user interaction. Users can navigate inside a graphic database of the whole system and interactively edit specific virtual control panels to operate on the controlled equipment. UNIX workstations with extended graphic capabilities as operator consoles are used in the implementation of the PSI (Programmable Synoptic Interface), that was developed on top of X11 and PHIGS standards. (author)

  10. A Machine Learning Approach for Hot-Spot Detection at Protein-Protein Interfaces

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Melo, Rita; Fieldhouse, Robert; Melo, André; Correia, João D G; Cordeiro, Maria Natália D S; Gümüş, Zeynep H; Costa, Joaquim; Bonvin, Alexandre M J J; de Sousa Moreira, Irina

    2016-01-01

    Understanding protein-protein interactions is a key challenge in biochemistry. In this work, we describe a more accurate methodology to predict Hot-Spots (HS) in protein-protein interfaces from their native complex structure compared to previous published Machine Learning (ML) techniques. Our model

  11. A confidence metric for using neurobiological feedback in actor-critic reinforcement learning based brain-machine interfaces

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Noeline Wilhelmina Prins

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available Brain-Machine Interfaces (BMIs can be used to restore function in people living with paralysis. Current BMIs require extensive calibration that increase the set-up times and external inputs for decoder training that may be difficult to produce in paralyzed individuals. Both these factors have presented challenges in transitioning the technology from research environments to activities of daily living (ADL. For BMIs to be seamlessly used in ADL, these issues should be handled with minimal external input thus reducing the need for a technician/caregiver to calibrate the system. Reinforcement Learning (RL based BMIs are a good tool to be used when there is no external training signal and can provide an adaptive modality to train BMI decoders. However, RL based BMIs are sensitive to the feedback provided to adapt the BMI. In actor-critic BMIs, this feedback is provided by the critic and the overall system performance is limited by the critic accuracy. In this work, we developed an adaptive BMI that could handle inaccuracies in the critic feedback in an effort to produce more accurate RL based BMIs. We developed a confidence measure, which indicated how appropriate the feedback is for updating the decoding parameters of the actor. The results show that with the new update formulation, the critic accuracy is no longer a limiting factor for the overall performance. We tested and validated the system on three different data sets: synthetic data generated by an Izhikevich neural spiking model, synthetic data with a Gaussian noise distribution, and data collected from a non-human primate engaged in a reaching task. All results indicated that the system with the critic confidence built in always outperformed the system without the critic confidence. Results of this study suggest the potential application of the technique in developing an autonomous BMI that does not need an external signal for training or extensive calibration.

  12. The reported incidence of man-machine interface issues in Army aviators using the Aviator's Night Vision System (ANVIS) in a combat theatre

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hiatt, Keith L.; Rash, Clarence E.

    2011-06-01

    Background: Army Aviators rely on the ANVIS for night operations. Human factors literature notes that the ANVIS man-machine interface results in reports of visual and spinal complaints. This is the first study that has looked at these issues in the much harsher combat environment. Last year, the authors reported on the statistically significant (pEnduring Freedom (OEF). Results: 82 Aircrew (representing an aggregate of >89,000 flight hours of which >22,000 were with ANVIS) participated. Analysis demonstrated high complaints of almost all levels of back and neck pain. Additionally, the use of body armor and other Aviation Life Support Equipment (ALSE) caused significant ergonomic complaints when used with ANVIS. Conclusions: ANVIS use in a combat environment resulted in higher and different types of reports of spinal symptoms and other man-machine interface issues over what was previously reported. Data from this study may be more operationally relevant than that of the peacetime literature as it is derived from actual combat and not from training flights, and it may have important implications about making combat predictions based on performance in training scenarios. Notably, Aircrew remarked that they could not execute the mission without ANVIS and ALSE and accepted the degraded ergonomic environment.

  13. A Conceptual Framework over Contextual Analysis of Concept Learning within Human-Machine Interplays

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Badie, Farshad

    2016-01-01

    This research provides a contextual description concerning existential and structural analysis of ‘Relations’ between human beings and machines. Subsequently, it will focus on conceptual and epistemological analysis of (i) my own semantics-based framework [for human meaning construction] and of (ii......) a well-structured machine concept learning framework. Accordingly, I will, semantically and epistemologically, focus on linking those two frameworks for logical analysis of concept learning in the context of human-machine interrelationships. It will be demonstrated that the proposed framework provides...

  14. Improving Language Models in Speech-Based Human-Machine Interaction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Raquel Justo

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available This work focuses on speech-based human-machine interaction. Specifically, a Spoken Dialogue System (SDS that could be integrated into a robot is considered. Since Automatic Speech Recognition is one of the most sensitive tasks that must be confronted in such systems, the goal of this work is to improve the results obtained by this specific module. In order to do so, a hierarchical Language Model (LM is considered. Different series of experiments were carried out using the proposed models over different corpora and tasks. The results obtained show that these models provide greater accuracy in the recognition task. Additionally, the influence of the Acoustic Modelling (AM in the improvement percentage of the Language Models has also been explored. Finally the use of hierarchical Language Models in a language understanding task has been successfully employed, as shown in an additional series of experiments.

  15. The Engineering Design of Man-Machine Interface for RTS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yenn, T.-C.

    2002-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to present the engineering design of the advanced Man-Machine Interface (MMI) of the Integrated system for Radwaste Treatment and Storage (RTS) facility in Institute of Nuclear Energy Research (INER) Taiwan, ROC. To build the RTS, a multi-function radwaste facility with a total storage of about 10,000 drums, is a five-year project starting in 2000 including intermediate activity waste treatment and combustible waste storage. The completed engineering design of the MMI is based on proven technologies and digital control systems, enhancing the radwaste management efficiency and reliability of operator's performance as well as assuring the dose exposure of personnel meeting the regulation standard. Over past few years, INER has accumulated extensive experience in the area of radwaste treatment and storage. Therefore, we are confident that we will complete this project with fulfillment of the requirements of RTS

  16. Neural networks for perception human and machine perception

    CERN Document Server

    Wechsler, Harry

    1991-01-01

    Neural Networks for Perception, Volume 1: Human and Machine Perception focuses on models for understanding human perception in terms of distributed computation and examples of PDP models for machine perception. This book addresses both theoretical and practical issues related to the feasibility of both explaining human perception and implementing machine perception in terms of neural network models. The book is organized into two parts. The first part focuses on human perception. Topics on network model ofobject recognition in human vision, the self-organization of functional architecture in t

  17. Advanced human-system interface design review guidelines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    O'Hara, J.M.

    1990-01-01

    Advanced, computer-based, human-system interface designs are emerging in nuclear power plant (NPP) control rooms. These developments may have significant implications for plant safety in that they will greatly affect the ways in which operators interact with systems. At present, however, the only guidance available to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for the review of control room-operator interfaces, NUREG-0700, was written prior to these technological changes and is thus not designed to address them. The objective of the project reported in this paper is to develop an Advanced Control Room Design Review Guideline for use in performing human factors reviews of advanced operator interfaces. This guideline will be implemented, in part, as a portable, computer-based, interactive document for field use. The paper describes the overall guideline development methodology, the present status of the document, and the plans for further guideline testing and development. 21 refs., 3 figs

  18. Human-Vehicle Interface for Semi-Autonomous Operation of Uninhabited Aero Vehicles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, Henry L.; Frew, Eric W.; Woodley, Bruce R.; Rock, Stephen M.

    2001-01-01

    The robustness of autonomous robotic systems to unanticipated circumstances is typically insufficient for use in the field. The many skills of human user often fill this gap in robotic capability. To incorporate the human into the system, a useful interaction between man and machine must exist. This interaction should enable useful communication to be exchanged in a natural way between human and robot on a variety of levels. This report describes the current human-robot interaction for the Stanford HUMMINGBIRD autonomous helicopter. In particular, the report discusses the elements of the system that enable multiple levels of communication. An intelligent system agent manages the different inputs given to the helicopter. An advanced user interface gives the user and helicopter a method for exchanging useful information. Using this human-robot interaction, the HUMMINGBIRD has carried out various autonomous search, tracking, and retrieval missions.

  19. HUMAN-MACHINE INTERACTION IN SOLVING TASKS OF THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Boris Alekseyevich Kucherov

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The paper discusses issues of human-machine interaction in solving tasks of the planning department under severe resource restrictions using information technology. The negative factors influencing specialists of the planning department in solving their tasks under the given circumstances are shown. Specific features of designing the user interface in this subject area are noted. Directions to increase the efficiency of reaction of the planning department’s specialists to change the current situation by visual and sound notification of various events are marked. Various ways to develop user interface to generate a conflict-free plan under severe resource restrictions are considered. The variants of informative presentation of operational and statistical information to stakeholders are analyzed. These issues are discussed by the example of the planning department which solves the tasks of allocation of control facilities for spacecraft (a subset of satellite range scheduling problem,

  20. Software and man-machine interface considerations for a nuclear plant computer replacement and upgrade project

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Diamond, G.; Robinson, E.

    1984-01-01

    Some of the key software functions and Man-Machine Interface considerations in a computer replacement and upgrade project for a nuclear power plant are described. The project involves the installation of two separate computer systems: an Emergency Response Facilities Computer System (ERFCS) and a Plant Process Computer System (PPCS). These systems employ state-of-the-art computer hardware and software. The ERFCS is a new system intended to provide enhanced functions to meet NRC post-TMI guidelines. The PPCS is intended to replace and upgrade an existing obsolete plant computer system. A general overview of the hardware and software aspects of the replacement and upgrade is presented. The work done to develop the upgraded Man-Machine Interface is described. For the ERFCS, a detailed discussion is presented of the work done to develop logic to evaluate the readiness and performance of safety systems and their supporting functions. The Man-Machine Interface considerations of reporting readiness and performance to the operator are discussed. Finally, the considerations involved in the implementation of this logic in real-time software are discussed.. For the PPCS, a detailed discussion is presented of some new features

  1. Timer-based data acquisitioning of creep testing machines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rana, M.A.; Farooq, M.A.; Ali, L.

    1998-01-01

    Duration of a creep test may be short or long term extending over several years. Continuous operation of a computer for automatic data acquisition of creep testing machines is useless. Timer based data acquisitioning of the machines already interface with IBM-Pc/AT and compatibles has been streamlined for economical use of the computer. A locally designed and fabricated timer has been introduced in the system in this regard to meet the requirements of the system. The timer switches on the computer according to pre scheduled interval of time of capture creep data in Real time. The periodically captured data is logged on the hard disk for analysis and report generation. (author)

  2. The Three Pillars of Machine Programming

    OpenAIRE

    Gottschlich, Justin; Solar-Lezama, Armando; Tatbul, Nesime; Carbin, Michael; Rinard, Martin; Barzilay, Regina; Amarasinghe, Saman; Tenenbaum, Joshua B; Mattson, Tim

    2018-01-01

    In this position paper, we describe our vision of the future of machine programming through a categorical examination of three pillars of research. Those pillars are: (i) intention, (ii) invention, and(iii) adaptation. Intention emphasizes advancements in the human-to-computer and computer-to-machine-learning interfaces. Invention emphasizes the creation or refinement of algorithms or core hardware and software building blocks through machine learning (ML). Adaptation emphasizes advances in t...

  3. Research on operation and maintenance support system adaptive to human recognition and understanding in human-centered plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Numano, Masayoshi; Matsuoka, Takeshi; Mitomo, N.

    2004-01-01

    As a human-centered plant, advanced nuclear power plant needs appropriate role sharing between human and mobile intelligent agents. Human-machine cooperation for plant operation and maintenance activities is also required with an advanced interface. Plant's maintenance is programmed using mobile robots working under the radiation environments instead of human beings. Operation and maintenance support system adaptive to human recognition and understanding should be developed to establish adequate human and machine interface so as to induce human capabilities to the full and enable human to take responsibility for plan's operation. Plant's operation and maintenance can be cooperative activities between human and intelligent automonous agents having surveillance and control functions. Infrastructure of multi-agent simulation system for the support system has been investigated and developed based on work plans derived from the scheduler. (T. Tanaka)

  4. A Wearable-Based and Markerless Human-Manipulator Interface with Feedback Mechanism and Kalman Filters

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ping Zhang

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available The objective of this paper is to develop a novel human-manipulator interface which incorporates wearable-based and markerless tracking to interact with the continuous movements of a human operator's hand. Unlike traditional approaches, which usually include contacting devices or physical markers to track the human-limb movements, this interface enables registration of natural movement through a wireless wearable watch and a leap motion sensor. Due to sensor error and tracking failure, the measurements are not made with sufficient accuracy. Two Kalman filters are employed to compensate the noisy and incomplete measurements in real time. Furthermore, due to perceptive limitations and abnormal state signals, the operator is unable to achieve high precision and efficiency in robot manipulation; an adaptive multispace transformation method (AMT is therefore introduced, which serves as a secondary treatment. In addition, in order to allow two-way human-robot interaction, the proposed method provides a vibration feedback mechanism triggered by the wearable watch to call the operator's attention to robot collision incidents or moments where the operator's hand is in a transboundary state. This improves teleoperation.

  5. SVM Classifier – a comprehensive java interface for support vector machine classification of microarray data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pirooznia, Mehdi; Deng, Youping

    2006-01-01

    Motivation Graphical user interface (GUI) software promotes novelty by allowing users to extend the functionality. SVM Classifier is a cross-platform graphical application that handles very large datasets well. The purpose of this study is to create a GUI application that allows SVM users to perform SVM training, classification and prediction. Results The GUI provides user-friendly access to state-of-the-art SVM methods embodied in the LIBSVM implementation of Support Vector Machine. We implemented the java interface using standard swing libraries. We used a sample data from a breast cancer study for testing classification accuracy. We achieved 100% accuracy in classification among the BRCA1–BRCA2 samples with RBF kernel of SVM. Conclusion We have developed a java GUI application that allows SVM users to perform SVM training, classification and prediction. We have demonstrated that support vector machines can accurately classify genes into functional categories based upon expression data from DNA microarray hybridization experiments. Among the different kernel functions that we examined, the SVM that uses a radial basis kernel function provides the best performance. The SVM Classifier is available at . PMID:17217518

  6. Advanced man-machine interaction. Fundamentals and implementation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kraiss, K.F. (ed.) [Aachen Technische Hochschule (Germany). Lehrstuhl fuer Technische Informatik und Computerwissenschaften

    2006-07-01

    Man-machine interaction is the gateway providing access to functions and services, which, due to the ever increasing complexity of smart systems, threatens to become a bottleneck. This book therefore introduces not only advanced interfacing concepts, but also gives insight into the related theoretical background.This refers mainly to the realization of video-based multimodal interaction via gesture, mimics, and speech, but also to interacting with virtual object in virtual environments, cooperating with local or remote robots, and user assistance. While most publications in the field of human factors engineering focus on interface design, this book puts special emphasis on implementation aspects. To this end it is accompanied by software development environments for image processing, classification, and virtual environment implementation. In addition a test data base is included for gestures, head pose, facial expressions, full-body person recognition, and people tracking. These data are used for the examples throughout the book, but are also meant to encourage the reader to start experimentation on his own. Thus the book may serve as a self-contained introduction both for researchers and developers of man-machine interfaces. It may also be used for graduate-level university courses. (orig.)

  7. A bidirectional brain-machine interface algorithm that approximates arbitrary force-fields.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alessandro Vato

    Full Text Available We examine bidirectional brain-machine interfaces that control external devices in a closed loop by decoding motor cortical activity to command the device and by encoding the state of the device by delivering electrical stimuli to sensory areas. Although it is possible to design this artificial sensory-motor interaction while maintaining two independent channels of communication, here we propose a rule that closes the loop between flows of sensory and motor information in a way that approximates a desired dynamical policy expressed as a field of forces acting upon the controlled external device. We previously developed a first implementation of this approach based on linear decoding of neural activity recorded from the motor cortex into a set of forces (a force field applied to a point mass, and on encoding of position of the point mass into patterns of electrical stimuli delivered to somatosensory areas. However, this previous algorithm had the limitation that it only worked in situations when the position-to-force map to be implemented is invertible. Here we overcome this limitation by developing a new non-linear form of the bidirectional interface that can approximate a virtually unlimited family of continuous fields. The new algorithm bases both the encoding of position information and the decoding of motor cortical activity on an explicit map between spike trains and the state space of the device computed with Multi-Dimensional-Scaling. We present a detailed computational analysis of the performance of the interface and a validation of its robustness by using synthetic neural responses in a simulated sensory-motor loop.

  8. Local-learning-based neuron selection for grasping gesture prediction in motor brain machine interfaces

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Kai; Wang, Yiwen; Wang, Yueming; Wang, Fang; Hao, Yaoyao; Zhang, Shaomin; Zhang, Qiaosheng; Chen, Weidong; Zheng, Xiaoxiang

    2013-04-01

    Objective. The high-dimensional neural recordings bring computational challenges to movement decoding in motor brain machine interfaces (mBMI), especially for portable applications. However, not all recorded neural activities relate to the execution of a certain movement task. This paper proposes to use a local-learning-based method to perform neuron selection for the gesture prediction in a reaching and grasping task. Approach. Nonlinear neural activities are decomposed into a set of linear ones in a weighted feature space. A margin is defined to measure the distance between inter-class and intra-class neural patterns. The weights, reflecting the importance of neurons, are obtained by minimizing a margin-based exponential error function. To find the most dominant neurons in the task, 1-norm regularization is introduced to the objective function for sparse weights, where near-zero weights indicate irrelevant neurons. Main results. The signals of only 10 neurons out of 70 selected by the proposed method could achieve over 95% of the full recording's decoding accuracy of gesture predictions, no matter which different decoding methods are used (support vector machine and K-nearest neighbor). The temporal activities of the selected neurons show visually distinguishable patterns associated with various hand states. Compared with other algorithms, the proposed method can better eliminate the irrelevant neurons with near-zero weights and provides the important neuron subset with the best decoding performance in statistics. The weights of important neurons converge usually within 10-20 iterations. In addition, we study the temporal and spatial variation of neuron importance along a period of one and a half months in the same task. A high decoding performance can be maintained by updating the neuron subset. Significance. The proposed algorithm effectively ascertains the neuronal importance without assuming any coding model and provides a high performance with different

  9. Closed-Loop Hybrid Gaze Brain-Machine Interface Based Robotic Arm Control with Augmented Reality Feedback

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hong Zeng

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Brain-machine interface (BMI can be used to control the robotic arm to assist paralysis people for performing activities of daily living. However, it is still a complex task for the BMI users to control the process of objects grasping and lifting with the robotic arm. It is hard to achieve high efficiency and accuracy even after extensive trainings. One important reason is lacking of sufficient feedback information for the user to perform the closed-loop control. In this study, we proposed a method of augmented reality (AR guiding assistance to provide the enhanced visual feedback to the user for a closed-loop control with a hybrid Gaze-BMI, which combines the electroencephalography (EEG signals based BMI and the eye tracking for an intuitive and effective control of the robotic arm. Experiments for the objects manipulation tasks while avoiding the obstacle in the workspace are designed to evaluate the performance of our method for controlling the robotic arm. According to the experimental results obtained from eight subjects, the advantages of the proposed closed-loop system (with AR feedback over the open-loop system (with visual inspection only have been verified. The number of trigger commands used for controlling the robotic arm to grasp and lift the objects with AR feedback has reduced significantly and the height gaps of the gripper in the lifting process have decreased more than 50% compared to those trials with normal visual inspection only. The results reveal that the hybrid Gaze-BMI user can benefit from the information provided by the AR interface, improving the efficiency and reducing the cognitive load during the grasping and lifting processes.

  10. Closed-Loop Hybrid Gaze Brain-Machine Interface Based Robotic Arm Control with Augmented Reality Feedback

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zeng, Hong; Wang, Yanxin; Wu, Changcheng; Song, Aiguo; Liu, Jia; Ji, Peng; Xu, Baoguo; Zhu, Lifeng; Li, Huijun; Wen, Pengcheng

    2017-01-01

    Brain-machine interface (BMI) can be used to control the robotic arm to assist paralysis people for performing activities of daily living. However, it is still a complex task for the BMI users to control the process of objects grasping and lifting with the robotic arm. It is hard to achieve high efficiency and accuracy even after extensive trainings. One important reason is lacking of sufficient feedback information for the user to perform the closed-loop control. In this study, we proposed a method of augmented reality (AR) guiding assistance to provide the enhanced visual feedback to the user for a closed-loop control with a hybrid Gaze-BMI, which combines the electroencephalography (EEG) signals based BMI and the eye tracking for an intuitive and effective control of the robotic arm. Experiments for the objects manipulation tasks while avoiding the obstacle in the workspace are designed to evaluate the performance of our method for controlling the robotic arm. According to the experimental results obtained from eight subjects, the advantages of the proposed closed-loop system (with AR feedback) over the open-loop system (with visual inspection only) have been verified. The number of trigger commands used for controlling the robotic arm to grasp and lift the objects with AR feedback has reduced significantly and the height gaps of the gripper in the lifting process have decreased more than 50% compared to those trials with normal visual inspection only. The results reveal that the hybrid Gaze-BMI user can benefit from the information provided by the AR interface, improving the efficiency and reducing the cognitive load during the grasping and lifting processes. PMID:29163123

  11. Influence of human-machine-interfaces on the error-proneness of operator interaction with technical systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boussoffara, Badi; Elzer, Peter F.

    1999-01-01

    The paper gives an overview over a research project that has been jointly conducted by four research institutions in Germany since October 1995 with the financial support of the Volkswagen Foundation Germany. The aim of this project is to experimentally investigate the influence of the Human Computer Interface (HCI) on the error-proneness of operators during classification and diagnosis of various process states. Since evaluation of the complete chain 'activation - detection -recognition - diagnosis - action' would have caused some ambiguities with respect to the interpretation of the experimental data only detection and classification of unwanted process states have been evaluated. Depending on the requirements of the various types of experiments the following experimental environments were set up: IPP, IfKog: a simulator of a coal-fired power station (courtesy of ABB); ISTec: a simulator of a nuclear power station (courtesy of GRS); several types of interfaces designed by IPP and IfKog, implemented at IPP; interfaces designed and implemented at ISTec (author) (ml)

  12. A human activity approach to User Interfaces

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bødker, Susanne

    1989-01-01

    the work situations in which computer-based artifacts are used: The framework deals with the role of the user interface in purposeful human work. Human activity theory is used in this analysis. The purpose of this article is to make the reader curious and hopefully open his or her eyes to a somewhat...

  13. Brain-machine interfaces for controlling lower-limb powered robotic systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    He, Yongtian; Eguren, David; Azorín, José M.; Grossman, Robert G.; Phat Luu, Trieu; Contreras-Vidal, Jose L.

    2018-04-01

    Objective. Lower-limb, powered robotics systems such as exoskeletons and orthoses have emerged as novel robotic interventions to assist or rehabilitate people with walking disabilities. These devices are generally controlled by certain physical maneuvers, for example pressing buttons or shifting body weight. Although effective, these control schemes are not what humans naturally use. The usability and clinical relevance of these robotics systems could be further enhanced by brain-machine interfaces (BMIs). A number of preliminary studies have been published on this topic, but a systematic understanding of the experimental design, tasks, and performance of BMI-exoskeleton systems for restoration of gait is lacking. Approach. To address this gap, we applied standard systematic review methodology for a literature search in PubMed and EMBASE databases and identified 11 studies involving BMI-robotics systems. The devices, user population, input and output of the BMIs and robot systems respectively, neural features, decoders, denoising techniques, and system performance were reviewed and compared. Main results. Results showed BMIs classifying walk versus stand tasks are the most common. The results also indicate that electroencephalography (EEG) is the only recording method for humans. Performance was not clearly presented in most of the studies. Several challenges were summarized, including EEG denoising, safety, responsiveness and others. Significance. We conclude that lower-body powered exoskeletons with automated gait intention detection based on BMIs open new possibilities in the assistance and rehabilitation fields, although the current performance, clinical benefits and several key challenging issues indicate that additional research and development is required to deploy these systems in the clinic and at home. Moreover, rigorous EEG denoising techniques, suitable performance metrics, consistent trial reporting, and more clinical trials are needed to advance the

  14. U.S. Department of Energy Roadmap on Instrumentation, Controls, and Human-Machine Interface Technologies in Current and Future Nuclear Power Plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Holcomb, David Eugene

    2007-01-01

    The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy (NE) recently sponsored the creation of a roadmap for instrumentation, controls, and human-machine interface (ICHMI) technology development. The roadmap represents the collective efforts of a group of subject matter experts from the DOE national laboratories, academia, vendors, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), and utilities. It is intended to provide the underpinnings to the government sponsored ICHMI research, development, and demonstration (RD and D) performed in the United States for the next several years. A distinguishing feature of this roadmapping effort is that it is not limited to a technology progression plan but includes a detailed rationale, aimed at the nonspecialist, for the existence of a focused ICHMI RD and D program. Eight specific technology areas were identified for focused RD and D as follows: (1) sensors and electronics for harsh environments,(2) uncertainty characterization for diagnostics/prognostics applications, (3) quantification of software quality for high-integrity digital applications, (4) intelligent controls for nearly autonomous operation of advanced nuclear plants, (5) plant network architecture, (6) intelligent aiding technology for operational support, (7) human system interaction models and analysis tools, and (8) licensing and regulatory challenges and solutions.

  15. Open-Box Muscle-Computer Interface: Introduction to Human-Computer Interactions in Bioengineering, Physiology, and Neuroscience Courses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Landa-Jiménez, M. A.; González-Gaspar, P.; Pérez-Estudillo, C.; López-Meraz, M. L.; Morgado-Valle, C.; Beltran-Parrazal, L.

    2016-01-01

    A Muscle-Computer Interface (muCI) is a human-machine system that uses electromyographic (EMG) signals to communicate with a computer. Surface EMG (sEMG) signals are currently used to command robotic devices, such as robotic arms and hands, and mobile robots, such as wheelchairs. These signals reflect the motor intention of a user before the…

  16. Ten-dimensional anthropomorphic arm control in a human brain-machine interface: difficulties, solutions, and limitations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wodlinger, B.; Downey, J. E.; Tyler-Kabara, E. C.; Schwartz, A. B.; Boninger, M. L.; Collinger, J. L.

    2015-02-01

    Objective. In a previous study we demonstrated continuous translation, orientation and one-dimensional grasping control of a prosthetic limb (seven degrees of freedom) by a human subject with tetraplegia using a brain-machine interface (BMI). The current study, in the same subject, immediately followed the previous work and expanded the scope of the control signal by also extracting hand-shape commands from the two 96-channel intracortical electrode arrays implanted in the subject’s left motor cortex. Approach. Four new control signals, dictating prosthetic hand shape, replaced the one-dimensional grasping in the previous study, allowing the subject to control the prosthetic limb with ten degrees of freedom (three-dimensional (3D) translation, 3D orientation, four-dimensional hand shaping) simultaneously. Main results. Robust neural tuning to hand shaping was found, leading to ten-dimensional (10D) performance well above chance levels in all tests. Neural unit preferred directions were broadly distributed through the 10D space, with the majority of units significantly tuned to all ten dimensions, instead of being restricted to isolated domains (e.g. translation, orientation or hand shape). The addition of hand shaping emphasized object-interaction behavior. A fundamental component of BMIs is the calibration used to associate neural activity to intended movement. We found that the presence of an object during calibration enhanced successful shaping of the prosthetic hand as it closed around the object during grasping. Significance. Our results show that individual motor cortical neurons encode many parameters of movement, that object interaction is an important factor when extracting these signals, and that high-dimensional operation of prosthetic devices can be achieved with simple decoding algorithms. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01364480.

  17. Using human brain activity to guide machine learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fong, Ruth C; Scheirer, Walter J; Cox, David D

    2018-03-29

    Machine learning is a field of computer science that builds algorithms that learn. In many cases, machine learning algorithms are used to recreate a human ability like adding a caption to a photo, driving a car, or playing a game. While the human brain has long served as a source of inspiration for machine learning, little effort has been made to directly use data collected from working brains as a guide for machine learning algorithms. Here we demonstrate a new paradigm of "neurally-weighted" machine learning, which takes fMRI measurements of human brain activity from subjects viewing images, and infuses these data into the training process of an object recognition learning algorithm to make it more consistent with the human brain. After training, these neurally-weighted classifiers are able to classify images without requiring any additional neural data. We show that our neural-weighting approach can lead to large performance gains when used with traditional machine vision features, as well as to significant improvements with already high-performing convolutional neural network features. The effectiveness of this approach points to a path forward for a new class of hybrid machine learning algorithms which take both inspiration and direct constraints from neuronal data.

  18. Machine Learning Interface for Medical Image Analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Yi C; Kagen, Alexander C

    2017-10-01

    TensorFlow is a second-generation open-source machine learning software library with a built-in framework for implementing neural networks in wide variety of perceptual tasks. Although TensorFlow usage is well established with computer vision datasets, the TensorFlow interface with DICOM formats for medical imaging remains to be established. Our goal is to extend the TensorFlow API to accept raw DICOM images as input; 1513 DaTscan DICOM images were obtained from the Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI) database. DICOM pixel intensities were extracted and shaped into tensors, or n-dimensional arrays, to populate the training, validation, and test input datasets for machine learning. A simple neural network was constructed in TensorFlow to classify images into normal or Parkinson's disease groups. Training was executed over 1000 iterations for each cross-validation set. The gradient descent optimization and Adagrad optimization algorithms were used to minimize cross-entropy between the predicted and ground-truth labels. Cross-validation was performed ten times to produce a mean accuracy of 0.938 ± 0.047 (95 % CI 0.908-0.967). The mean sensitivity was 0.974 ± 0.043 (95 % CI 0.947-1.00) and mean specificity was 0.822 ± 0.207 (95 % CI 0.694-0.950). We extended the TensorFlow API to enable DICOM compatibility in the context of DaTscan image analysis. We implemented a neural network classifier that produces diagnostic accuracies on par with excellent results from previous machine learning models. These results indicate the potential role of TensorFlow as a useful adjunct diagnostic tool in the clinical setting.

  19. Integrated Multi-Scale Data Analytics and Machine Learning for the Distribution Grid and Building-to-Grid Interface

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stewart, Emma M. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Hendrix, Val [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Chertkov, Michael [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Deka, Deepjyoti [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

    2017-03-16

    This white paper introduces the application of advanced data analytics to the modernized grid. In particular, we consider the field of machine learning and where it is both useful, and not useful, for the particular field of the distribution grid and buildings interface. While analytics, in general, is a growing field of interest, and often seen as the golden goose in the burgeoning distribution grid industry, its application is often limited by communications infrastructure, or lack of a focused technical application. Overall, the linkage of analytics to purposeful application in the grid space has been limited. In this paper we consider the field of machine learning as a subset of analytical techniques, and discuss its ability and limitations to enable the future distribution grid and the building-to-grid interface. To that end, we also consider the potential for mixing distributed and centralized analytics and the pros and cons of these approaches. Machine learning is a subfield of computer science that studies and constructs algorithms that can learn from data and make predictions and improve forecasts. Incorporation of machine learning in grid monitoring and analysis tools may have the potential to solve data and operational challenges that result from increasing penetration of distributed and behind-the-meter energy resources. There is an exponentially expanding volume of measured data being generated on the distribution grid, which, with appropriate application of analytics, may be transformed into intelligible, actionable information that can be provided to the right actors – such as grid and building operators, at the appropriate time to enhance grid or building resilience, efficiency, and operations against various metrics or goals – such as total carbon reduction or other economic benefit to customers. While some basic analysis into these data streams can provide a wealth of information, computational and human boundaries on performing the analysis

  20. Physics-based and human-derived information fusion for analysts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blasch, Erik; Nagy, James; Scott, Steve; Okoth, Joshua; Hinman, Michael

    2017-05-01

    Recent trends in physics-based and human-derived information fusion (PHIF) have amplified the capabilities of analysts; however with the big data opportunities there is a need for open architecture designs, methods of distributed team collaboration, and visualizations. In this paper, we explore recent trends in the information fusion to support user interaction and machine analytics. Challenging scenarios requiring PHIF include combing physics-based video data with human-derived text data for enhanced simultaneous tracking and identification. A driving effort would be to provide analysts with applications, tools, and interfaces that afford effective and affordable solutions for timely decision making. Fusion at scale should be developed to allow analysts to access data, call analytics routines, enter solutions, update models, and store results for distributed decision making.

  1. Modelling of human-machine interaction in equipment design of manufacturing cells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cochran, David S.; Arinez, Jorge F.; Collins, Micah T.; Bi, Zhuming

    2017-08-01

    This paper proposes a systematic approach to model human-machine interactions (HMIs) in supervisory control of machining operations; it characterises the coexistence of machines and humans for an enterprise to balance the goals of automation/productivity and flexibility/agility. In the proposed HMI model, an operator is associated with a set of behavioural roles as a supervisor for multiple, semi-automated manufacturing processes. The model is innovative in the sense that (1) it represents an HMI based on its functions for process control but provides the flexibility for ongoing improvements in the execution of manufacturing processes; (2) it provides a computational tool to define functional requirements for an operator in HMIs. The proposed model can be used to design production systems at different levels of an enterprise architecture, particularly at the machine level in a production system where operators interact with semi-automation to accomplish the goal of 'autonomation' - automation that augments the capabilities of human beings.

  2. A Human-machine-interface Integrating Low-cost Sensors with a Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation System for Post-stroke Balance Rehabilitation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumar, Deepesh; Das, Abhijit; Lahiri, Uttama; Dutta, Anirban

    2016-04-12

    A stroke is caused when an artery carrying blood from heart to an area in the brain bursts or a clot obstructs the blood flow to brain thereby preventing delivery of oxygen and nutrients. About half of the stroke survivors are left with some degree of disability. Innovative methodologies for restorative neurorehabilitation are urgently required to reduce long-term disability. The ability of the nervous system to reorganize its structure, function and connections as a response to intrinsic or extrinsic stimuli is called neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity is involved in post-stroke functional disturbances, but also in rehabilitation. Beneficial neuroplastic changes may be facilitated with non-invasive electrotherapy, such as neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) and sensory electrical stimulation (SES). NMES involves coordinated electrical stimulation of motor nerves and muscles to activate them with continuous short pulses of electrical current while SES involves stimulation of sensory nerves with electrical current resulting in sensations that vary from barely perceivable to highly unpleasant. Here, active cortical participation in rehabilitation procedures may be facilitated by driving the non-invasive electrotherapy with biosignals (electromyogram (EMG), electroencephalogram (EEG), electrooculogram (EOG)) that represent simultaneous active perception and volitional effort. To achieve this in a resource-poor setting, e.g., in low- and middle-income countries, we present a low-cost human-machine-interface (HMI) by leveraging recent advances in off-the-shelf video game sensor technology. In this paper, we discuss the open-source software interface that integrates low-cost off-the-shelf sensors for visual-auditory biofeedback with non-invasive electrotherapy to assist postural control during balance rehabilitation. We demonstrate the proof-of-concept on healthy volunteers.

  3. Possibilities and expectations for improved man-machine interface in power system control

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Asal, H; Burrow, R K; Lindstrom, K; Mocenigo, M; Schellstede, G; Schaffer, G; Serrani, A

    1992-05-01

    The paper describes the hardware, equipment and functions provided to operators for supervising and controlling HVAC power systems. It analyzes the main elements of the man-machine interface (MMI) with particular attention to the recent possibilities afforded by computer technology and full graphic screens. Alarm management and remote control operation are briefly described.

  4. Impact of familiarity on information complexity in human-computer interfaces

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bakaev Maxim

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available A quantitative measure of information complexity remains very much desirable in HCI field, since it may aid in optimization of user interfaces, especially in human-computer systems for controlling complex objects. Our paper is dedicated to exploration of subjective (subject-depended aspect of the complexity, conceptualized as information familiarity. Although research of familiarity in human cognition and behaviour is done in several fields, the accepted models in HCI, such as Human Processor or Hick-Hyman’s law do not generally consider this issue. In our experimental study the subjects performed search and selection of digits and letters, whose familiarity was conceptualized as frequency of occurrence in numbers and texts. The analysis showed significant effect of information familiarity on selection time and throughput in regression models, although the R2 values were somehow low. Still, we hope that our results might aid in quantification of information complexity and its further application for optimizing interaction in human-machine systems.

  5. Decoding the non-stationary neuron spike trains by dual Monte Carlo point process estimation in motor Brain Machine Interfaces.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liao, Yuxi; Li, Hongbao; Zhang, Qiaosheng; Fan, Gong; Wang, Yiwen; Zheng, Xiaoxiang

    2014-01-01

    Decoding algorithm in motor Brain Machine Interfaces translates the neural signals to movement parameters. They usually assume the connection between the neural firings and movements to be stationary, which is not true according to the recent studies that observe the time-varying neuron tuning property. This property results from the neural plasticity and motor learning etc., which leads to the degeneration of the decoding performance when the model is fixed. To track the non-stationary neuron tuning during decoding, we propose a dual model approach based on Monte Carlo point process filtering method that enables the estimation also on the dynamic tuning parameters. When applied on both simulated neural signal and in vivo BMI data, the proposed adaptive method performs better than the one with static tuning parameters, which raises a promising way to design a long-term-performing model for Brain Machine Interfaces decoder.

  6. BMI cyberworkstation: enabling dynamic data-driven brain-machine interface research through cyberinfrastructure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Ming; Rattanatamrong, Prapaporn; DiGiovanna, Jack; Mahmoudi, Babak; Figueiredo, Renato J; Sanchez, Justin C; Príncipe, José C; Fortes, José A B

    2008-01-01

    Dynamic data-driven brain-machine interfaces (DDDBMI) have great potential to advance the understanding of neural systems and improve the design of brain-inspired rehabilitative systems. This paper presents a novel cyberinfrastructure that couples in vivo neurophysiology experimentation with massive computational resources to provide seamless and efficient support of DDDBMI research. Closed-loop experiments can be conducted with in vivo data acquisition, reliable network transfer, parallel model computation, and real-time robot control. Behavioral experiments with live animals are supported with real-time guarantees. Offline studies can be performed with various configurations for extensive analysis and training. A Web-based portal is also provided to allow users to conveniently interact with the cyberinfrastructure, conducting both experimentation and analysis. New motor control models are developed based on this approach, which include recursive least square based (RLS) and reinforcement learning based (RLBMI) algorithms. The results from an online RLBMI experiment shows that the cyberinfrastructure can successfully support DDDBMI experiments and meet the desired real-time requirements.

  7. Telephone based speech interfaces in the developing world, from the perspective of human-human communication

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Naidoo, S

    2005-07-01

    Full Text Available recently, before computers systems were able to synthesize or recognize speech, speech was a capability unique to humans. The human brain has developed to differentiate between human speech and other audio occurrences. Therefore, the slowly- evolving... human brain reacts in certain ways to voice stimuli, and has certain expectations regarding communication by voice. Nass affirms that the human brain operates using the same mechanisms when interacting with speech interfaces as when conversing...

  8. Man-machine interaction in Canadian nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Olmstead, R.A.

    1994-01-01

    The design of man-machine interaction in the CANDU plants has evolved considerably over several generations of plants, from the first Douglas Point plant through to the next generation of plants represented by new designs like CANDU 3. In the early plants, the control room configuration was based on designers' projections of control interface requirements. With succeeding generations of designs, there has been an evolution towards a more systematic consideration of human strengths and weaknesses, increasing attention to formal requirements definition, and incorporation of a larger base of operational experience. This paper describes the design of the man-machine interaction for third generation CANDU-3 control rooms for improved operator reliability and reduced costs. (author). 13 refs., 3 figs

  9. Applying Spatial Audio to Human Interfaces: 25 Years of NASA Experience

    Science.gov (United States)

    Begault, Durand R.; Wenzel, Elizabeth M.; Godfrey, Martine; Miller, Joel D.; Anderson, Mark R.

    2010-01-01

    From the perspective of human factors engineering, the inclusion of spatial audio within a human-machine interface is advantageous from several perspectives. Demonstrated benefits include the ability to monitor multiple streams of speech and non-speech warning tones using a cocktail party advantage, and for aurally-guided visual search. Other potential benefits include the spatial coordination and interaction of multimodal events, and evaluation of new communication technologies and alerting systems using virtual simulation. Many of these technologies were developed at NASA Ames Research Center, beginning in 1985. This paper reviews examples and describes the advantages of spatial sound in NASA-related technologies, including space operations, aeronautics, and search and rescue. The work has involved hardware and software development as well as basic and applied research.

  10. A Classification of Human-to-Human Communication during the Use of Immersive Teleoperation Interfaces

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kraus, Martin; Kibsgaard, Martin

    2015-01-01

    We propose a new classification of the human-to-human communication during the use of immersive teleoperation interfaces based on real-life examples. While a large body of research is concerned with communication in collaborative virtual environments (CVEs), less research focuses on cases where...... of the proposed classification to real environments can offer useful reference cases. Using this extended classification not only allows us to discuss and understand differences and similarities of various forms of communication in a more systematic way, but it also provides guidelines and reference cases...... for the design of immersive teleoperation interfaces that support human-to-human communication....

  11. HCIDL: Human-computer interface description language for multi-target, multimodal, plastic user interfaces

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lamia Gaouar

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available From the human-computer interface perspectives, the challenges to be faced are related to the consideration of new, multiple interactions, and the diversity of devices. The large panel of interactions (touching, shaking, voice dictation, positioning … and the diversification of interaction devices can be seen as a factor of flexibility albeit introducing incidental complexity. Our work is part of the field of user interface description languages. After an analysis of the scientific context of our work, this paper introduces HCIDL, a modelling language staged in a model-driven engineering approach. Among the properties related to human-computer interface, our proposition is intended for modelling multi-target, multimodal, plastic interaction interfaces using user interface description languages. By combining plasticity and multimodality, HCIDL improves usability of user interfaces through adaptive behaviour by providing end-users with an interaction-set adapted to input/output of terminals and, an optimum layout. Keywords: Model driven engineering, Human-computer interface, User interface description languages, Multimodal applications, Plastic user interfaces

  12. User Interface Aspects of a Human-Hand Simulation System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Beifang Yi

    2005-10-01

    Full Text Available This paper describes the user interface design for a human-hand simulation system, a virtual environment that produces ground truth data (life-like human hand gestures and animations and provides visualization support for experiments on computer vision-based hand pose estimation and tracking. The system allows users to save time in data generation and easily create any hand gestures. We have designed and implemented this user interface with the consideration of usability goals and software engineering issues.

  13. Towards human behavior recognition based on spatio temporal features and support vector machines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghabri, Sawsen; Ouarda, Wael; Alimi, Adel M.

    2017-03-01

    Security and surveillance are vital issues in today's world. The recent acts of terrorism have highlighted the urgent need for efficient surveillance. There is indeed a need for an automated system for video surveillance which can detect identity and activity of person. In this article, we propose a new paradigm to recognize an aggressive human behavior such as boxing action. Our proposed system for human activity detection includes the use of a fusion between Spatio Temporal Interest Point (STIP) and Histogram of Oriented Gradient (HoG) features. The novel feature called Spatio Temporal Histogram Oriented Gradient (STHOG). To evaluate the robustness of our proposed paradigm with a local application of HoG technique on STIP points, we made experiments on KTH human action dataset based on Multi Class Support Vector Machines classification. The proposed scheme outperforms basic descriptors like HoG and STIP to achieve 82.26% us an accuracy value of classification rate.

  14. Neuromechanism study of insect-machine interface: flight control by neural electrical stimulation.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Huixia Zhao

    Full Text Available The insect-machine interface (IMI is a novel approach developed for man-made air vehicles, which directly controls insect flight by either neuromuscular or neural stimulation. In our previous study of IMI, we induced flight initiation and cessation reproducibly in restrained honeybees (Apis mellifera L. via electrical stimulation of the bilateral optic lobes. To explore the neuromechanism underlying IMI, we applied electrical stimulation to seven subregions of the honeybee brain with the aid of a new method for localizing brain regions. Results showed that the success rate for initiating honeybee flight decreased in the order: α-lobe (or β-lobe, ellipsoid body, lobula, medulla and antennal lobe. Based on a comparison with other neurobiological studies in honeybees, we propose that there is a cluster of descending neurons in the honeybee brain that transmits neural excitation from stimulated brain areas to the thoracic ganglia, leading to flight behavior. This neural circuit may involve the higher-order integration center, the primary visual processing center and the suboesophageal ganglion, which is also associated with a possible learning and memory pathway. By pharmacologically manipulating the electrically stimulated honeybee brain, we have shown that octopamine, rather than dopamine, serotonin and acetylcholine, plays a part in the circuit underlying electrically elicited honeybee flight. Our study presents a new brain stimulation protocol for the honeybee-machine interface and has solved one of the questions with regard to understanding which functional divisions of the insect brain participate in flight control. It will support further studies to uncover the involved neurons inside specific brain areas and to test the hypothesized involvement of a visual learning and memory pathway in IMI flight control.

  15. Neuromechanism study of insect-machine interface: flight control by neural electrical stimulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Huixia; Zheng, Nenggan; Ribi, Willi A; Zheng, Huoqing; Xue, Lei; Gong, Fan; Zheng, Xiaoxiang; Hu, Fuliang

    2014-01-01

    The insect-machine interface (IMI) is a novel approach developed for man-made air vehicles, which directly controls insect flight by either neuromuscular or neural stimulation. In our previous study of IMI, we induced flight initiation and cessation reproducibly in restrained honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) via electrical stimulation of the bilateral optic lobes. To explore the neuromechanism underlying IMI, we applied electrical stimulation to seven subregions of the honeybee brain with the aid of a new method for localizing brain regions. Results showed that the success rate for initiating honeybee flight decreased in the order: α-lobe (or β-lobe), ellipsoid body, lobula, medulla and antennal lobe. Based on a comparison with other neurobiological studies in honeybees, we propose that there is a cluster of descending neurons in the honeybee brain that transmits neural excitation from stimulated brain areas to the thoracic ganglia, leading to flight behavior. This neural circuit may involve the higher-order integration center, the primary visual processing center and the suboesophageal ganglion, which is also associated with a possible learning and memory pathway. By pharmacologically manipulating the electrically stimulated honeybee brain, we have shown that octopamine, rather than dopamine, serotonin and acetylcholine, plays a part in the circuit underlying electrically elicited honeybee flight. Our study presents a new brain stimulation protocol for the honeybee-machine interface and has solved one of the questions with regard to understanding which functional divisions of the insect brain participate in flight control. It will support further studies to uncover the involved neurons inside specific brain areas and to test the hypothesized involvement of a visual learning and memory pathway in IMI flight control.

  16. Neuromechanism Study of Insect–Machine Interface: Flight Control by Neural Electrical Stimulation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Huixia; Zheng, Nenggan; Ribi, Willi A.; Zheng, Huoqing; Xue, Lei; Gong, Fan; Zheng, Xiaoxiang; Hu, Fuliang

    2014-01-01

    The insect–machine interface (IMI) is a novel approach developed for man-made air vehicles, which directly controls insect flight by either neuromuscular or neural stimulation. In our previous study of IMI, we induced flight initiation and cessation reproducibly in restrained honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) via electrical stimulation of the bilateral optic lobes. To explore the neuromechanism underlying IMI, we applied electrical stimulation to seven subregions of the honeybee brain with the aid of a new method for localizing brain regions. Results showed that the success rate for initiating honeybee flight decreased in the order: α-lobe (or β-lobe), ellipsoid body, lobula, medulla and antennal lobe. Based on a comparison with other neurobiological studies in honeybees, we propose that there is a cluster of descending neurons in the honeybee brain that transmits neural excitation from stimulated brain areas to the thoracic ganglia, leading to flight behavior. This neural circuit may involve the higher-order integration center, the primary visual processing center and the suboesophageal ganglion, which is also associated with a possible learning and memory pathway. By pharmacologically manipulating the electrically stimulated honeybee brain, we have shown that octopamine, rather than dopamine, serotonin and acetylcholine, plays a part in the circuit underlying electrically elicited honeybee flight. Our study presents a new brain stimulation protocol for the honeybee–machine interface and has solved one of the questions with regard to understanding which functional divisions of the insect brain participate in flight control. It will support further studies to uncover the involved neurons inside specific brain areas and to test the hypothesized involvement of a visual learning and memory pathway in IMI flight control. PMID:25409523

  17. Robotic devices and brain-machine interfaces for hand rehabilitation post-stroke

    OpenAIRE

    McConnell, Alistair C; Moioli, Renan C; Brasil, Fabricio L; Vallejo, Marta; Corne, David W; Vargas, Patricia A; Stokes, Adam A

    2017-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: To review the state of the art of robotic-aided hand physiotherapy for post-stroke rehabilitation, including the use of brain-machine interfaces. Each patient has a unique clinical history and, in response to personalized treatment needs, research into individualized and at-home treatment options has expanded rapidly in recent years. This has resulted in the development of many devices and design strategies for use in stroke rehabilitation.METHODS: The development progression of ro...

  18. Advanced human-system interface design review guidelines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    O'Hara, J.M.

    1990-01-01

    Advanced, computer-based, human-system interface designs are emerging in nuclear power plant control rooms as a result of several factors. These include: (1) incorporation of new systems such as safety parameter display systems, (2) backfitting of current control rooms with new technologies when existing hardware is no longer supported by equipment vendors, and (3) development of advanced control room concepts. Control rooms of the future will be developed almost exclusively with advanced instrumentation and controls based upon digital technology. In addition, the control room operator will be interfacing with more intelligent systems which will be capable of providing information processing support to the operator. These developments may have significant implications for plant safety in that they will greatly affect the operator's role in the system as well as the ways in which he interacts with it. At present, however, the only guidance available to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for the review of control room-operator interfaces is NUREG-0700. It is a document which was written prior to these technological changes and is, therefore, tailored to the technologies used in traditional control rooms. Thus, the present guidance needs to be updated since it is inadequate to serve as the basis for NRC staff review of such advanced or hybrid control room designs. The objective of the project reported in this paper is to develop an Advanced Control Room Design Review Guideline suitable for use in performing human factors reviews of advanced operator interfaces. This guideline will take the form of a portable, interactive, computer-based document that may be conveniently used by an inspector in the field, as well as a text-based document

  19. Man-machine interactions 3

    CERN Document Server

    Czachórski, Tadeusz; Kozielski, Stanisław

    2014-01-01

    Man-Machine Interaction is an interdisciplinary field of research that covers many aspects of science focused on a human and machine in conjunction.  Basic goal of the study is to improve and invent new ways of communication between users and computers, and many different subjects are involved to reach the long-term research objective of an intuitive, natural and multimodal way of interaction with machines.  The rapid evolution of the methods by which humans interact with computers is observed nowadays and new approaches allow using computing technologies to support people on the daily basis, making computers more usable and receptive to the user's needs.   This monograph is the third edition in the series and presents important ideas, current trends and innovations in  the man-machine interactions area.  The aim of this book is to introduce not only hardware and software interfacing concepts, but also to give insights into the related theoretical background. Reader is provided with a compilation of high...

  20. Micro-patterned graphene-based sensing skins for human physiological monitoring

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Long; Loh, Kenneth J.; Chiang, Wei-Hung; Manna, Kausik

    2018-03-01

    Ultrathin, flexible, conformal, and skin-like electronic transducers are emerging as promising candidates for noninvasive and nonintrusive human health monitoring. In this work, a wearable sensing membrane is developed by patterning a graphene-based solution onto ultrathin medical tape, which can then be attached to the skin for monitoring human physiological parameters and physical activity. Here, the sensor is validated for monitoring finger bending/movements and for recognizing hand motion patterns, thereby demonstrating its future potential for evaluating athletic performance, physical therapy, and designing next-generation human-machine interfaces. Furthermore, this study also quantifies the sensor’s ability to monitor eye blinking and radial pulse in real-time, which can find broader applications for the healthcare sector. Overall, the printed graphene-based sensing skin is highly conformable, flexible, lightweight, nonintrusive, mechanically robust, and is characterized by high strain sensitivity.

  1. A friend man-machine interface for thermo-hydraulic simulation codes of nuclear installations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Araujo Filho, F. de; Belchior Junior, A.; Barroso, A.C.O.; Gebrim, A.

    1994-01-01

    This work presents the development of a Man-Machine Interface to the TRAC-PF1 code, a computer program to perform best estimate analysis of transients and accidents at nuclear power plants. The results were considered satisfactory and a considerable productivity gain was achieved in the activity of preparing and analyzing simulations. (author)

  2. Design and Evaluation of Human System Interfaces (HSIs)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2003-07-01

    In the safe operation of nuclear power plants and other complex process industries the performance of the control room crews plays an important role. In this respect a well-functioning and well-designed Human-System Interface (HSI) is crucial for safe and efficient operation of the plant. It is therefore essential that the design, development and evaluation of both control rooms and HSI-solutions are conducted in a well-structured way, applying sound human factors principles and guidelines in all phases of the HSI development process. Many nuclear power plants around the world are currently facing major modernisation of their control rooms. In this process computerised, screen-based HSIs replace old conventional operator interfaces. In new control rooms, both in the nuclear field and in other process industries, fully digital, screen-based control rooms are becoming the standard. It is therefore of particular importance to address the design and evaluation of screen-based HSIs in a systematic and consistent way in order to arrive at solutions which take proper advantage of the possibilities for improving operator support through the use of digital, screen-based HSIs, at the same time avoiding pitfalls and problems in the use of this technology. The Halden Reactor Project, in cooperation with the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency, organised an International Summer School on ''Design and Evaluation of Human-System Interfaces (HSIs)'' in Halden, Norway in the period August 25th - 29th, 2003. The Summer School addressed the different steps in design, development and evaluation of HSIs, and the human factors principles, standards and guidelines which should be followed in this process. The lectures comprised both theoretical background, as well as examples of good and bad HSI design, thereby providing practical advice in design and evaluation of operator interfaces and control room solutions to the participants in the Summer School. This CD contains the

  3. Design and Evaluation of Human System Interfaces (HSIs)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2003-07-01

    In the safe operation of nuclear power plants and other complex process industries the performance of the control room crews plays an important role. In this respect a well-functioning and well-designed Human-System Interface (HSI) is crucial for safe and efficient operation of the plant. It is therefore essential that the design, development and evaluation of both control rooms and HSI-solutions are conducted in a well-structured way, applying sound human factors principles and guidelines in all phases of the HSI development process. Many nuclear power plants around the world are currently facing major modernisation of their control rooms. In this process computerised, screen-based HSIs replace old conventional operator interfaces. In new control rooms, both in the nuclear field and in other process industries, fully digital, screen-based control rooms are becoming the standard. It is therefore of particular importance to address the design and evaluation of screen-based HSIs in a systematic and consistent way in order to arrive at solutions which take proper advantage of the possibilities for improving operator support through the use of digital, screen-based HSIs, at the same time avoiding pitfalls and problems in the use of this technology. The Halden Reactor Project, in cooperation with the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency, organised an International Summer School on ''Design and Evaluation of Human-System Interfaces (HSIs)'' in Halden, Norway in the period August 25th - 29th, 2003. The Summer School addressed the different steps in design, development and evaluation of HSIs, and the human factors principles, standards and guidelines which should be followed in this process. The lectures comprised both theoretical background, as well as examples of good and bad HSI design, thereby providing practical advice in design and evaluation of operator interfaces and control room solutions to the participants in the Summer School. This CD contains the Proceedings of the

  4. Design and Evaluation of Human System Interfaces (HSIs)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2003-01-01

    In the safe operation of nuclear power plants and other complex process industries the performance of the control room crews plays an important role. In this respect a well-functioning and well-designed Human-System Interface (HSI) is crucial for safe and efficient operation of the plant. It is therefore essential that the design, development and evaluation of both control rooms and HSI-solutions are conducted in a well-structured way, applying sound human factors principles and guidelines in all phases of the HSI development process. Many nuclear power plants around the world are currently facing major modernisation of their control rooms. In this process computerised, screen-based HSIs replace old conventional operator interfaces. In new control rooms, both in the nuclear field and in other process industries, fully digital, screen-based control rooms are becoming the standard. It is therefore of particular importance to address the design and evaluation of screen-based HSIs in a systematic and consistent way in order to arrive at solutions which take proper advantage of the possibilities for improving operator support through the use of digital, screen-based HSIs, at the same time avoiding pitfalls and problems in the use of this technology. The Halden Reactor Project, in cooperation with the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency, organised an International Summer School on ''Design and Evaluation of Human-System Interfaces (HSIs)'' in Halden, Norway in the period August 25th - 29th, 2003. The Summer School addressed the different steps in design, development and evaluation of HSIs, and the human factors principles, standards and guidelines which should be followed in this process. The lectures comprised both theoretical background, as well as examples of good and bad HSI design, thereby providing practical advice in design and evaluation of operator interfaces and control room solutions to the participants in the Summer School. This CD contains the Proceedings of the

  5. Project and implementation of the human/system interface laboratory

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carvalho, Paulo Victor R. de; Obadia, Isaac Jose; Vidal, Mario Cesar Rodriguez

    2002-01-01

    Analog instrumentation is being increasingly replaced by digital technology in new nuclear power plants, such as Angra III, as well as in existing operating plants, such as Angra I and II, for modernization and life-extension projects. In this new technological environment human factors issues aims to minimize failures in nuclear power plants operation due to human error. It is well known that 30% to 50% of the detected unforeseen problems involve human errors. Presently, human factors issues must be considered during the development of advanced human-system interfaces for the plant. IAEA has considered the importance of those issues and has published TECDOC's and Safety Series Issues on the matter. Thus, there is a need to develop methods and criteria to asses, compare, optimize and validate the human-system interface associated with totally new or hybrid control rooms. Also, the use of computer based operator aids is en evolving area. In order to assist on the development of methods and criteria and to evaluate the effects of the new design concepts and computerized support systems on operator performance, research simulators with advanced control rooms technology, such the IEN's Human System Interface Laboratory, will provide the necessary setting. (author)

  6. The mind-writing pupil : A human-computer interface based on decoding of covert attention through pupillometry

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mathôt, Sebastiaan; Melmi, Jean Baptiste; Van Der Linden, Lotje; Van Der Stigchel, Stefan

    2016-01-01

    We present a new human-computer interface that is based on decoding of attention through pupillometry. Our method builds on the recent finding that covert visual attention affects the pupillary light response: Your pupil constricts when you covertly (without looking at it) attend to a bright,

  7. Role of the man-machine interface in accident management strategies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Oewre, Fridtjov

    2001-01-01

    First, this paper gives a short general review on important safety issues in the field of man-machine interaction as expressed by important nuclear safety organisations. Then follows a summary discussion on what constitutes a modern Man-Machine Interface (MMI) and what is normally meant with accident management and accident management strategies. Furthermore, the paper focuses on three major issues in the context of accident management. First, the need for reliable information in accidents and how this can be obtained by additional computer technology. Second, the use of procedures is discussed, and basic MMI aspects of computer support for procedure presentation are identified followed by a presentation of a new approach on how to computerise procedures. Third, typical information needs for characteristic end-users in accidents, such as the control room operators, technical support staff and plant emergency teams, is discussed. Some ideas on how to apply virtual reality technology in accident management is also presented

  8. Operant conditioning of a multiple degree-of-freedom brain-machine interface in a primate model of amputation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balasubramanian, Karthikeyan; Southerland, Joshua; Vaidya, Mukta; Qian, Kai; Eleryan, Ahmed; Fagg, Andrew H; Sluzky, Marc; Oweiss, Karim; Hatsopoulos, Nicholas

    2013-01-01

    Operant conditioning with biofeedback has been shown to be an effective method to modify neural activity to generate goal-directed actions in a brain-machine interface. It is particularly useful when neural activity cannot be mathematically mapped to motor actions of the actual body such as in the case of amputation. Here, we implement an operant conditioning approach with visual feedback in which an amputated monkey is trained to control a multiple degree-of-freedom robot to perform a reach-to-grasp behavior. A key innovation is that each controlled dimension represents a behaviorally relevant synergy among a set of joint degrees-of-freedom. We present a number of behavioral metrics by which to assess improvements in BMI control with exposure to the system. The use of non-human primates with chronic amputation is arguably the most clinically-relevant model of human amputation that could have direct implications for developing a neural prosthesis to treat humans with missing upper limbs.

  9. Integrating human factors and artificial intelligence in the development of human-machine cooperation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Maanen, P.P. van; Lindenberg, J.; Neericx, M.A.

    2005-01-01

    Increasing machine intelligence leads to a shift from a mere interactive to a much more complex cooperative human-machine relation requiring a multidisciplinary development approach. This paper presents a generic multidisciplinary cognitive engineering method CE+ for the integration of human factors

  10. A review and experimental study on the application of classifiers and evolutionary algorithms in EEG-based brain-machine interface systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tahernezhad-Javazm, Farajollah; Azimirad, Vahid; Shoaran, Maryam

    2018-04-01

    Objective. Considering the importance and the near-future development of noninvasive brain-machine interface (BMI) systems, this paper presents a comprehensive theoretical-experimental survey on the classification and evolutionary methods for BMI-based systems in which EEG signals are used. Approach. The paper is divided into two main parts. In the first part, a wide range of different types of the base and combinatorial classifiers including boosting and bagging classifiers and evolutionary algorithms are reviewed and investigated. In the second part, these classifiers and evolutionary algorithms are assessed and compared based on two types of relatively widely used BMI systems, sensory motor rhythm-BMI and event-related potentials-BMI. Moreover, in the second part, some of the improved evolutionary algorithms as well as bi-objective algorithms are experimentally assessed and compared. Main results. In this study two databases are used, and cross-validation accuracy (CVA) and stability to data volume (SDV) are considered as the evaluation criteria for the classifiers. According to the experimental results on both databases, regarding the base classifiers, linear discriminant analysis and support vector machines with respect to CVA evaluation metric, and naive Bayes with respect to SDV demonstrated the best performances. Among the combinatorial classifiers, four classifiers, Bagg-DT (bagging decision tree), LogitBoost, and GentleBoost with respect to CVA, and Bagging-LR (bagging logistic regression) and AdaBoost (adaptive boosting) with respect to SDV had the best performances. Finally, regarding the evolutionary algorithms, single-objective invasive weed optimization (IWO) and bi-objective nondominated sorting IWO algorithms demonstrated the best performances. Significance. We present a general survey on the base and the combinatorial classification methods for EEG signals (sensory motor rhythm and event-related potentials) as well as their optimization methods

  11. Shape understanding system machine understanding and human understanding

    CERN Document Server

    Les, Zbigniew

    2015-01-01

    This is the third book presenting selected results of research on the further development of the shape understanding system (SUS) carried out by authors in the newly founded Queen Jadwiga Research Institute of Understanding. In this book the new term Machine Understanding is introduced referring to a new area of research aiming to investigate the possibility of building machines with the ability to understand. It is presented that SUS needs to some extent mimic human understanding and for this reason machines are evaluated according to the rules applied for the evaluation of human understanding. The book shows how to formulate problems and how it can be tested if the machine is able to solve these problems.    

  12. Human performance interfaces in air traffic control.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chang, Yu-Hern; Yeh, Chung-Hsing

    2010-01-01

    This paper examines how human performance factors in air traffic control (ATC) affect each other through their mutual interactions. The paper extends the conceptual SHEL model of ergonomics to describe the ATC system as human performance interfaces in which the air traffic controllers interact with other human performance factors including other controllers, software, hardware, environment, and organisation. New research hypotheses about the relationships between human performance interfaces of the system are developed and tested on data collected from air traffic controllers, using structural equation modelling. The research result suggests that organisation influences play a more significant role than individual differences or peer influences on how the controllers interact with the software, hardware, and environment of the ATC system. There are mutual influences between the controller-software, controller-hardware, controller-environment, and controller-organisation interfaces of the ATC system, with the exception of the controller-controller interface. Research findings of this study provide practical insights in managing human performance interfaces of the ATC system in the face of internal or external change, particularly in understanding its possible consequences in relation to the interactions between human performance factors.

  13. Support vector machine-based facial-expression recognition method combining shape and appearance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Han, Eun Jung; Kang, Byung Jun; Park, Kang Ryoung; Lee, Sangyoun

    2010-11-01

    Facial expression recognition can be widely used for various applications, such as emotion-based human-machine interaction, intelligent robot interfaces, face recognition robust to expression variation, etc. Previous studies have been classified as either shape- or appearance-based recognition. The shape-based method has the disadvantage that the individual variance of facial feature points exists irrespective of similar expressions, which can cause a reduction of the recognition accuracy. The appearance-based method has a limitation in that the textural information of the face is very sensitive to variations in illumination. To overcome these problems, a new facial-expression recognition method is proposed, which combines both shape and appearance information, based on the support vector machine (SVM). This research is novel in the following three ways as compared to previous works. First, the facial feature points are automatically detected by using an active appearance model. From these, the shape-based recognition is performed by using the ratios between the facial feature points based on the facial-action coding system. Second, the SVM, which is trained to recognize the same and different expression classes, is proposed to combine two matching scores obtained from the shape- and appearance-based recognitions. Finally, a single SVM is trained to discriminate four different expressions, such as neutral, a smile, anger, and a scream. By determining the expression of the input facial image whose SVM output is at a minimum, the accuracy of the expression recognition is much enhanced. The experimental results showed that the recognition accuracy of the proposed method was better than previous researches and other fusion methods.

  14. Evaluation and optimization of the man-machine interface in nuclear power plants using the HEROS procedure in PSA

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Richei, A.; Koch, M.K.; Unger, H.; Hauptmanns, U.

    1998-01-01

    For the probabilistic evaluation and optimization of the man-machine-system a new procedure is developed. This and the resulting expert system, which is based on the fuzzy set theory, is called HEROS, an acronym for Human Error Rate Assessment and Optimizing System. There are several existing procedures for the probabilistic evaluation of human errors, which have several disadvantages. However, in all of these procedures fuzzy verbal expressions are often used for the evaluation of human factors, also in the best known procedures. This use of verbal expressions for describing performance-shaping factors, enabling the evaluation of human factors is the basic approach for HEROS. A model of a modem man-machine-system is the basis of the procedure. Results from ergonomic studies are used to establish a rule-based expert system. HEROS simplifies the importance analysis for the evaluation of human factors, which is necessary for the optimization of the man-machine-system. It can be used in all areas of probabilistic safety assessment. The application of HEROS in the scope of accident management procedures and the comparison with the results of other procedures as an example for the usefulness and substantially more extensive applicability of this new procedure will be shown. (author)

  15. Design Guidelines for Coffee Vending Machines

    OpenAIRE

    Schneidermeier, Tim; Burghardt, Manuel; Wolff, Christian

    2013-01-01

    Walk-up-and-use-systems such as vending and self-service machines request special attention concerning an easy to use and self-explanatory user interface. In this paper we present a set of design guidelines for coffee vending machines based on the results of an expert-based usability evaluation of thirteen different models.

  16. Operation of micro and molecular machines: a new concept with its origins in interface science.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ariga, Katsuhiko; Ishihara, Shinsuke; Izawa, Hironori; Xia, Hong; Hill, Jonathan P

    2011-03-21

    A landmark accomplishment of nanotechnology would be successful fabrication of ultrasmall machines that can work like tweezers, motors, or even computing devices. Now we must consider how operation of micro- and molecular machines might be implemented for a wide range of applications. If these machines function only under limited conditions and/or require specialized apparatus then they are useless for practical applications. Therefore, it is important to carefully consider the access of functionality of the molecular or nanoscale systems by conventional stimuli at the macroscopic level. In this perspective, we will outline the position of micro- and molecular machines in current science and technology. Most of these machines are operated by light irradiation, application of electrical or magnetic fields, chemical reactions, and thermal fluctuations, which cannot always be applied in remote machine operation. We also propose strategies for molecular machine operation using the most conventional of stimuli, that of macroscopic mechanical force, achieved through mechanical operation of molecular machines located at an air-water interface. The crucial roles of the characteristics of an interfacial environment, i.e. connection between macroscopic dimension and nanoscopic function, and contact of media with different dielectric natures, are also described.

  17. Computational Model-Based Prediction of Human Episodic Memory Performance Based on Eye Movements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sato, Naoyuki; Yamaguchi, Yoko

    Subjects' episodic memory performance is not simply reflected by eye movements. We use a ‘theta phase coding’ model of the hippocampus to predict subjects' memory performance from their eye movements. Results demonstrate the ability of the model to predict subjects' memory performance. These studies provide a novel approach to computational modeling in the human-machine interface.

  18. A fast intracortical brain-machine interface with patterned optogenetic feedback.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abbasi, Aamir; Goueytes, Dorian; Shulz, Daniel E; Ego-Stengel, Valerie; Estebanez, Luc

    2018-04-04

    The development of brain-machine interfaces (BMIs) brings a new perspective to patients with a loss of autonomy. By combining online recordings of brain activity with a decoding algorithm, patients can learn to control a robotic arm in order to perform simple actions. However, in contrast to the vast amounts of somatosensory information channeled by limbs to the brain, current BMIs are devoid of touch and force sensors. Patients must therefore rely solely on vision and audition, which are maladapted to the control of a prosthesis. In contrast, in a healthy limb, somatosensory inputs alone can efficiently guide the handling of a fragile object, or ensure a smooth trajectory. We have developed a BMI in the mouse that includes a rich artificial somatosensory-like cortical feedback. Our setup includes online recordings of the activity of multiple neurons in the whisker primary motor cortex (vM1), and delivers feedback simultaneously via a low-latency, high-refresh rate and spatially structured photo-stimulation of the whisker primary somatosensory cortex (vS1), based on a mapping obtained by intrinsic imaging. We demonstrate the operation of the loop and show that mice can detect the neuronal spiking in vS1 triggered by the photo-stimulations. Finally, we show that the mice can learn a behavioral task relying only on the artificial inputs and outputs of the closed-loop BMI. This is the first motor BMI that includes a short-latency, intracortical, somatosensory-like feedback. It will be a useful platform to discover efficient cortical feedback schemes towards future human BMI applications. Creative Commons Attribution license.

  19. Interface Heuristics and Style Guide Design: An Air Battle Management Case Study

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Nelson, W. T; Bolia, Robert S

    2005-01-01

    This paper describes the development of a human-machine interface style guide designed to promote a common look and feel among operator interfaces employed by air battle managers in the United States...

  20. Brain-machine interfaces for assistive smart homes: A feasibility study with wearable near-infrared spectroscopy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ogawa, Takeshi; Hirayama, Jun-Ichiro; Gupta, Pankaj; Moriya, Hiroki; Yamaguchi, Shumpei; Ishikawa, Akihiro; Inoue, Yoshihiro; Kawanabe, Motoaki; Ishii, Shin

    2015-08-01

    Smart houses for elderly or physically challenged people need a method to understand residents' intentions during their daily-living behaviors. To explore a new possibility, we here developed a novel brain-machine interface (BMI) system integrated with an experimental smart house, based on a prototype of a wearable near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) device, and verified the system in a specific task of controlling of the house's equipments with BMI. We recorded NIRS signals of three participants during typical daily-living actions (DLAs), and classified them by linear support vector machine. In our off-line analysis, four DLAs were classified at about 70% mean accuracy, significantly above the chance level of 25%, in every participant. In an online demonstration in the real smart house, one participant successfully controlled three target appliances by BMI at 81.3% accuracy. Thus we successfully demonstrated the feasibility of using NIRS-BMI in real smart houses, which will possibly enhance new assistive smart-home technologies.

  1. Zooniverse: Combining Human and Machine Classifiers for the Big Survey Era

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fortson, Lucy; Wright, Darryl; Beck, Melanie; Lintott, Chris; Scarlata, Claudia; Dickinson, Hugh; Trouille, Laura; Willi, Marco; Laraia, Michael; Boyer, Amy; Veldhuis, Marten; Zooniverse

    2018-01-01

    Many analyses of astronomical data sets, ranging from morphological classification of galaxies to identification of supernova candidates, have relied on humans to classify data into distinct categories. Crowdsourced galaxy classifications via the Galaxy Zoo project provided a solution that scaled visual classification for extant surveys by harnessing the combined power of thousands of volunteers. However, the much larger data sets anticipated from upcoming surveys will require a different approach. Automated classifiers using supervised machine learning have improved considerably over the past decade but their increasing sophistication comes at the expense of needing ever more training data. Crowdsourced classification by human volunteers is a critical technique for obtaining these training data. But several improvements can be made on this zeroth order solution. Efficiency gains can be achieved by implementing a “cascade filtering” approach whereby the task structure is reduced to a set of binary questions that are more suited to simpler machines while demanding lower cognitive loads for humans.Intelligent subject retirement based on quantitative metrics of volunteer skill and subject label reliability also leads to dramatic improvements in efficiency. We note that human and machine classifiers may retire subjects differently leading to trade-offs in performance space. Drawing on work with several Zooniverse projects including Galaxy Zoo and Supernova Hunter, we will present recent findings from experiments that combine cohorts of human and machine classifiers. We show that the most efficient system results when appropriate subsets of the data are intelligently assigned to each group according to their particular capabilities.With sufficient online training, simple machines can quickly classify “easy” subjects, leaving more difficult (and discovery-oriented) tasks for volunteers. We also find humans achieve higher classification purity while samples

  2. Experimental Characterization and Modeling of Thermal Contact Resistance of Electric Machine Stator-to-Cooling Jacket Interface Under Interference Fit Loading

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cousineau, Justine E [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Bennion, Kevin S [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Chieduko, Victor [UQM Technologies, Inc.; Lall, Rajiv [UQM Technologies, Inc.; Gilbert, Alan [UQM Technologies, Inc.

    2018-05-08

    Cooling of electric machines is a key to increasing power density and improving reliability. This paper focuses on the design of a machine using a cooling jacket wrapped around the stator. The thermal contact resistance (TCR) between the electric machine stator and cooling jacket is a significant factor in overall performance and is not well characterized. This interface is typically an interference fit subject to compressive pressure exceeding 5 MPa. An experimental investigation of this interface was carried out using a thermal transmittance setup using pressures between 5 and 10 MPa. The results were compared to currently available models for contact resistance, and one model was adapted for prediction of TCR in future motor designs.

  3. Machine vs. human translation of SNOMED CT terms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schulz, Stefan; Bernhardt-Melischnig, Johannes; Kreuzthaler, Markus; Daumke, Philipp; Boeker, Martin

    2013-01-01

    In the context of past and current SNOMED CT translation projects we compare three kinds of SNOMED CT translations from English to German by: (t1) professional medical translators; (t2) a free Web-based machine translation service; (t3) medical students. 500 SNOMED CT fully specified names from the (English) International release were randomly selected. Based on this, German translations t1, t2, and t3 were generated. A German and an Austrian physician rated the translations for linguistic correctness and content fidelity. Kappa for inter-rater reliability was 0.4 for linguistic correctness and 0.23 for content fidelity. Average ratings of linguistic correctness did not differ significantly between human translation scenarios. Content fidelity was rated slightly better for student translators compared to professional translators. Comparing machine to human translation, the linguistic correctness differed about 0.5 scale units in favour of the human translation and about 0.25 regarding content fidelity, equally in favour of the human translation. The results demonstrate that low-cost translation solutions of medical terms may produce surprisingly good results. Although we would not recommend low-cost translation for producing standardized preferred terms, this approach can be useful for creating additional language-specific entry terms. This may serve several important use cases. We also recommend testing this method to bootstrap a crowdsourcing process, by which term translations are gathered, improved, maintained, and rated by the user community.

  4. Web-based Java application to advanced JT-60 Man-Machine Interfacing System for remote experiments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Totsuka, Toshiyuki; Suzuki, Yoshio; Sakata, Shinya; Oshima, Takayuki; Iba, Katsuyuki

    2008-01-01

    Since remote participation in ITER experiments is planned, it is expected to demonstrate that the JT-60SA experiment is controlled from a Japanese remote experiment center located in Rokkasho-mura, Aomori-ken, Japan as a part of the ITER-BA project. Functions required for this experiment are monitoring of the discharge sequence status, handling of the discharge parameter, checking of experiment data, and monitoring of plant data, all of which are included in the existing JT-60 Man-Machine Interfacing System (MMIF). The MMIF is now only available to on-site users at the Naka site due to network safety. The motivation for remote MMIF is prompted by the issue of developing and achieving compatibility with network safety. The Java language has been chosen to implement this task. This paper deals with details of the JT-60 MMIF for the remote experiment that has evolved using the Java language

  5. DNA-based machines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Fuan; Willner, Bilha; Willner, Itamar

    2014-01-01

    The base sequence in nucleic acids encodes substantial structural and functional information into the biopolymer. This encoded information provides the basis for the tailoring and assembly of DNA machines. A DNA machine is defined as a molecular device that exhibits the following fundamental features. (1) It performs a fuel-driven mechanical process that mimics macroscopic machines. (2) The mechanical process requires an energy input, "fuel." (3) The mechanical operation is accompanied by an energy consumption process that leads to "waste products." (4) The cyclic operation of the DNA devices, involves the use of "fuel" and "anti-fuel" ingredients. A variety of DNA-based machines are described, including the construction of "tweezers," "walkers," "robots," "cranes," "transporters," "springs," "gears," and interlocked cyclic DNA structures acting as reconfigurable catenanes, rotaxanes, and rotors. Different "fuels", such as nucleic acid strands, pH (H⁺/OH⁻), metal ions, and light, are used to trigger the mechanical functions of the DNA devices. The operation of the devices in solution and on surfaces is described, and a variety of optical, electrical, and photoelectrochemical methods to follow the operations of the DNA machines are presented. We further address the possible applications of DNA machines and the future perspectives of molecular DNA devices. These include the application of DNA machines as functional structures for the construction of logic gates and computing, for the programmed organization of metallic nanoparticle structures and the control of plasmonic properties, and for controlling chemical transformations by DNA machines. We further discuss the future applications of DNA machines for intracellular sensing, controlling intracellular metabolic pathways, and the use of the functional nanostructures for drug delivery and medical applications.

  6. Integrated digital control and man-machine interface for complex remote handing systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rowe, J.C.; Spille, R.F.; Zimmermann, S.D.

    1987-01-01

    The Advanced Integrated Maintenance System (AIMS) is part of a continuing effort within the Consolidated Fuel Reprocessing Program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to develop and extend the capabilities of remote manipulation and maintenance technology. The AIMS is a totally integrated approach to remote handling in hazardous environments. State-of-the-art computer systems connected through a high-speed distributed control system that supports the flexibility and expandability needed for large integrated maintenance applications. A man-Machine Interface provides high-level human interaction through a powerful color graphics menu-controlled operator console. An auxiliary control system handles the real-time processing needs for a variety of support hardware. A pair of dedicated fiber-optic-linked master/slave computer systems control the Advanced Servomanipulator master/slave arms using powerful distributed digital processing methods. The FORTH language was used as a real-time operating and development environment for the entire system, and all of these components are integrated into a control room concept that represents the latest advancements in the development of remote maintenance facilities for hazardous environments

  7. Integrated digital control and man-machine interface for complex remote handling systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rowe, J.C.; Spille, R.F.; Zimmermann, S.D.

    1986-12-01

    The Advanced Integrated Maintenance System (AIMS) is part of a continuing effort within the Consolidated Fuel Reprocessing Program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to develop and extend the capabilities of remote manipulation and maintenance technology. The AIMS is a totally integrated approach to remote handling in hazardous environments. State-of-the-art computer systems connected through a high-speed communication network provide a real-time distributed control system that supports the flexibility and expandability needed for large integrated maintenance applications. A Man-Machine Interface provides high-level human interaction through a powerful color graphics menu-controlled operator console. An auxiliary control system handles the real-time processing needs for a variety of support hardware. A pair of dedicated fiber-optic-linked master/slave computer system control the Advanced Servomanipulator master/slave arms using powerful distributed digital processing methods. The FORTH language was used as a real-time operating and development environment for the entire system, and all of these components are integrated into a control room concept that represents the latest advancements in the development of remote maintenance facilities for hazardous environments

  8. A Novel Wearable Forehead EOG Measurement System for Human Computer Interfaces.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heo, Jeong; Yoon, Heenam; Park, Kwang Suk

    2017-06-23

    Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients whose voluntary muscles are paralyzed commonly communicate with the outside world using eye movement. There have been many efforts to support this method of communication by tracking or detecting eye movement. An electrooculogram (EOG), an electro-physiological signal, is generated by eye movements and can be measured with electrodes placed around the eye. In this study, we proposed a new practical electrode position on the forehead to measure EOG signals, and we developed a wearable forehead EOG measurement system for use in Human Computer/Machine interfaces (HCIs/HMIs). Four electrodes, including the ground electrode, were placed on the forehead. The two channels were arranged vertically and horizontally, sharing a positive electrode. Additionally, a real-time eye movement classification algorithm was developed based on the characteristics of the forehead EOG. Three applications were employed to evaluate the proposed system: a virtual keyboard using a modified Bremen BCI speller and an automatic sequential row-column scanner, and a drivable power wheelchair. The mean typing speeds of the modified Bremen brain-computer interface (BCI) speller and automatic row-column scanner were 10.81 and 7.74 letters per minute, and the mean classification accuracies were 91.25% and 95.12%, respectively. In the power wheelchair demonstration, the user drove the wheelchair through an 8-shape course without collision with obstacles.

  9. Design of operator interfaces for ''bumpless'' transfers between operator behaviors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lindsay, R.W.; Brown-VanHoozer, S.A.

    1993-01-01

    Advances in the science and art of man-machine interface design have taken major strides forward for interface design practitioners with the advent of the computer. one concern still extant, however, is the need for design of interfaces that minimize confusion when an operator is required to shift from the different levels of cognitive control of skill, rule, and knowledge-based behaviors, (e.g., if an operator is following a set of procedures and a procedural error is noted by the operator, the behavior may, of necessity, shift from rule-based to a knowledge-based behavior). Shifting of the cognitive control levels requires that the information to be displayed to the operator should be designed so that a ''bumpless'' transfer can be made between the behavioral modes, thus reducing the possibility of error. This paper introduces a way to design human interfaces so that skill, rule, and knowledge-based behaviors are supported and provides for the necessary interchanges between behavioral types

  10. Proposal of adaptive human interface and study of interface evaluation method for plant operators

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ujita, Hiroshi; Kubota, Ryuji.

    1994-01-01

    In this report, a new concept of human interface adaptive to plant operators' mental model, cognitive process and psychological state which change with time is proposed. It is composed of a function to determine information which should be indicated to operators based on the plant situation, a function to estimate operators' internal conditions, and a function to arrange the information amount, position, timing, form etc. based on their conditions. The method to evaluate the fitness of the interface by using the analysis results based on cognitive science, ergonomics, psychology and physiology is developed to achieve such an interface. Fundamental physiological experiments have been performed. Stress and workload can be identified by the ratio of the power average of the α wave fraction of a brain wave and be distinguished by the ratio of the standard deviation of the R-R interval in test and at rest, in the case of low stress such as mouse operation, calculation and walking. (author)

  11. Proposal of adaptive human interface and study of interface evaluation method for plant operators

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ujita, Hiroshi [Hitachi Ltd., Ibaraki (Japan). Energy Research Lab.; Kubota, Ryuji

    1994-07-01

    In this report, a new concept of human interface adaptive to plant operators' mental model, cognitive process and psychological state which change with time is proposed. It is composed of a function to determine information which should be indicated to operators based on the plant situation, a function to estimate operators' internal conditions, and a function to arrange the information amount, position, timing, form etc. based on their conditions. The method to evaluate the fitness of the interface by using the analysis results based on cognitive science, ergonomics, psychology and physiology is developed to achieve such an interface. Fundamental physiological experiments have been performed. Stress and workload can be identified by the ratio of the power average of the [alpha] wave fraction of a brain wave and be distinguished by the ratio of the standard deviation of the R-R interval in test and at rest, in the case of low stress such as mouse operation, calculation and walking. (author).

  12. Charting the energy landscape of metal/organic interfaces via machine learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scherbela, Michael; Hörmann, Lukas; Jeindl, Andreas; Obersteiner, Veronika; Hofmann, Oliver T.

    2018-04-01

    The rich polymorphism exhibited by inorganic/organic interfaces is a major challenge for materials design. In this work, we present a method to efficiently explore the potential energy surface and predict the formation energies of polymorphs and defects. This is achieved by training a machine learning model on a list of only 100 candidate structures that are evaluated via dispersion-corrected density functional theory (DFT) calculations. We demonstrate the power of this approach for tetracyanoethylene on Ag(100) and explain the anisotropic ordering that is observed experimentally.

  13. Selection of suitable hand gestures for reliable myoelectric human computer interface.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Castro, Maria Claudia F; Arjunan, Sridhar P; Kumar, Dinesh K

    2015-04-09

    Myoelectric controlled prosthetic hand requires machine based identification of hand gestures using surface electromyogram (sEMG) recorded from the forearm muscles. This study has observed that a sub-set of the hand gestures have to be selected for an accurate automated hand gesture recognition, and reports a method to select these gestures to maximize the sensitivity and specificity. Experiments were conducted where sEMG was recorded from the muscles of the forearm while subjects performed hand gestures and then was classified off-line. The performances of ten gestures were ranked using the proposed Positive-Negative Performance Measurement Index (PNM), generated by a series of confusion matrices. When using all the ten gestures, the sensitivity and specificity was 80.0% and 97.8%. After ranking the gestures using the PNM, six gestures were selected and these gave sensitivity and specificity greater than 95% (96.5% and 99.3%); Hand open, Hand close, Little finger flexion, Ring finger flexion, Middle finger flexion and Thumb flexion. This work has shown that reliable myoelectric based human computer interface systems require careful selection of the gestures that have to be recognized and without such selection, the reliability is poor.

  14. On action- and affectpsychology of human reliability. An access by training simulators for complex man-machine systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schuette, M.

    2002-02-01

    Theoretical part and its topics: errors at the interface between man and machine; reliability analysis for man; the psychological explanation of action reliability of man (intention and control); a paradigma for human reliability (frustration and regression). Empirical part: Control room in a nuclear power plant: Influences on repeated blockages on component care in case of start-up operation; ship bridge: Frustration and regression while steering in a bight. Appendix: analysis of a social interaction.(GL)

  15. Emergent coordination underlying learning to reach to grasp with a brain-machine interface.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vaidya, Mukta; Balasubramanian, Karthikeyan; Southerland, Joshua; Badreldin, Islam; Eleryan, Ahmed; Shattuck, Kelsey; Gururangan, Suchin; Slutzky, Marc; Osborne, Leslie; Fagg, Andrew; Oweiss, Karim; Hatsopoulos, Nicholas G

    2018-04-01

    The development of coordinated reach-to-grasp movement has been well studied in infants and children. However, the role of motor cortex during this development is unclear because it is difficult to study in humans. We took the approach of using a brain-machine interface (BMI) paradigm in rhesus macaques with prior therapeutic amputations to examine the emergence of novel, coordinated reach to grasp. Previous research has shown that after amputation, the cortical area previously involved in the control of the lost limb undergoes reorganization, but prior BMI work has largely relied on finding neurons that already encode specific movement-related information. In this study, we taught macaques to cortically control a robotic arm and hand through operant conditioning, using neurons that were not explicitly reach or grasp related. Over the course of training, stereotypical patterns emerged and stabilized in the cross-covariance between the reaching and grasping velocity profiles, between pairs of neurons involved in controlling reach and grasp, and to a comparable, but lesser, extent between other stable neurons in the network. In fact, we found evidence of this structured coordination between pairs composed of all combinations of neurons decoding reach or grasp and other stable neurons in the network. The degree of and participation in coordination was highly correlated across all pair types. Our approach provides a unique model for studying the development of novel, coordinated reach-to-grasp movement at the behavioral and cortical levels. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Given that motor cortex undergoes reorganization after amputation, our work focuses on training nonhuman primates with chronic amputations to use neurons that are not reach or grasp related to control a robotic arm to reach to grasp through the use of operant conditioning, mimicking early development. We studied the development of a novel, coordinated behavior at the behavioral and cortical level, and the neural

  16. Human machine interface by using stereo-based depth extraction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liao, Chao-Kang; Wu, Chi-Hao; Lin, Hsueh-Yi; Chang, Ting-Ting; Lin, Tung-Yang; Huang, Po-Kuan

    2014-03-01

    The ongoing success of three-dimensional (3D) cinema fuels increasing efforts to spread the commercial success of 3D to new markets. The possibilities of a convincing 3D experience at home, such as three-dimensional television (3DTV), has generated a great deal of interest within the research and standardization community. A central issue for 3DTV is the creation and representation of 3D content. Acquiring scene depth information is a fundamental task in computer vision, yet complex and error-prone. Dedicated range sensors, such as the Time­ of-Flight camera (ToF), can simplify the scene depth capture process and overcome shortcomings of traditional solutions, such as active or passive stereo analysis. Admittedly, currently available ToF sensors deliver only a limited spatial resolution. However, sophisticated depth upscaling approaches use texture information to match depth and video resolution. At Electronic Imaging 2012 we proposed an upscaling routine based on error energy minimization, weighted with edge information from an accompanying video source. In this article we develop our algorithm further. By adding temporal consistency constraints to the upscaling process, we reduce disturbing depth jumps and flickering artifacts in the final 3DTV content. Temporal consistency in depth maps enhances the 3D experience, leading to a wider acceptance of 3D media content. More content in better quality can boost the commercial success of 3DTV.

  17. "Involving interface": an extended mind theoretical approach to roboethics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, Miranda; Ishiguro, Hiroshi; Fukushi, Tamami

    2010-11-01

    In 2008 the authors held "Involving Interface," a lively interdisciplinary event focusing on issues of biological, sociocultural, and technological interfacing (see Acknowledgments). Inspired by discussions at this event, in this article, we further discuss the value of input from neuroscience for developing robots and machine interfaces, and the value of philosophy, the humanities, and the arts for identifying persistent links between human interfacing and broader ethical concerns. The importance of ongoing interdisciplinary debate and public communication on scientific and technical advances is also highlighted. Throughout, the authors explore the implications of the extended mind hypothesis for notions of moral accountability and robotics.

  18. Knowledge-based control of an adaptive interface

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lachman, Roy

    1989-01-01

    The analysis, development strategy, and preliminary design for an intelligent, adaptive interface is reported. The design philosophy couples knowledge-based system technology with standard human factors approaches to interface development for computer workstations. An expert system has been designed to drive the interface for application software. The intelligent interface will be linked to application packages, one at a time, that are planned for multiple-application workstations aboard Space Station Freedom. Current requirements call for most Space Station activities to be conducted at the workstation consoles. One set of activities will consist of standard data management services (DMS). DMS software includes text processing, spreadsheets, data base management, etc. Text processing was selected for the first intelligent interface prototype because text-processing software can be developed initially as fully functional but limited with a small set of commands. The program's complexity then can be increased incrementally. The intelligent interface includes the operator's behavior and three types of instructions to the underlying application software are included in the rule base. A conventional expert-system inference engine searches the data base for antecedents to rules and sends the consequents of fired rules as commands to the underlying software. Plans for putting the expert system on top of a second application, a database management system, will be carried out following behavioral research on the first application. The intelligent interface design is suitable for use with ground-based workstations now common in government, industrial, and educational organizations.

  19. Computer-Based Tools for Evaluating Graphical User Interfaces

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moore, Loretta A.

    1997-01-01

    The user interface is the component of a software system that connects two very complex system: humans and computers. Each of these two systems impose certain requirements on the final product. The user is the judge of the usability and utility of the system; the computer software and hardware are the tools with which the interface is constructed. Mistakes are sometimes made in designing and developing user interfaces because the designers and developers have limited knowledge about human performance (e.g., problem solving, decision making, planning, and reasoning). Even those trained in user interface design make mistakes because they are unable to address all of the known requirements and constraints on design. Evaluation of the user inter-face is therefore a critical phase of the user interface development process. Evaluation should not be considered the final phase of design; but it should be part of an iterative design cycle with the output of evaluation being feed back into design. The goal of this research was to develop a set of computer-based tools for objectively evaluating graphical user interfaces. The research was organized into three phases. The first phase resulted in the development of an embedded evaluation tool which evaluates the usability of a graphical user interface based on a user's performance. An expert system to assist in the design and evaluation of user interfaces based upon rules and guidelines was developed during the second phase. During the final phase of the research an automatic layout tool to be used in the initial design of graphical inter- faces was developed. The research was coordinated with NASA Marshall Space Flight Center's Mission Operations Laboratory's efforts in developing onboard payload display specifications for the Space Station.

  20. Human factors engineering review for CRT screen design

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yi, S. M.; Joo, C. Y.; Ra, J. C.

    1999-01-01

    The information interface between man and machine may be more important than hardware and workplace layout considerations. Transmitting and receiving data through this information interface can be characterized as a communication or interface problem. Management of man-machine interface is essential for the enhancement of the information processing and decision-making capability of computer users working in real time, demanding task. The design of human-computer interface is not a rigid and static procedure. The content and context of each interface varies according to the specific application. So, the purpose of this study is to review the human factor design process for interfaces, to make human factor guidelines for CRT screen and to apply these to CRT screen design. (author)

  1. Future Smart Cooking Machine System Design

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dewi Agushinta R.

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available There are many tools make human task get easier. Cooking has become a basic necessity for human beings, since food is one of basic human needs. Until now, the cooking equipment being used is still a hand tool. However everyone has slightly high activity. The presence of cooking tools that can do the cooking work by itself is now necessary. Future Smart Cooking Machine is an artificial intelligence machine that can do cooking work automatically. With this system design, the time is minimized and the ease of work is expected to be achieved. The development of this system is carried out with System Development Life Cycle (SDLC methods. Prototyping method used in this system is a throw-away prototyping approach. At the end of this research there will be produced a cooking machine system design including physical design engine and interface design.

  2. GAPscreener: An automatic tool for screening human genetic association literature in PubMed using the support vector machine technique

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Khoury Muin J

    2008-04-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Synthesis of data from published human genetic association studies is a critical step in the translation of human genome discoveries into health applications. Although genetic association studies account for a substantial proportion of the abstracts in PubMed, identifying them with standard queries is not always accurate or efficient. Further automating the literature-screening process can reduce the burden of a labor-intensive and time-consuming traditional literature search. The Support Vector Machine (SVM, a well-established machine learning technique, has been successful in classifying text, including biomedical literature. The GAPscreener, a free SVM-based software tool, can be used to assist in screening PubMed abstracts for human genetic association studies. Results The data source for this research was the HuGE Navigator, formerly known as the HuGE Pub Lit database. Weighted SVM feature selection based on a keyword list obtained by the two-way z score method demonstrated the best screening performance, achieving 97.5% recall, 98.3% specificity and 31.9% precision in performance testing. Compared with the traditional screening process based on a complex PubMed query, the SVM tool reduced by about 90% the number of abstracts requiring individual review by the database curator. The tool also ascertained 47 articles that were missed by the traditional literature screening process during the 4-week test period. We examined the literature on genetic associations with preterm birth as an example. Compared with the traditional, manual process, the GAPscreener both reduced effort and improved accuracy. Conclusion GAPscreener is the first free SVM-based application available for screening the human genetic association literature in PubMed with high recall and specificity. The user-friendly graphical user interface makes this a practical, stand-alone application. The software can be downloaded at no charge.

  3. Perspective of next generation training system from the viewpoints of human interfaces. Human interface kara mita kyoiku kunren system no genjo to kongo no tenbo

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nishida, S [Mitsubishi Electric Corp., Tokyo (Japan)

    1992-12-10

    This paper describes an education and training system placing its emphasis on human interfaces. The paper indicates that the currently used education and training systems lack training functions to cultivate knowledge-based judgment abilities that can find adequate solutions to events that have not been experienced previously; such judgments require deep understanding on the objects; and this training requires a system to aid the comprehension based on knowledges in the realm of recognition science for the 'human understanding'. Next, a pedagogical interface is proposed for aiding the comprehension. The paper enumerates functions indispensable for the comprehension including setting the 'loop for representation and examination', aiding the representation to examination loop, aiding roles by others, and realizing interactions through a hypothetical world. Also enumerated as fundamental techniques to structure such interface are information structuring techniques, groupware techniques, and virtual reality techniques. 19 refs., 10 figs.

  4. KNOWBOT: a self-organizing interface for nuclear data bases

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Heger, A.S.; Koen, B.V.

    1988-01-01

    This paper describes the development of a practical intelligent associate, KNOWBOT, designed to act as a surrogate for engineers and scientists in accessing nuclear power industry data bases. The nuclear power industry has developed several safety and reliability data bases to facilitate the exchange of significant safety-related data for enhancement of its performance. The nuclear plant reliability data system and the licensee event reports are instances of such data bases. The creation of these data bases has, nevertheless, been paradoxical. They have provided rapid access to the needed data. Yet they have, at the same time, created their own impediments. Two of these problems that are addressed by the design of KNOWBOT are the interface and dimensionality. The interface problem falls in the broader category of man/machine interaction, which deals with the problems involved with this symbiosis. Dimensionality deals with the rapidly increasing sizes of the data bases and their ability to process queries in a timely fashion. Numerous programs have been developed to address the interface problem, but most have proven inadequate in real-time applications. The dimensionality problem has been approached through the development of faster processors and query optimizers. As these data bases continue to expand, the present solutions are reaching their performance limits, and a new approach such as that offered by KNOWBOT is needed

  5. Pen-based Interfaces for Engineering and Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stahovich, Thomas F.

    Sketches are an important problem-solving tool in many fields. This is particularly true of engineering design, where sketches facilitate creativity by providing an efficient medium for expressing ideas. However, despite the importance of sketches in engineering practice, current engineering software still relies on traditional mouse and keyboard interfaces, with little or no capabilities to handle free-form sketch input. With recent advances in machine-interpretation techniques, it is now becoming possible to create practical interpretation-based interfaces for such software. In this chapter, we report on our efforts to create interpretation techniques to enable pen-based engineering applications. We describe work on two fundamental sketch understanding problems. The first is sketch parsing, the task of clustering pen strokes or geometric primitives into individual symbols. The second is symbol recognition, the task of classifying symbols once they have been located by a parser. We have used the techniques that we have developed to construct several pen-based engineering analysis tools. These are used here as examples to illustrate our methods. We have also begun to use our techniques to create pen-based tutoring systems that scaffold students in solving problems in the same way they would ordinarily solve them with paper and pencil. The chapter concludes with a brief discussion of these systems.

  6. Instrumentation and Control and Human Machine Interface Science and Technology Roadmap in Support of Advanced Reactors and Fuel Programs in the U.S

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Miller, Don W.; Arndt, Steven A.; Dudenhoeffer, Donald D.; Hallbert, Bruce P.; Bond, Leonard J.; Holcomb, David E.; Wood, Richard T.; Naser, Joseph A.; O'Hara, John M.; Quinn, Edward L.

    2008-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the current status of the Instrumentation, Control and Human Machine Interface (ICHMI) Science and Technology Roadmap (Reference xi) that was developed to address the major challenges in this technical area for the Gen IV and other U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) initiatives that support future deployments of nuclear energy systems. Reliable, capable ICHMI systems will be necessary for the advanced nuclear plants to be economically competitive. ICHMI enables measurement, control, protection, monitoring, and maintenance for processes and components. Through improvements in the technologies and demonstration of their use to facilitate licensing, ICHMI can contribute to the reduction of plant operations and maintenance costs while helping to ensure high plant availability. The impact of ICHMI can be achieved through effective use of the technologies to improve operational efficiency and optimize use of human resources. However, current licensing experience with digital I and C systems has provided lessons learned concerning the difficulties that can be encountered when introducing advanced technologies with expanded capabilities. Thus, in the development of advanced nuclear power designs, it will be important to address both the technical foundations of ICHMI systems and their licensing considerations. The ICHMI roadmap will identify the necessary research, development and demonstration activities that are essential to facilitate necessary technology advancement and resolve outstanding issues

  7. An ecological interface design for BWR nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Monta, K.; Itoh, J.

    1992-01-01

    An ecological interface design was applied to realize the support function for the operator's direct perception and analytical reasoning in the development of an intelligent man-machine system for BWR nuclear power plants. The abstraction-aggregation functional hierarchy representation of the work domain is a base of the ecological interface design. Another base is the concept of the level of cognitive control. The former was mapped into the interface to externalize the operator's normative mental model of the plants, which will reduce his/her cognitive work load and support knowledge-based problem solving. In addition, the same framework can be used for the analytical evaluation of man-machine interfaces. The information content and structure of a prototype interface were evaluated. This approach seems promising from these experiences. (author)

  8. Human factors engineering measures taken by nuclear power plant owners/operators for optimisation of the man-machine interface

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eisgruber, H.

    1996-01-01

    Both operating results and human factors studies show that man is able to meet the requirements in this working environment. Hence the degree of human reliability required by the design basis of nuclear power plants is ensured. This means: - Nuclear technology for electricity generation is justifiable from the human factors point of view. - The chief opponent is not right in saying that man is not able to cope with the risks and challenges brought about by nuclear technology applications. The human factors concept for optimisation or configuration of the man-machine systems represents an additional endeavor on the part of nuclear power plant operators within the framework of their responsibilities. Human factors analyses meet with good response by the personnel, as analysis results and clarification of causes of accident scenarios contribute to relieve the personnel (exoneration) and find ways for remedial action. (orig./DG) [de

  9. Characterizing water-metal interfaces and machine learning potential energy surfaces

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ryczko, Kevin

    In this thesis, we first discuss the fundamentals of ab initio electronic structure theory and density functional theory (DFT). We also discuss statistics related to computing thermodynamic averages of molecular dynamics (MD). We then use this theory to analyze and compare the structural, dynamical, and electronic properties of liquid water next to prototypical metals including platinum, graphite, and graphene. Our results are built on Born-Oppenheimer molecular dynamics (BOMD) generated using density functional theory (DFT) which explicitly include van der Waals (vdW) interactions within a first principles approach. All calculations reported use large simulation cells, allowing for an accurate treatment of the water-electrode interfaces. We have included vdW interactions through the use of the optB86b-vdW exchange correlation functional. Comparisons with the Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof (PBE) exchange correlation functional are also shown. We find an initial peak, due to chemisorption, in the density profile of the liquid water-Pt interface not seen in the liquid water-graphite interface, liquid watergraphene interface, nor interfaces studied previously. To further investigate this chemisorption peak, we also report differences in the electronic structure of single water molecules on both Pt and graphite surfaces. We find that a covalent bond forms between the single water molecule and the platinum surface, but not between the single water molecule and the graphite surface. We also discuss the effects that defects and dopants in the graphite and graphene surfaces have on the structure and dynamics of liquid water. Lastly, we introduce artificial neural networks (ANNs), and demonstrate how they can be used to machine learn electronic structure calculations. As a proof of principle, we show the success of an ANN potential energy surfaces for a dimer molecule with a Lennard-Jones potential.

  10. Quadcopter control in three-dimensional space using a noninvasive motor imagery based brain-computer interface

    Science.gov (United States)

    LaFleur, Karl; Cassady, Kaitlin; Doud, Alexander; Shades, Kaleb; Rogin, Eitan; He, Bin

    2013-01-01

    Objective At the balanced intersection of human and machine adaptation is found the optimally functioning brain-computer interface (BCI). In this study, we report a novel experiment of BCI controlling a robotic quadcopter in three-dimensional physical space using noninvasive scalp EEG in human subjects. We then quantify the performance of this system using metrics suitable for asynchronous BCI. Lastly, we examine the impact that operation of a real world device has on subjects’ control with comparison to a two-dimensional virtual cursor task. Approach Five human subjects were trained to modulate their sensorimotor rhythms to control an AR Drone navigating a three-dimensional physical space. Visual feedback was provided via a forward facing camera on the hull of the drone. Individual subjects were able to accurately acquire up to 90.5% of all valid targets presented while travelling at an average straight-line speed of 0.69 m/s. Significance Freely exploring and interacting with the world around us is a crucial element of autonomy that is lost in the context of neurodegenerative disease. Brain-computer interfaces are systems that aim to restore or enhance a user’s ability to interact with the environment via a computer and through the use of only thought. We demonstrate for the first time the ability to control a flying robot in the three-dimensional physical space using noninvasive scalp recorded EEG in humans. Our work indicates the potential of noninvasive EEG based BCI systems to accomplish complex control in three-dimensional physical space. The present study may serve as a framework for the investigation of multidimensional non-invasive brain-computer interface control in a physical environment using telepresence robotics. PMID:23735712

  11. Web-based eTutor for learningn electrical circuit analysis

    OpenAIRE

    Debono, Jason; Muscat, Adrian; Porter, Chris; Connections

    2018-01-01

    This paper discusses a web-based eTutor for learning electrical circuit analysis. The eTutor system components, mainly the user-interface and the assessment model, are described. The system architecture developed provides a framework to support interactive sessions between the human and the machine for the case when the human is a student and the machine a tutor and also for the case when the roles of the human and the machine are swapped. To motivate the usefulness of the data...

  12. A Kinect-Based Gesture Recognition Approach for a Natural Human Robot Interface

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Grazia Cicirelli

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, we present a gesture recognition system for the development of a human-robot interaction (HRI interface. Kinect cameras and the OpenNI framework are used to obtain real-time tracking of a human skeleton. Ten different gestures, performed by different persons, are defined. Quaternions of joint angles are first used as robust and significant features. Next, neural network (NN classifiers are trained to recognize the different gestures. This work deals with different challenging tasks, such as the real-time implementation of a gesture recognition system and the temporal resolution of gestures. The HRI interface developed in this work includes three Kinect cameras placed at different locations in an indoor environment and an autonomous mobile robot that can be remotely controlled by one operator standing in front of one of the Kinects. Moreover, the system is supplied with a people re-identification module which guarantees that only one person at a time has control of the robot. The system's performance is first validated offline, and then online experiments are carried out, proving the real-time operation of the system as required by a HRI interface.

  13. Face Recognition in Humans and Machines

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Toole, Alice; Tistarelli, Massimo

    The study of human face recognition by psychologists and neuroscientists has run parallel to the development of automatic face recognition technologies by computer scientists and engineers. In both cases, there are analogous steps of data acquisition, image processing, and the formation of representations that can support the complex and diverse tasks we accomplish with faces. These processes can be understood and compared in the context of their neural and computational implementations. In this chapter, we present the essential elements of face recognition by humans and machines, taking a perspective that spans psychological, neural, and computational approaches. From the human side, we overview the methods and techniques used in the neurobiology of face recognition, the underlying neural architecture of the system, the role of visual attention, and the nature of the representations that emerges. From the computational side, we discuss face recognition technologies and the strategies they use to overcome challenges to robust operation over viewing parameters. Finally, we conclude the chapter with a look at some recent studies that compare human and machine performances at face recognition.

  14. Quantum neural network based machine translator for Hindi to English.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Narayan, Ravi; Singh, V P; Chakraverty, S

    2014-01-01

    This paper presents the machine learning based machine translation system for Hindi to English, which learns the semantically correct corpus. The quantum neural based pattern recognizer is used to recognize and learn the pattern of corpus, using the information of part of speech of individual word in the corpus, like a human. The system performs the machine translation using its knowledge gained during the learning by inputting the pair of sentences of Devnagri-Hindi and English. To analyze the effectiveness of the proposed approach, 2600 sentences have been evaluated during simulation and evaluation. The accuracy achieved on BLEU score is 0.7502, on NIST score is 6.5773, on ROUGE-L score is 0.9233, and on METEOR score is 0.5456, which is significantly higher in comparison with Google Translation and Bing Translation for Hindi to English Machine Translation.

  15. Decoder calibration with ultra small current sample set for intracortical brain-machine interface

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Peng; Ma, Xuan; Chen, Luyao; Zhou, Jin; Wang, Changyong; Li, Wei; He, Jiping

    2018-04-01

    Objective. Intracortical brain-machine interfaces (iBMIs) aim to restore efficient communication and movement ability for paralyzed patients. However, frequent recalibration is required for consistency and reliability, and every recalibration will require relatively large most current sample set. The aim in this study is to develop an effective decoder calibration method that can achieve good performance while minimizing recalibration time. Approach. Two rhesus macaques implanted with intracortical microelectrode arrays were trained separately on movement and sensory paradigm. Neural signals were recorded to decode reaching positions or grasping postures. A novel principal component analysis-based domain adaptation (PDA) method was proposed to recalibrate the decoder with only ultra small current sample set by taking advantage of large historical data, and the decoding performance was compared with other three calibration methods for evaluation. Main results. The PDA method closed the gap between historical and current data effectively, and made it possible to take advantage of large historical data for decoder recalibration in current data decoding. Using only ultra small current sample set (five trials of each category), the decoder calibrated using the PDA method could achieve much better and more robust performance in all sessions than using other three calibration methods in both monkeys. Significance. (1) By this study, transfer learning theory was brought into iBMIs decoder calibration for the first time. (2) Different from most transfer learning studies, the target data in this study were ultra small sample set and were transferred to the source data. (3) By taking advantage of historical data, the PDA method was demonstrated to be effective in reducing recalibration time for both movement paradigm and sensory paradigm, indicating a viable generalization. By reducing the demand for large current training data, this new method may facilitate the application

  16. Human-system interface evaluation system for advanced control room based on SQL database

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang Yan; Zhou Zhiwei; Bian Zhiqiang; Xu Li

    2005-01-01

    User Interface (UI) plays an important role in the advanced control room (ACR) of a nuclear power plant (NPP). In this paper, we present a rule-based ACR Human-system Interface Evaluation System (AHSIES) using expert system technology, which can evaluate UI design shortcomings, propose modification suggestions, and help designer improve the ACR interface design. AHSIES consists of four programs: the UI Editor, the Operation Procedure Manager, the Operation Simulator and the UI Design Evaluator. These four parts respectively function for: editing a set of UI icons employed as the operation screens of an advanced control room; for editing operation procedures aiming at any specified operation with simple language; for simulate the operation sequences dynamically and recording the relevant information for design performance of the UIs; and for evaluating both static and dynamic performance of the ACR UI design according to well established design guidelines and criteria with the information gained from the first three programs. Microsoft SQL Server 2000 DBMS is adopted to manage the voluminous data and its complex relationships. The preliminary test application of AHSIES for a simplified ACR UI design of a PWR NPP has shown that the expert evaluation system is capable of achieving satisfactory evaluation results. (authors)

  17. Comparing sequencing assays and human-machine analyses in actionable genomics for glioblastoma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wrzeszczynski, Kazimierz O; Frank, Mayu O; Koyama, Takahiko; Rhrissorrakrai, Kahn; Robine, Nicolas; Utro, Filippo; Emde, Anne-Katrin; Chen, Bo-Juen; Arora, Kanika; Shah, Minita; Vacic, Vladimir; Norel, Raquel; Bilal, Erhan; Bergmann, Ewa A; Moore Vogel, Julia L; Bruce, Jeffrey N; Lassman, Andrew B; Canoll, Peter; Grommes, Christian; Harvey, Steve; Parida, Laxmi; Michelini, Vanessa V; Zody, Michael C; Jobanputra, Vaidehi; Royyuru, Ajay K; Darnell, Robert B

    2017-08-01

    To analyze a glioblastoma tumor specimen with 3 different platforms and compare potentially actionable calls from each. Tumor DNA was analyzed by a commercial targeted panel. In addition, tumor-normal DNA was analyzed by whole-genome sequencing (WGS) and tumor RNA was analyzed by RNA sequencing (RNA-seq). The WGS and RNA-seq data were analyzed by a team of bioinformaticians and cancer oncologists, and separately by IBM Watson Genomic Analytics (WGA), an automated system for prioritizing somatic variants and identifying drugs. More variants were identified by WGS/RNA analysis than by targeted panels. WGA completed a comparable analysis in a fraction of the time required by the human analysts. The development of an effective human-machine interface in the analysis of deep cancer genomic datasets may provide potentially clinically actionable calls for individual patients in a more timely and efficient manner than currently possible. NCT02725684.

  18. Electric field prediction for a human body-electric machine system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ioannides, Maria G; Papadopoulos, Peter J; Dimitropoulou, Eugenia

    2004-01-01

    A system consisting of an electric machine and a human body is studied and the resulting electric field is predicted. A 3-phase induction machine operating at full load is modeled considering its geometry, windings, and materials. A human model is also constructed approximating its geometry and the electric properties of tissues. Using the finite element technique the electric field distribution in the human body is determined for a distance of 1 and 5 m from the machine and its effects are studied. Particularly, electric field potential variations are determined at specific points inside the human body and for these points the electric field intensity is computed and compared to the limit values for exposure according to international standards.

  19. Relating dynamic brain states to dynamic machine states: Human and machine solutions to the speech recognition problem.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cai Wingfield

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available There is widespread interest in the relationship between the neurobiological systems supporting human cognition and emerging computational systems capable of emulating these capacities. Human speech comprehension, poorly understood as a neurobiological process, is an important case in point. Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR systems with near-human levels of performance are now available, which provide a computationally explicit solution for the recognition of words in continuous speech. This research aims to bridge the gap between speech recognition processes in humans and machines, using novel multivariate techniques to compare incremental 'machine states', generated as the ASR analysis progresses over time, to the incremental 'brain states', measured using combined electro- and magneto-encephalography (EMEG, generated as the same inputs are heard by human listeners. This direct comparison of dynamic human and machine internal states, as they respond to the same incrementally delivered sensory input, revealed a significant correspondence between neural response patterns in human superior temporal cortex and the structural properties of ASR-derived phonetic models. Spatially coherent patches in human temporal cortex responded selectively to individual phonetic features defined on the basis of machine-extracted regularities in the speech to lexicon mapping process. These results demonstrate the feasibility of relating human and ASR solutions to the problem of speech recognition, and suggest the potential for further studies relating complex neural computations in human speech comprehension to the rapidly evolving ASR systems that address the same problem domain.

  20. Man/machine interface for a nuclear cask remote handling control station: system design requirements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Clarke, M.M.; Kreifeldt, J.G.; Draper, J.V.

    1984-01-01

    Design requirements are presented for a control station of a proposed semi-automated facility for remote handling of nuclear waste casks. Functional and operational man/machine interface: controls, displays, software format, station architecture, and work environment. In addition, some input is given to the design of remote sensing systems in the cask handling areas. 18 references, 9 figures, 12 tables

  1. Toward best practice in Human Machine Interface design for older drivers: A review of current design guidelines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Young, K L; Koppel, S; Charlton, J L

    2017-09-01

    Older adults are the fastest growing segment of the driving population. While there is a strong emphasis for older people to maintain their mobility, the safety of older drivers is a serious community concern. Frailty and declines in a range of age-related sensory, cognitive, and physical impairments can place older drivers at an increased risk of crash-related injuries and death. A number of studies have indicated that in-vehicle technologies such as Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and In-Vehicle Information Systems (IVIS) may provide assistance to older drivers. However, these technologies will only benefit older drivers if their design is congruent with the complex needs and diverse abilities of this driving cohort. The design of ADAS and IVIS is largely informed by automotive Human Machine Interface (HMI) guidelines. However, it is unclear to what extent the declining sensory, cognitive and physical capabilities of older drivers are addressed in the current guidelines. This paper provides a review of key current design guidelines for IVIS and ADAS with respect to the extent they address age-related changes in functional capacities. The review revealed that most of the HMI guidelines do not address design issues related to older driver impairments. In fact, in many guidelines driver age and sensory cognitive and physical impairments are not mentioned at all and where reference is made, it is typically very broad. Prescriptive advice on how to actually design a system so that it addresses the needs and limitations of older drivers is not provided. In order for older drivers to reap the full benefits that in-vehicle technology can afford, it is critical that further work establish how older driver limitations and capabilities can be supported by the system design process, including their inclusion into HMI design guidelines. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Advanced Electrical Machines and Machine-Based Systems for Electric and Hybrid Vehicles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ming Cheng

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available The paper presents a number of advanced solutions on electric machines and machine-based systems for the powertrain of electric vehicles (EVs. Two types of systems are considered, namely the drive systems designated to the EV propulsion and the power split devices utilized in the popular series-parallel hybrid electric vehicle architecture. After reviewing the main requirements for the electric drive systems, the paper illustrates advanced electric machine topologies, including a stator permanent magnet (stator-PM motor, a hybrid-excitation motor, a flux memory motor and a redundant motor structure. Then, it illustrates advanced electric drive systems, such as the magnetic-geared in-wheel drive and the integrated starter generator (ISG. Finally, three machine-based implementations of the power split devices are expounded, built up around the dual-rotor PM machine, the dual-stator PM brushless machine and the magnetic-geared dual-rotor machine. As a conclusion, the development trends in the field of electric machines and machine-based systems for EVs are summarized.

  3. Detecting Mental States by Machine Learning Techniques: The Berlin Brain-Computer Interface

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blankertz, Benjamin; Tangermann, Michael; Vidaurre, Carmen; Dickhaus, Thorsten; Sannelli, Claudia; Popescu, Florin; Fazli, Siamac; Danóczy, Márton; Curio, Gabriel; Müller, Klaus-Robert

    The Berlin Brain-Computer Interface Brain-Computer Interface (BBCI) uses a machine learning approach to extract user-specific patterns from high-dimensional EEG-features optimized for revealing the user's mental state. Classical BCI applications are brain actuated tools for patients such as prostheses (see Section 4.1) or mental text entry systems ([1] and see [2-5] for an overview on BCI). In these applications, the BBCI uses natural motor skills of the users and specifically tailored pattern recognition algorithms for detecting the user's intent. But beyond rehabilitation, there is a wide range of possible applications in which BCI technology is used to monitor other mental states, often even covert ones (see also [6] in the fMRI realm). While this field is still largely unexplored, two examples from our studies are exemplified in Sections 4.3 and 4.4.

  4. Designing Closed-Loop Brain-Machine Interfaces Using Model Predictive Control

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gautam Kumar

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Brain-machine interfaces (BMIs are broadly defined as systems that establish direct communications between living brain tissue and external devices, such as artificial arms. By sensing and interpreting neuronal activities to actuate an external device, BMI-based neuroprostheses hold great promise in rehabilitating motor disabled subjects, such as amputees. In this paper, we develop a control-theoretic analysis of a BMI-based neuroprosthetic system for voluntary single joint reaching task in the absence of visual feedback. Using synthetic data obtained through the simulation of an experimentally validated psycho-physiological cortical circuit model, both the Wiener filter and the Kalman filter based linear decoders are developed. We analyze the performance of both decoders in the presence and in the absence of natural proprioceptive feedback information. By performing simulations, we show that the performance of both decoders degrades significantly in the absence of the natural proprioception. To recover the performance of these decoders, we propose two problems, namely tracking the desired position trajectory and tracking the firing rate trajectory of neurons which encode the proprioception, in the model predictive control framework to design optimal artificial sensory feedback. Our results indicate that while the position trajectory based design can only recover the position and velocity trajectories, the firing rate trajectory based design can recover the performance of the motor task along with the recovery of firing rates in other cortical regions. Finally, we extend our design by incorporating a network of spiking neurons and designing artificial sensory feedback in the form of a charged balanced biphasic stimulating current.

  5. Understanding and modelling man-machine interaction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cacciabue, P.C.

    1996-01-01

    This paper gives an overview of the current state of the art in man-machine system interaction studies, focusing on the problems derived from highly automated working environments and the role of humans in the control loop. In particular, it is argued that there is a need for sound approaches to the design and analysis of man-machine interaction (MMI), which stem from the contribution of three expertises in interfacing domains, namely engineering, computer science and psychology: engineering for understanding and modelling plants and their material and energy conservation principles; psychology for understanding and modelling humans an their cognitive behaviours; computer science for converting models in sound simulations running in appropriate computer architectures. (orig.)

  6. Understanding and modelling Man-Machine Interaction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cacciabue, P.C.

    1991-01-01

    This paper gives an overview of the current state of the art in man machine systems interaction studies, focusing on the problems derived from highly automated working environments and the role of humans in the control loop. In particular, it is argued that there is a need for sound approaches to design and analysis of Man-Machine Interaction (MMI), which stem from the contribution of three expertises in interfacing domains, namely engineering, computer science and psychology: engineering for understanding and modelling plants and their material and energy conservation principles; psychology for understanding and modelling humans and their cognitive behaviours; computer science for converting models in sound simulations running in appropriate computer architectures. (author)

  7. Selective visual attention to drive cognitive brain machine interfaces: from concepts to neurofeedback and rehabilitation applications

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elaine eAstrand

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available Brain Machine Interfaces (BMI using motor cortical activity to drive an external effector like a screen cursor or a robotic arm have seen enormous success and proven their great rehabilitation potential. An emerging parallel effort is now directed to BMIs controlled by endogenous cognitive activity, also called cognitive BMIs. While more challenging, this approach opens new dimensions to the rehabilitation of cognitive disorders. In the present work, we focus on BMIs driven by visuospatial attention signals and we provide a critical review of these studies in the light of the accumulated knowledge about the psychophysics, anatomy and neurophysiology of visual spatial attention. Importantly, we provide a unique comparative overview of the several studies, ranging from noninvasive to invasive human and non-human primates studies, that decode attention-related information from ongoing neuronal activity. We discuss these studies in the light of the challenges attention-driven cognitive BMIs have to face. In a second part of the review, we discuss past and current attention-based neurofeedback studies, describing both the covert effects of neurofeedback onto neuronal activity and its overt behavioral effects. Importantly, we compare neurofeedback studies based on the amplitude of cortical activity to studies based on the enhancement of cortical information content. Last, we discuss several lines of future research and applications for attention-driven cognitive BCIs, including the rehabilitation of cognitive deficits, restored communication in locked-in patients, and open-field applications for enhanced cognition in normal subjects. The core motivation of this work is the key idea that the improvement of current cognitive BMIs for therapeutic and open field applications needs to be grounded in a proper interdisciplinary understanding of the physiology of the cognitive function of interest, be it spatial attention, working memory or any other

  8. Instrumentation and control and human machine interface science and technology road-map in support of advanced reactors and fuel programs in the U.S

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Miller, D. W.; Arndt, S. A.; Bond, L. J.; Dudenhoeffer, D.; Hallbert, B.; Holcomb, D. E.; Wood, R. T.; Naser, J. A.; O'Hara, J.; Quinn, E. L.

    2006-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the current status of the Instrumentation, Control and Human Machine Interface (ICHMI) Science and Technology road-map being developed to address the major challenges in this technical area for the Gen IV and other U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE) initiatives that support future deployments of nuclear energy systems. Reliable, capable ICHMI systems will be necessary for the advanced nuclear plants to be economically competitive. ICHMI enables measurement, control, protection, monitoring, and maintenance for processes and components. Through improvements in the technologies and demonstration of their use to facilitate licensing, ICHMI can contribute to the reduction of plant operations and maintenance costs while helping to ensure high plant availability. The impact of ICHMI can be achieved through effective use of the technologies to improve operational efficiency and optimize use of human resources. However, current licensing experience with digital I and C systems has provided lessons learned concerning the difficulties that can be encountered when introducing advanced technologies with expanded capabilities. Thus, in the development of advanced nuclear power designs, it will be important to address both the technical foundations of ICHMI systems as well as their licensing considerations. The ICHMI road-map will identify the necessary research, development and demonstration activities that are essential to facilitate necessary technology advancement and resolve outstanding issues. (authors)

  9. Instrumentation and control and human machine interface science and technology Road-map in support of advanced reactors and fuel programs in the U.S

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Miller, D. W.; Arndt, S. A.; Dudenhoeffer, D.; Hallbert, B.; Bond, L. J.; Holcomb, D. E.; Wood, R. T.; Naser, J. A.; O'Hara, J.; Quinn, E. L.

    2008-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the current status of the Instrumentation, Control and Human Machine Interface (ICHMI) Science and Technology Road-map (Reference xi) that was developed to address the major challenges in this technical area for the Gen IV and other U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) initiatives that support future deployments of nuclear energy systems. Reliable, capable ICHMI systems will be necessary for the advanced nuclear plants to be economically competitive. ICHMI enables measurement, control, protection, monitoring, and maintenance for processes and components. Through improvements in the technologies and demonstration of their use to facilitate licensing, ICHMI can contribute to the reduction of plant operations and maintenance costs while helping to ensure high plant availability. The impact of ICHMI can be achieved through effective use of the technologies to improve operational efficiency and optimize use of human resources. However, current licensing experience with digital I and C systems has provided lessons learned concerning the difficulties that can be encountered when introducing advanced technologies with expanded capabilities. Thus, in the development of advanced nuclear power designs, it will be important to address both the technical foundations of ICHMI systems and their licensing considerations. The ICHMI Road-map will identify the necessary research, development and demonstration activities that are essential to facilitate necessary technology advancement and resolve outstanding issues. (authors)

  10. COSY Control Status. First results with rapid prototyped man-machine interface for accelerator control

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hacker, U [Forschungszentrum Juelich, Postfach 1913, 52425 Juelich (Germany); Haberbosch, C [Forschungszentrum Juelich, Postfach 1913, 52425 Juelich (Germany); Henn, K [Forschungszentrum Juelich, Postfach 1913, 52425 Juelich (Germany); Weinert, A [Forschungszentrum Juelich, Postfach 1913, 52425 Juelich (Germany)

    1994-12-15

    The experience gained with the COSY Control System after a six month commissioning period followed by a six month production period will be presented. The COSY Control System runs approximately 300 VME and VXI target systems using a total of about 1000 CPUs, the systems are driven by the diskless operating environment RT/OS, hosted by eight workcells. Application software is implemented using Object-Orientated programming paradigms. All accelerator components become interface functions as instances of an abstract device model class. Methods defined here present an abstract picture of the accelerator giving immediate access to device states and parameters. Operator interaction is defined by building views and controllers for the model. Higher level functions, such as defining an acceleration cycle, are easily developed and modified with the accelerator connected on-line to the model. In the first year of COSY operation the object based approach for a control system, together with a rapid prototyped man-machine interface has brought to light the potential of new functions such as on-line, real time programming on a running system yielding high programming performance. The advantages of this approach have not been, until now, fully appreciated. ((orig.))

  11. An implantable integrated low-power amplifier-microelectrode array for Brain-Machine Interfaces.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patrick, Erin; Sankar, Viswanath; Rowe, William; Sanchez, Justin C; Nishida, Toshikazu

    2010-01-01

    One of the important challenges in designing Brain-Machine Interfaces (BMI) is to build implantable systems that have the ability to reliably process the activity of large ensembles of cortical neurons. In this paper, we report the design, fabrication, and testing of a polyimide-based microelectrode array integrated with a low-power amplifier as part of the Florida Wireless Integrated Recording Electrode (FWIRE) project at the University of Florida developing a fully implantable neural recording system for BMI applications. The electrode array was fabricated using planar micromachining MEMS processes and hybrid packaged with the amplifier die using a flip-chip bonding technique. The system was tested both on bench and in-vivo. Acute and chronic neural recordings were obtained from a rodent for a period of 42 days. The electrode-amplifier performance was analyzed over the chronic recording period with the observation of a noise floor of 4.5 microVrms, and an average signal-to-noise ratio of 3.8.

  12. HUMAN DECISIONS AND MACHINE PREDICTIONS.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kleinberg, Jon; Lakkaraju, Himabindu; Leskovec, Jure; Ludwig, Jens; Mullainathan, Sendhil

    2018-02-01

    Can machine learning improve human decision making? Bail decisions provide a good test case. Millions of times each year, judges make jail-or-release decisions that hinge on a prediction of what a defendant would do if released. The concreteness of the prediction task combined with the volume of data available makes this a promising machine-learning application. Yet comparing the algorithm to judges proves complicated. First, the available data are generated by prior judge decisions. We only observe crime outcomes for released defendants, not for those judges detained. This makes it hard to evaluate counterfactual decision rules based on algorithmic predictions. Second, judges may have a broader set of preferences than the variable the algorithm predicts; for instance, judges may care specifically about violent crimes or about racial inequities. We deal with these problems using different econometric strategies, such as quasi-random assignment of cases to judges. Even accounting for these concerns, our results suggest potentially large welfare gains: one policy simulation shows crime reductions up to 24.7% with no change in jailing rates, or jailing rate reductions up to 41.9% with no increase in crime rates. Moreover, all categories of crime, including violent crimes, show reductions; and these gains can be achieved while simultaneously reducing racial disparities. These results suggest that while machine learning can be valuable, realizing this value requires integrating these tools into an economic framework: being clear about the link between predictions and decisions; specifying the scope of payoff functions; and constructing unbiased decision counterfactuals. JEL Codes: C10 (Econometric and statistical methods and methodology), C55 (Large datasets: Modeling and analysis), K40 (Legal procedure, the legal system, and illegal behavior).

  13. Model-based machine learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bishop, Christopher M

    2013-02-13

    Several decades of research in the field of machine learning have resulted in a multitude of different algorithms for solving a broad range of problems. To tackle a new application, a researcher typically tries to map their problem onto one of these existing methods, often influenced by their familiarity with specific algorithms and by the availability of corresponding software implementations. In this study, we describe an alternative methodology for applying machine learning, in which a bespoke solution is formulated for each new application. The solution is expressed through a compact modelling language, and the corresponding custom machine learning code is then generated automatically. This model-based approach offers several major advantages, including the opportunity to create highly tailored models for specific scenarios, as well as rapid prototyping and comparison of a range of alternative models. Furthermore, newcomers to the field of machine learning do not have to learn about the huge range of traditional methods, but instead can focus their attention on understanding a single modelling environment. In this study, we show how probabilistic graphical models, coupled with efficient inference algorithms, provide a very flexible foundation for model-based machine learning, and we outline a large-scale commercial application of this framework involving tens of millions of users. We also describe the concept of probabilistic programming as a powerful software environment for model-based machine learning, and we discuss a specific probabilistic programming language called Infer.NET, which has been widely used in practical applications.

  14. Visual momentum: an example of cognitive models applied to interface design

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Woods, D.D.

    1982-01-01

    The growth of computer applications has radically changed the nature of the man-machine interface. Through increased automation, the nature of the human's task has shifted from an emphasis on perceptual-motor skills to an emphasis on cognitive activities (e.g., problem solving and decision making). The result is a need to improve the cognitive coupling of person and machine. The goal of this paper is to describe how knowledge from cognitive psychology can be used to provide guidance to display system designers and to solve human performance problems in person-machine systems. The mechanism is to explore one example of a principle of man-machine interaction - visual momentum - that was developed on the basis of a general model of human front-end cognitive processing

  15. Human-Assisted Machine Information Exploitation: a crowdsourced investigation of information-based problem solving

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kase, Sue E.; Vanni, Michelle; Caylor, Justine; Hoye, Jeff

    2017-05-01

    The Human-Assisted Machine Information Exploitation (HAMIE) investigation utilizes large-scale online data collection for developing models of information-based problem solving (IBPS) behavior in a simulated time-critical operational environment. These types of environments are characteristic of intelligence workflow processes conducted during human-geo-political unrest situations when the ability to make the best decision at the right time ensures strategic overmatch. The project takes a systems approach to Human Information Interaction (HII) by harnessing the expertise of crowds to model the interaction of the information consumer and the information required to solve a problem at different levels of system restrictiveness and decisional guidance. The design variables derived from Decision Support Systems (DSS) research represent the experimental conditions in this online single-player against-the-clock game where the player, acting in the role of an intelligence analyst, is tasked with a Commander's Critical Information Requirement (CCIR) in an information overload scenario. The player performs a sequence of three information processing tasks (annotation, relation identification, and link diagram formation) with the assistance of `HAMIE the robot' who offers varying levels of information understanding dependent on question complexity. We provide preliminary results from a pilot study conducted with Amazon Mechanical Turk (AMT) participants on the Volunteer Science scientific research platform.

  16. The mission execution crew assistant : Improving human-machine team resilience for long duration missions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Neerincx, M.A.; Lindenberg, J.; Smets, N.J.J.M.; Bos, A.; Breebaart, L.; Grant, T.; Olmedo-Soler, A.; Brauer, U.; Wolff, M.

    2008-01-01

    Manned long-duration missions to the Moon and Mars set high operational, human factors and technical demands for a distributed support system, which enhances human-machine teams' capabilities to cope autonomously with unexpected, complex and potentially hazardous situations. Based on a situated

  17. Very forward calorimeters readout and machine interface

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    for the instrumentation of the forward region of the future detector at the international linear collider. ... The LumiCal can be used for the measurement of integrated luminosity based on Bhabha scattering process with a relative precision of 10−4. The BeamCal can be used to ... the machine control system. The purpose of ...

  18. A Wearable Channel Selection-Based Brain-Computer Interface for Motor Imagery Detection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lo, Chi-Chun; Chien, Tsung-Yi; Chen, Yu-Chun; Tsai, Shang-Ho; Fang, Wai-Chi; Lin, Bor-Shyh

    2016-02-06

    Motor imagery-based brain-computer interface (BCI) is a communication interface between an external machine and the brain. Many kinds of spatial filters are used in BCIs to enhance the electroencephalography (EEG) features related to motor imagery. The approach of channel selection, developed to reserve meaningful EEG channels, is also an important technique for the development of BCIs. However, current BCI systems require a conventional EEG machine and EEG electrodes with conductive gel to acquire multi-channel EEG signals and then transmit these EEG signals to the back-end computer to perform the approach of channel selection. This reduces the convenience of use in daily life and increases the limitations of BCI applications. In order to improve the above issues, a novel wearable channel selection-based brain-computer interface is proposed. Here, retractable comb-shaped active dry electrodes are designed to measure the EEG signals on a hairy site, without conductive gel. By the design of analog CAR spatial filters and the firmware of EEG acquisition module, the function of spatial filters could be performed without any calculation, and channel selection could be performed in the front-end device to improve the practicability of detecting motor imagery in the wearable EEG device directly or in commercial mobile phones or tablets, which may have relatively low system specifications. Finally, the performance of the proposed BCI is investigated, and the experimental results show that the proposed system is a good wearable BCI system prototype.

  19. Nuclear power plant human computer interface design incorporating console simulation, operations personnel, and formal evaluation techniques

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chavez, C.; Edwards, R.M.; Goldberg, J.H.

    1993-01-01

    New CRT-based information displays which enhance the human machine interface are playing a very important role and are being increasingly used in control rooms since they present a higher degree of flexibility compared to conventional hardwired instrumentation. To prototype a new console configuration and information display system at the Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II), an iterative process of console simulation and evaluation involving operations personnel is being pursued. Entire panels including selector switches and information displays are simulated and driven by plant dynamical simulations with realistic responses that reproduce the actual cognitive and physical environment. Careful analysis and formal evaluation of operator interaction while using the simulated console will be conducted to determine underlying principles for effective control console design for this particular group of operation personnel. Additional iterations of design, simulation, and evaluation will then be conducted as necessary

  20. Brain-muscle-computer interface: mobile-phone prototype development and testing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vernon, Scott; Joshi, Sanjay S

    2011-07-01

    We report prototype development and testing of a new mobile-phone-based brain-muscle-computer interface for severely paralyzed persons, based on previous results from our group showing that humans may actively create specified power levels in two separate frequency bands of a single surface electromyography (sEMG) signal. EMG activity on the surface of a single face muscle site (auricularis superior) is recorded with a standard electrode. This analog electrical signal is imported into an Android-based mobile phone and digitized via an internal A/D converter. The digital signal is split, and then simultaneously filtered with two band-pass filters to extract total power within two separate frequency bands. The user-modulated power in each frequency band serves as two separate control channels for machine control. After signal processing, the Android phone sends commands to external devices via a Bluetooth interface. Users are trained to use the device via visually based operant conditioning, with simple cursor-to-target activities on the phone screen. The mobile-phone prototype interface is formally evaluated on a single advanced Spinal Muscle Atrophy subject, who has successfully used the interface in his home in evaluation trials and for remote control of a television. Development of this new device will not only guide future interface design for community use, but will also serve as an information technology bridge for in situ data collection to quantify human sEMG manipulation abilities for a relevant population.

  1. SAD-Based Stereo Vision Machine on a System-on-Programmable-Chip (SoPC)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Xiang; Chen, Zhangwei

    2013-01-01

    This paper, proposes a novel solution for a stereo vision machine based on the System-on-Programmable-Chip (SoPC) architecture. The SOPC technology provides great convenience for accessing many hardware devices such as DDRII, SSRAM, Flash, etc., by IP reuse. The system hardware is implemented in a single FPGA chip involving a 32-bit Nios II microprocessor, which is a configurable soft IP core in charge of managing the image buffer and users' configuration data. The Sum of Absolute Differences (SAD) algorithm is used for dense disparity map computation. The circuits of the algorithmic module are modeled by the Matlab-based DSP Builder. With a set of configuration interfaces, the machine can process many different sizes of stereo pair images. The maximum image size is up to 512 K pixels. This machine is designed to focus on real time stereo vision applications. The stereo vision machine offers good performance and high efficiency in real time. Considering a hardware FPGA clock of 90 MHz, 23 frames of 640 × 480 disparity maps can be obtained in one second with 5 × 5 matching window and maximum 64 disparity pixels. PMID:23459385

  2. Low-Cost Implementation of a Named Entity Recognition System for Voice-Activated Human-Appliance Interfaces in a Smart Home

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Geonwoo Park

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available When we develop voice-activated human-appliance interface systems in smart homes, named entity recognition (NER is an essential tool for extracting execution targets from natural language commands. Previous studies on NER systems generally include supervised machine-learning methods that require a substantial amount of human-annotated training corpus. In the smart home environment, categories of named entities should be defined according to voice-activated devices (e.g., food names for refrigerators and song titles for music players. The previous machine-learning methods make it difficult to change categories of named entities because a large amount of the training corpus should be newly constructed by hand. To address this problem, we present a semi-supervised NER system to minimize the time-consuming and labor-intensive task of constructing the training corpus. Our system uses distant supervision methods with two kinds of auto-labeling processes: auto-labeling based on heuristic rules for single-class named entity corpus generation and auto-labeling based on a pre-trained single-class NER model for multi-class named entity corpus generation. Then, our system improves NER accuracy by using a bagging-based active learning method. In our experiments that included a generic domain that featured 11 named entity classes and a context-specific domain about baseball that featured 21 named entity classes, our system demonstrated good performances in both domains, with F1-measures of 0.777 and 0.958, respectively. Since our system was built from a relatively small human-annotated training corpus, we believe it is a viable alternative to current NER systems in smart home environments.

  3. [Re-signification of the human in the context of the "ciborgzation": a look at the human being-machine relationship in intensive care].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vargas, Mara Ambrosina de O; Meyer, Dagmar Estermann

    2005-06-01

    This study discusses the human being-machine relationship in the process called "cyborgzation" of the nurse who works in intensive care, based on post-structuralist Cultural Studies and highlighting Haraway's concept of cyborg. In it, manuals used by nurses in Intensive Care Units have been examined as cultural texts. This cultural analysis tries to decode the various senses of "human" and "machine", with the aim of recognizing processes that turn nurses into cyborgs. The argument is that intensive care nurses fall into a process of "technology embodiment" that turns the body-professional into a hybrid that makes possible to disqualify, at the same time, notions such as machine and body "proper", since it is the hybridization between one and the other that counts there. Like cyborgs, intensive care nurses learn to "be with" the machine, and this connection limits the specificity of their actions. It is suggested that processes of "cyborgzation" such as this are useful for questioning - and to deal with in different ways - the senses of "human" and "humanity" that support a major part of knowledge/action in health.

  4. Toward an autonomous brain machine interface: integrating sensorimotor reward modulation and reinforcement learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marsh, Brandi T; Tarigoppula, Venkata S Aditya; Chen, Chen; Francis, Joseph T

    2015-05-13

    For decades, neurophysiologists have worked on elucidating the function of the cortical sensorimotor control system from the standpoint of kinematics or dynamics. Recently, computational neuroscientists have developed models that can emulate changes seen in the primary motor cortex during learning. However, these simulations rely on the existence of a reward-like signal in the primary sensorimotor cortex. Reward modulation of the primary sensorimotor cortex has yet to be characterized at the level of neural units. Here we demonstrate that single units/multiunits and local field potentials in the primary motor (M1) cortex of nonhuman primates (Macaca radiata) are modulated by reward expectation during reaching movements and that this modulation is present even while subjects passively view cursor motions that are predictive of either reward or nonreward. After establishing this reward modulation, we set out to determine whether we could correctly classify rewarding versus nonrewarding trials, on a moment-to-moment basis. This reward information could then be used in collaboration with reinforcement learning principles toward an autonomous brain-machine interface. The autonomous brain-machine interface would use M1 for both decoding movement intention and extraction of reward expectation information as evaluative feedback, which would then update the decoding algorithm as necessary. In the work presented here, we show that this, in theory, is possible. Copyright © 2015 the authors 0270-6474/15/357374-14$15.00/0.

  5. Investigation of human system interface design in nuclear power plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Feng Yan; Zhang Yunbo; Wang Zhongqiu

    2012-01-01

    The paper introduces the importance of HFE in designing nuclear power plant, and introduces briefly the content and scope of HFE, discusses human system interface design of new built nuclear power plants. This paper also describes human system interface design of foreign nuclear power plant, and describes in detail human system interface design of domestic nuclear power plant. (authors)

  6. Body machine interfaces for neuromotor rehabilitation: a case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pierella, Camilla; Abdollahi, Farnaz; Farshchiansadegh, Ali; Pedersen, Jessica; Chen, David; Mussa-Ivaldi, Ferdinando A; Casadio, Maura

    2014-01-01

    High-level spinal cord injury (SCI) survivors face every day two related problems: recovering motor skills and regaining functional independence. Body machine interfaces (BoMIs) empower people with sever motor disabilities with the ability to control an external device, but they also offer the opportunity to focus concurrently on achieving rehabilitative goals. In this study we developed a portable, and low-cost BoMI that addresses both problems. The BoMI remaps the user's residual upper body mobility to the two coordinates of a cursor on a computer monitor. By controlling the cursor, the user can perform functional tasks, such as entering text and playing games. This framework also allows the mapping between the body and the cursor space to be modified, gradually challenging the user to exercise more impaired movements. With this approach, we were able to change the behavior of our SCI subject, who initially used almost exclusively his less impaired degrees of freedom - on the left side - for controlling the BoMI. At the end of the few practice sessions he had restored symmetry between left and right side of the body, with an increase of mobility and strength of all the degrees of freedom involved in the control of the interface. This is the first proof of concept that our BoMI can be used to control assistive devices and reach specific rehabilitative goals simultaneously.

  7. Applications of human factors engineering in the digital HMI

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhou Bingjian

    2014-01-01

    In order to prevent and minimize human errors in the digital main control room, the principles of human factors engineering must be complied strictly in the design process of digital human-machine interface. This paper briefly describes the basic human factors engineering principles of designing main control room, introduces the main steps to implement the human factors engineering verification and validation of main control room, including HSI task support verification, human factors engineering design verification and integrated system validation. Meanwhile, according to the new digital human-machine interface characteristics, the development models of human error are analyzed. (author)

  8. On the allocation of functions between human and machine

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wirstad, J.

    1979-09-01

    The idea of allocating functions between human and machine was proceduralized early through aids like Fitts' List which describes the relative advantages of men and machines. Although the principle is clear, function allocation has never worked in practice. Some conditions for function allocations are discussed; adequate logic, a common man-machine system language, usable human engineering guides and data and professional habits and attitudes. Trends which will influence ergonomics procedures are described; influence from technology, increasing work environment requirements and user participation requirements. A procedural structure for human engineering or ergonomics in control system design is suggested. This does not include a separate function allocation activity but a number of activities, the result of which will be a systematic function allocation. A case study on ergonomics techniques for systematic function allocation in a control system is described in an appendix to the report. (author)

  9. Delivering key signals to the machine: seeking the electric signal that muscles emanate

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hashim, A Y Bani; Maslan, M N; Izamshah, R; Mohamad, I S

    2014-01-01

    Due to the limitation of electric power generation in the human body, present human-machine interfaces have not been successful because of the nature of standard electronics circuit designs, which do not consider the specifications of signals that resulted from the skin. In general, the outcomes and applications of human-machine interfaces are limited to custom-designed subsystems, such as neuroprosthesis. We seek to model the bio dynamical of sub skin into equivalent mathematical definitions, descriptions, and theorems. Within the human skin, there are networks of nerves that permit the skin to function as a multi dimension transducer. We investigate the nature of structural skin. Apart from multiple networks of nerves, there are other segments within the skin such as minute muscles. We identify the segments that are active when there is an electromyography activity. When the nervous system is firing signals, the muscle is being stimulated. We evaluate the phenomena of biodynamic of the muscles that is concerned with the electromyography activity of the nervous system. In effect, we design a relationship between the human somatosensory and synthetic systems sensory as the union of a complete set of the new domain of the functional system. This classifies electromyogram waveforms linked to intent thought of an operator. The system will become the basis for delivering key signals to machine such that the machine is under operator's intent, hence slavery

  10. A bidirectional brain-machine interface featuring a neuromorphic hardware decoder

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fabio Boi

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Bidirectional brain-machine interfaces (BMIs establish a two-way direct communication link4 between the brain and the external world. A decoder translates recorded neural activity into motor5 commands and an encoder delivers sensory information collected from the environment directly6 to the brain creating a closed-loop system. These two modules are typically integrated in bulky7 external devices. However, the clinical support of patients with severe motor and sensory deficits8 requires compact, low-power, and fully implantable systems that can decode neural signals to9 control external devices. As a first step toward this goal, we developed a modular bidirectional BMI10 setup that uses a compact neuromorphic processor as a decoder. On this chip we implemented11 a network of spiking neurons built using its ultra-low-power mixed-signal analog/digital circuits.12 On-chip on-line spike-timing-dependent plasticity synapse circuits enabled the network to learn13 to decode neural signals recorded from the brain into motor outputs controlling the movements14 of an external device. The modularity of the BMI allowed us to tune the individual components15 of the setup without modifying the whole system. In this paper we present the features of16 this modular BMI, and describe how we configured the network of spiking neuron circuits to17 implement the decoder and to coordinate it with the encoder in an experimental BMI paradigm18 that connects bidirectionally the brain of an anesthetized rat with an external object. We show that19 the chip learned the decoding task correctly, allowing the interfaced brain to control the object’s20 trajectories robustly. Based on our demonstration, we propose that neuromorphic technology is21 mature enough for the development of BMI modules that are sufficiently low-power and compact,22 while being highly computationally powerful and adaptive.

  11. A Bidirectional Brain-Machine Interface Featuring a Neuromorphic Hardware Decoder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boi, Fabio; Moraitis, Timoleon; De Feo, Vito; Diotalevi, Francesco; Bartolozzi, Chiara; Indiveri, Giacomo; Vato, Alessandro

    2016-01-01

    Bidirectional brain-machine interfaces (BMIs) establish a two-way direct communication link between the brain and the external world. A decoder translates recorded neural activity into motor commands and an encoder delivers sensory information collected from the environment directly to the brain creating a closed-loop system. These two modules are typically integrated in bulky external devices. However, the clinical support of patients with severe motor and sensory deficits requires compact, low-power, and fully implantable systems that can decode neural signals to control external devices. As a first step toward this goal, we developed a modular bidirectional BMI setup that uses a compact neuromorphic processor as a decoder. On this chip we implemented a network of spiking neurons built using its ultra-low-power mixed-signal analog/digital circuits. On-chip on-line spike-timing-dependent plasticity synapse circuits enabled the network to learn to decode neural signals recorded from the brain into motor outputs controlling the movements of an external device. The modularity of the BMI allowed us to tune the individual components of the setup without modifying the whole system. In this paper, we present the features of this modular BMI and describe how we configured the network of spiking neuron circuits to implement the decoder and to coordinate it with the encoder in an experimental BMI paradigm that connects bidirectionally the brain of an anesthetized rat with an external object. We show that the chip learned the decoding task correctly, allowing the interfaced brain to control the object's trajectories robustly. Based on our demonstration, we propose that neuromorphic technology is mature enough for the development of BMI modules that are sufficiently low-power and compact, while being highly computationally powerful and adaptive.

  12. A study of speech interfaces for the vehicle environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-05-01

    Over the past few years, there has been a shift in automotive human machine interfaces from : visual-manual interactions (pushing buttons and rotating knobs) to speech interaction. In terms of : distraction, the industry views speech interaction as a...

  13. LMethyR-SVM: Predict Human Enhancers Using Low Methylated Regions based on Weighted Support Vector Machines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Jingting; Hu, Hong; Dai, Yang

    The identification of enhancers is a challenging task. Various types of epigenetic information including histone modification have been utilized in the construction of enhancer prediction models based on a diverse panel of machine learning schemes. However, DNA methylation profiles generated from the whole genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS) have not been fully explored for their potential in enhancer prediction despite the fact that low methylated regions (LMRs) have been implied to be distal active regulatory regions. In this work, we propose a prediction framework, LMethyR-SVM, using LMRs identified from cell-type-specific WGBS DNA methylation profiles and a weighted support vector machine learning framework. In LMethyR-SVM, the set of cell-type-specific LMRs is further divided into three sets: reliable positive, like positive and likely negative, according to their resemblance to a small set of experimentally validated enhancers in the VISTA database based on an estimated non-parametric density distribution. Then, the prediction model is obtained by solving a weighted support vector machine. We demonstrate the performance of LMethyR-SVM by using the WGBS DNA methylation profiles derived from the human embryonic stem cell type (H1) and the fetal lung fibroblast cell type (IMR90). The predicted enhancers are highly conserved with a reasonable validation rate based on a set of commonly used positive markers including transcription factors, p300 binding and DNase-I hypersensitive sites. In addition, we show evidence that the large fraction of the LMethyR-SVM predicted enhancers are not predicted by ChromHMM in H1 cell type and they are more enriched for the FANTOM5 enhancers. Our work suggests that low methylated regions detected from the WGBS data are useful as complementary resources to histone modification marks in developing models for the prediction of cell-type-specific enhancers.

  14. Comparing statistical and machine learning classifiers: alternatives for predictive modeling in human factors research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carnahan, Brian; Meyer, Gérard; Kuntz, Lois-Ann

    2003-01-01

    Multivariate classification models play an increasingly important role in human factors research. In the past, these models have been based primarily on discriminant analysis and logistic regression. Models developed from machine learning research offer the human factors professional a viable alternative to these traditional statistical classification methods. To illustrate this point, two machine learning approaches--genetic programming and decision tree induction--were used to construct classification models designed to predict whether or not a student truck driver would pass his or her commercial driver license (CDL) examination. The models were developed and validated using the curriculum scores and CDL exam performances of 37 student truck drivers who had completed a 320-hr driver training course. Results indicated that the machine learning classification models were superior to discriminant analysis and logistic regression in terms of predictive accuracy. Actual or potential applications of this research include the creation of models that more accurately predict human performance outcomes.

  15. Data management and communication networks for Man-Machine Interface System in Korea Advanced Liquid MEtal Reactor : its functionality and design requirements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cha, Kyung Ho; Park, Gun Ok; Suh, Sang Moon; Kim, Jang Yeol; Kwon, Kee Choon

    1998-01-01

    The DAta management and Communication NETworks(DACONET), which it is designed as a subsystem for Man-Machine Interface System of Korea Advanced LIquid MEtal Reactor(KALIMER MMIS) and advanced design concept is approached, is described. The DACONET has its roles of providing the real-time data transmission and communication paths between MMIS systems, providing the quality data for protection, monitoring and control of KALIMER and logging the static and dynamic behavioral data during KALIMER operation. The DACONET is characterized as the distributed real-time system architecture with high performance. Future direction, in which advanced technology is being continually applied to Man-Machine Interface System development and communication networks of KALIMER MMIS

  16. Data management and communication networks for Man-Machine Interface System in Korea Advanced Liquid MEtal Reactor : its functionality and design requirements

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cha, Kyung Ho; Park, Gun Ok; Suh, Sang Moon; Kim, Jang Yeol; Kwon, Kee Choon [KAERI, Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

    1998-05-01

    The DAta management and Communication NETworks(DACONET), which it is designed as a subsystem for Man-Machine Interface System of Korea Advanced LIquid MEtal Reactor(KALIMER MMIS) and advanced design concept is approached, is described. The DACONET has its roles of providing the real-time data transmission and communication paths between MMIS systems, providing the quality data for protection, monitoring and control of KALIMER and logging the static and dynamic behavioral data during KALIMER operation. The DACONET is characterized as the distributed real-time system architecture with high performance. Future direction, in which advanced technology is being continually applied to Man-Machine Interface System development and communication networks of KALIMER MMIS.

  17. Front panel human interface for FASTBUS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gustavson, D.B.; Holmes, T.L.; Paffrath, L.; Steffani, J.P.

    1980-01-01

    A human interface based on the Snoop diagnostic module has been designed to facilitate checkout of FASTBUS devices, diagnosis of system faults, and monitoring of system performance. This system, which is a generalization of the usual computer front panel or control console, includes logic analyzer functions, display and manual-control access to other modules, a microprocessor which allows the user to create and execute diagnostic programs and store them on a minifloppy disk, and a diagnostic network which allows remote console operation and coordination of information from multiple segments' Snoops

  18. Analysis on nuclear power plant control room system design and improvement based on human factor engineering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gao Feng; Liu Yanzi; Sun Yongbin

    2014-01-01

    The design of nuclear power plant control room system is a process of improvement with the implementation of human factor engineering theory and guidance. The method of implementation human factor engineering principles into the nuclear power plant control room system design and improvement was discussed in this paper. It is recommended that comprehensive address should be done from control room system function, human machine interface, digital procedure, control room layout and environment design based on the human factor engineering theory and experience. The main issues which should be paid more attention during the control room system design and improvement also were addressed in this paper, and then advices and notices for the design and improvement of the nuclear power plant control room system were afforded. (authors)

  19. Research of Digital Interface Layout Design based on Eye-tracking

    OpenAIRE

    Shao Jiang; Xue Chengqi; Wang Fang; Wang Haiyan; Tang Wencheng; Chen Mo; Kang Mingwu

    2015-01-01

    The aim of this paper is to improve the low service efficiency and unsmooth human-computer interaction caused by currently irrational layouts of digital interfaces for complex systems. Also, three common layout structures for digital interfaces are to be presented and five layout types appropriate for multilevel digital interfaces are to be summarized. Based on the eye tracking technology, an assessment was conducted in advantages and disadvantages of different layout types through subjects’ ...

  20. Amplifying human ability through autonomics and machine learning in IMPACT

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dzieciuch, Iryna; Reeder, John; Gutzwiller, Robert; Gustafson, Eric; Coronado, Braulio; Martinez, Luis; Croft, Bryan; Lange, Douglas S.

    2017-05-01

    Amplifying human ability for controlling complex environments featuring autonomous units can be aided by learned models of human and system performance. In developing a command and control system that allows a small number of people to control a large number of autonomous teams, we employ an autonomics framework to manage the networks that represent mission plans and the networks that are composed of human controllers and their autonomous assistants. Machine learning allows us to build models of human and system performance useful for monitoring plans and managing human attention and task loads. Machine learning also aids in the development of tactics that human supervisors can successfully monitor through the command and control system.

  1. Human factor engineering applied to nuclear power plant design

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Manrique, A.; Valdivia, J.C.

    2007-01-01

    Advantages of implementing adequate Human Factor Engineering techniques in the design of nuclear reactors have become not only a fact recognized by the majority of engineers and operators but also an explicit requirement regulated and mandatory for the new designs of the so called advanced reactors. The first step for this is preparing a plan to incorporate all the Human Factor Engineering principles and developing an integral design of the Instrumentation and Control and Man-machine interface systems. Such a plan should state: -) Activities to be performed, and -) Creation of a Human Factor Engineering team adequately qualified. The Human Factor Engineering team is an integral part of the design team and is strongly linked to the engineering organizations but simultaneously has independence to act and is free to evaluate designs and propose changes in order to enhance human behavior. TECNATOM S.A. (a Spanish company) has been a part of the Design and Human Factor Engineering Team and has collaborated in the design of an advanced Nuclear Power Plant, developing methodologies and further implementing those methodologies in the design of the plant systems through the development of the plant systems operational analysis and of the man-machine interface design. The methodologies developed are made up of the following plans: -) Human Factor Engineering implementation in the Man-Machine Interface design; -) Plant System Functional Requirement Analysis; -) Allocation of Functions to man/machine; -) Task Analysis; -) Human-System Interface design; -) Control Room Verification and -) Validation

  2. Volitional enhancement of firing synchrony and oscillation by neuronal operant conditioning: interaction with neurorehabilitation and brain-machine interface.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sakurai, Yoshio; Song, Kichan; Tachibana, Shota; Takahashi, Susumu

    2014-01-01

    In this review, we focus on neuronal operant conditioning in which increments in neuronal activities are directly rewarded without behaviors. We discuss the potential of this approach to elucidate neuronal plasticity for enhancing specific brain functions and its interaction with the progress in neurorehabilitation and brain-machine interfaces. The key to-be-conditioned activities that this paper emphasizes are synchronous and oscillatory firings of multiple neurons that reflect activities of cell assemblies. First, we introduce certain well-known studies on neuronal operant conditioning in which conditioned enhancements of neuronal firing were reported in animals and humans. These studies demonstrated the feasibility of volitional control over neuronal activity. Second, we refer to the recent studies on operant conditioning of synchrony and oscillation of neuronal activities. In particular, we introduce a recent study showing volitional enhancement of oscillatory activity in monkey motor cortex and our study showing selective enhancement of firing synchrony of neighboring neurons in rat hippocampus. Third, we discuss the reasons for emphasizing firing synchrony and oscillation in neuronal operant conditioning, the main reason being that they reflect the activities of cell assemblies, which have been suggested to be basic neuronal codes representing information in the brain. Finally, we discuss the interaction of neuronal operant conditioning with neurorehabilitation and brain-machine interface (BMI). We argue that synchrony and oscillation of neuronal firing are the key activities required for developing both reliable neurorehabilitation and high-performance BMI. Further, we conclude that research of neuronal operant conditioning, neurorehabilitation, BMI, and system neuroscience will produce findings applicable to these interrelated fields, and neuronal synchrony and oscillation can be a common important bridge among all of them.

  3. Applications of Brain–Machine Interface Systems in Stroke Recovery and Rehabilitation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Francisco, Gerard E.; Contreras-Vidal, Jose L.

    2014-01-01

    Stroke is a leading cause of disability, significantly impacting the quality of life (QOL) in survivors, and rehabilitation remains the mainstay of treatment in these patients. Recent engineering and technological advances such as brain-machine interfaces (BMI) and robotic rehabilitative devices are promising to enhance stroke neu-rorehabilitation, to accelerate functional recovery and improve QOL. This review discusses the recent applications of BMI and robotic-assisted rehabilitation in stroke patients. We present the framework for integrated BMI and robotic-assisted therapies, and discuss their potential therapeutic, assistive and diagnostic functions in stroke rehabilitation. Finally, we conclude with an outlook on the potential challenges and future directions of these neurotechnologies, and their impact on clinical rehabilitation. PMID:25110624

  4. MITS machine operations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Flinchem, J.

    1980-01-01

    This document contains procedures which apply to operations performed on individual P-1c machines in the Machine Interface Test System (MITS) at AiResearch Manufacturing Company's Torrance, California Facility

  5. Eye gaze in intelligent user interfaces gaze-based analyses, models and applications

    CERN Document Server

    Nakano, Yukiko I; Bader, Thomas

    2013-01-01

    Remarkable progress in eye-tracking technologies opened the way to design novel attention-based intelligent user interfaces, and highlighted the importance of better understanding of eye-gaze in human-computer interaction and human-human communication. For instance, a user's focus of attention is useful in interpreting the user's intentions, their understanding of the conversation, and their attitude towards the conversation. In human face-to-face communication, eye gaze plays an important role in floor management, grounding, and engagement in conversation.Eye Gaze in Intelligent User Interfac

  6. Basic researches for advancement of man-machine systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yoshikawa, Hidekazu

    1994-01-01

    The historical development of plant instrumentation and control system accompanying the introduction of automation is shown by the example of nuclear power plants. It is explained, and the change in the role of operators in the man-machine system is mentioned. Human errors are the serious problem in various fields, and automation resolves it. But complex systems also caused various disasters due to the relation of men and machines. The problem of human factors in high risk system automation is considered as the heightening of reliability and the reduction of burden on workers by decreasing human participation, and the increase of the risk of large accidents due to the lowering of reliability of human elements and the strengthening of the training of workers. Human model and the framework of human error analysis, the development of the system for man-machine system design and information analysis and evaluation, the significance of physiological index measurement and the perspective of the application, the analysis of the behavior of subjects in the abnormality diagnosis experiment using a plant simulator, and the development to the research on mutual adaptation interface are discussed. In this paper, the problem of human factors in system safety, that technical advancement brings about is examined, and the basic research on the advancement of man-machine systems by the author is reported. (K.I.)

  7. Prototyping visual interface for maintenance and supply databases

    OpenAIRE

    Fore, Henry Ray

    1989-01-01

    Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited This research examined the feasibility of providing a visual interface to standard Army Management Information Systems at the unit level. The potential of improving the Human-Machine Interface of unit level maintenance and supply software, such as ULLS (Unit Level Logistics System), is very attractive. A prototype was implemented in GLAD (Graphics Language for Database). GLAD is a graphics object-oriented environment for databases t...

  8. Architecture and prototype of human-machine interface with mobile robotic device

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dyumin, A.A.; Sorokoumov, P.S.; Chepin, E.V.; Urvanov, G.A.

    2013-01-01

    The possibility of controlling mobile robotic (MRD) device is analyzed and a prototype control system is described. It is established that, for controlling MRD, it is expedient to use a brain-computer interface. A system of interpretation of information obtained from the operator brain has been developed and used in the proposed prototype control system [ru

  9. Living systematic reviews: 2. Combining human and machine effort.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomas, James; Noel-Storr, Anna; Marshall, Iain; Wallace, Byron; McDonald, Steven; Mavergames, Chris; Glasziou, Paul; Shemilt, Ian; Synnot, Anneliese; Turner, Tari; Elliott, Julian

    2017-11-01

    New approaches to evidence synthesis, which use human effort and machine automation in mutually reinforcing ways, can enhance the feasibility and sustainability of living systematic reviews. Human effort is a scarce and valuable resource, required when automation is impossible or undesirable, and includes contributions from online communities ("crowds") as well as more conventional contributions from review authors and information specialists. Automation can assist with some systematic review tasks, including searching, eligibility assessment, identification and retrieval of full-text reports, extraction of data, and risk of bias assessment. Workflows can be developed in which human effort and machine automation can each enable the other to operate in more effective and efficient ways, offering substantial enhancement to the productivity of systematic reviews. This paper describes and discusses the potential-and limitations-of new ways of undertaking specific tasks in living systematic reviews, identifying areas where these human/machine "technologies" are already in use, and where further research and development is needed. While the context is living systematic reviews, many of these enabling technologies apply equally to standard approaches to systematic reviewing. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. ERD-based online brain-machine interfaces (BMI) in the context of neurorehabilitation: optimizing BMI learning and performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soekadar, Surjo R; Witkowski, Matthias; Mellinger, Jürgen; Ramos, Ander; Birbaumer, Niels; Cohen, Leonardo G

    2011-10-01

    Event-related desynchronization (ERD) of sensori-motor rhythms (SMR) can be used for online brain-machine interface (BMI) control, but yields challenges related to the stability of ERD and feedback strategy to optimize BMI learning.Here, we compared two approaches to this challenge in 20 right-handed healthy subjects (HS, five sessions each, S1-S5) and four stroke patients (SP, 15 sessions each, S1-S15). ERD was recorded from a 275-sensor MEG system. During daily training,motor imagery-induced ERD led to visual and proprioceptive feedback delivered through an orthotic device attached to the subjects' hand and fingers. Group A trained with a heterogeneous reference value (RV) for ERD detection with binary feedback and Group B with a homogenous RV and graded feedback (10 HS and 2 SP in each group). HS in Group B showed better BMI performance than Group A (p learning was significantly better (p learning relative to use of a heterogeneous RV and binary feedback.

  11. A study on advanced man-machine interface system for autonomous nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Matsuoka, Takeshi; Numano, Masayoshi; Fukuto, Junji; Sugasawa, Shinobu; Miyazaki, Keiko; Someya, Minoru; Haraki, Nobuo

    1994-01-01

    A man-machine interface(MMI) system of an autonomous nuclear power plant has an advanced function compared with that of the present nuclear power plants. The MMI has a function model of a plant state, and updates and revises this function model by itself. This paper describes the concept of autonomous nuclear power plants, a plant simulator of an autonomous power plant, a contracted function model of a plant state, three-dimensional color graphic display of a plant state, and an event-tree like expression for plant states. (author)

  12. Recycling Texts: Human evaluation of example-based machine translation subtitles for DVD

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Flanagan, Marian

    2009-01-01

    This project focuses on translation reusability in audiovisual contexts. Specifically, the project seeks to establish (1) whether target language subtitles produced by an Example-Based Machine Translation (EBMT) system are considered intelligible and acceptable by viewers of movies on DVD, and (2...

  13. The significance of human factors in nuclear activities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Weil, L.; Berg, H.P.

    1999-01-01

    Human factors is an aspect increasingly investigated in the last few years in efforts and programmes for enhancing the operational safety of nuclear systems. Methodology has been elaborated for analysis and evaluation of human reliability, or development of instruments supporting the decisions to be taken by the operators at the man-control room interface of nuclear installations, as well as initial approaches to introduce organisational factors which may influence the man-machine function allocation, and thus are an element of the safety culture concept. The significance of human factors in nuclear activities, as well as activities at the national and international level for optimisation of the man-machine interface and the man-organisation interface are discussed. (orig./CB) [de

  14. Human-Manipulator Interface Using Particle Filter

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Guanglong Du

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper utilizes a human-robot interface system which incorporates particle filter (PF and adaptive multispace transformation (AMT to track the pose of the human hand for controlling the robot manipulator. This system employs a 3D camera (Kinect to determine the orientation and the translation of the human hand. We use Camshift algorithm to track the hand. PF is used to estimate the translation of the human hand. Although a PF is used for estimating the translation, the translation error increases in a short period of time when the sensors fail to detect the hand motion. Therefore, a methodology to correct the translation error is required. What is more, to be subject to the perceptive limitations and the motor limitations, human operator is hard to carry out the high precision operation. This paper proposes an adaptive multispace transformation (AMT method to assist the operator to improve the accuracy and reliability in determining the pose of the robot. The human-robot interface system was experimentally tested in a lab environment, and the results indicate that such a system can successfully control a robot manipulator.

  15. Implementation of a Shoe-Embedded Human Interface and Collaborative Supplementation of Service Requirements on Smartphone System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kaname Takaochi

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Although a handsfree man-machine interface is useful when the user’s hands are not free, existing handsfree input devices are not the type of device that are normally worn by people. We have focused on a shoe as an input device because people normally wear it when they go out, and proposed a shoe-embedded interface. The input device is a sensor shoe. Weight sensors have been attached at three positions on a sole: the first metatarsal, the fifth metatarsal, and the calcaneal tuberosity. These positions have been selected based on the characteristics of the human foot skeleton. Two types of foot operation have been used: tap and push. By combining these operations, 10 commands have been defined. To make it possible to use web applications with a limited number of commands, we have proposed a method of supplementing the user’s service requirements using collaborative filtering. The sensor shoe houses an insole with hetero-core optical fiber sensor elements attached to it. These elements are sensitive to weight. We have built an experimental system that runs on a smartphone and provides the shoe-embedded interface, and conducted experiments with three test subjects to evaluate the system. The average rate of successful command identification was 89 %. We have also evaluated this service requirements supplementation method theoretically, and confirmed that the proposed service recommendation function can be applied to smartphone systems.

  16. On the use of peripheral autonomic signals for binary control of body–machine interfaces

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Falk, Tiago H; Guirgis, Mirna; Power, Sarah; Blain, Stefanie; Chau, Tom

    2010-01-01

    In this work, the potential of using peripheral autonomic (PA) responses as control signals for body–machine interfaces that require no physical movement was investigated. Electrodermal activity, skin temperature, heart rate and respiration rate were collected from six participants and hidden Markov models (HMMs) were used to automatically detect when a subject was performing music imagery as opposed to being at rest. Experiments were performed under controlled silent conditions as well as in the presence of continuous and startle (e.g. door slamming) ambient noise. By developing subject-specific HMMs, music imagery was detected under silent conditions with the average sensitivity and specificity of 94.2% and 93.3%, respectively. In the presence of startle noise stimuli, the system sensitivity and specificity levels of 78.8% and 80.2% were attained, respectively. In environments corrupted by continuous ambient and startle noise, the system specificity further decreased to 75.9%. To improve the system robustness against environmental noise, a startle noise detection and compensation strategy were proposed. Once in place, performance levels were shown to be comparable to those observed in silence. The obtained results suggest that PA signals, combined with HMMs, can be useful tools for the development of body–machine interfaces that allow individuals with severe motor impairments to communicate and/or to interact with their environment

  17. Behavioral simulation of a nuclear power plant operator crew for human-machine system design

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Furuta, K.; Shimada, T.; Kondo, S.

    1999-01-01

    This article proposes an architecture of behavioral simulation of an operator crew in a nuclear power plant including group processes and interactions between the operators and their working environment. An operator model was constructed based on the conceptual human information processor and then substantiated as a knowledge-based system with multiple sets of knowledge base and blackboard, each of which represents an individual operator. From a trade-off between reality and practicality, we adopted an architecture of simulation that consists of the operator, plant and environment models in order to consider operator-environment interactions. The simulation system developed on this framework and called OCCS was tested using a scenario of BWR plant operation. The case study showed that operator-environment interactions have significant effects on operator crew performance and that they should be considered properly for simulating behavior of human-machine systems. The proposed architecture contributed to more realistic simulation in comparison with an experimental result, and a good prospect has been obtained that computer simulation of an operator crew is feasible and useful for human-machine system design. (orig.)

  18. Combining human and machine intelligence to derive agents' behavioral rules for groundwater irrigation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, Yao; Quinn, Christopher J.; Cai, Ximing; Garfinkle, Noah W.

    2017-11-01

    For agent-based modeling, the major challenges in deriving agents' behavioral rules arise from agents' bounded rationality and data scarcity. This study proposes a "gray box" approach to address the challenge by incorporating expert domain knowledge (i.e., human intelligence) with machine learning techniques (i.e., machine intelligence). Specifically, we propose using directed information graph (DIG), boosted regression trees (BRT), and domain knowledge to infer causal factors and identify behavioral rules from data. A case study is conducted to investigate farmers' pumping behavior in the Midwest, U.S.A. Results show that four factors identified by the DIG algorithm- corn price, underlying groundwater level, monthly mean temperature and precipitation- have main causal influences on agents' decisions on monthly groundwater irrigation depth. The agent-based model is then developed based on the behavioral rules represented by three DIGs and modeled by BRTs, and coupled with a physically-based groundwater model to investigate the impacts of agents' pumping behavior on the underlying groundwater system in the context of coupled human and environmental systems.

  19. Brain-Machine Interface Enables Bimanual Arm Movements in Monkeys

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ifft, Peter J.; Shokur, Solaiman; Li, Zheng; Lebedev, Mikhail A.; Nicolelis, Miguel A. L.

    2014-01-01

    Brain-machine interfaces (BMIs) are artificial systems that aim to restore sensation and movement to severely paralyzed patients. However, previous BMIs enabled only single arm functionality, and control of bimanual movements was a major challenge. Here, we developed and tested a bimanual BMI that enabled rhesus monkeys to control two avatar arms simultaneously. The bimanual BMI was based on the extracellular activity of 374–497 neurons recorded from several frontal and parietal cortical areas of both cerebral hemispheres. Cortical activity was transformed into movements of the two arms with a decoding algorithm called a 5th order unscented Kalman filter (UKF). The UKF is well-suited for BMI decoding because it accounts for both characteristics of reaching movements and their representation by cortical neurons. The UKF was trained either during a manual task performed with two joysticks or by having the monkeys passively observe the movements of avatar arms. Most cortical neurons changed their modulation patterns when both arms were engaged simultaneously. Representing the two arms jointly in a single UKF decoder resulted in improved decoding performance compared with using separate decoders for each arm. As the animals’ performance in bimanual BMI control improved over time, we observed widespread plasticity in frontal and parietal cortical areas. Neuronal representation of the avatar and reach targets was enhanced with learning, whereas pairwise correlations between neurons initially increased and then decreased. These results suggest that cortical networks may assimilate the two avatar arms through BMI control. PMID:24197735

  20. Research of Digital Interface Layout Design based on Eye-tracking

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shao Jiang

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to improve the low service efficiency and unsmooth human-computer interaction caused by currently irrational layouts of digital interfaces for complex systems. Also, three common layout structures for digital interfaces are to be presented and five layout types appropriate for multilevel digital interfaces are to be summarized. Based on the eye tracking technology, an assessment was conducted in advantages and disadvantages of different layout types through subjects’ search efficiency. Based on data and results, this study constructed a matching model which is appropriate for multilevel digital interface layout and verified the fact that the task element is a significant and important aspect of layout design. A scientific experimental model of research on digital interfaces for complex systems is provided. Both data and conclusions of the eye movement experiment provide a reference for layout designs of interfaces for complex systems with different task characteristics.

  1. Human modeling in nuclear engineering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yoshikawa, Hidekazu; Furuta, Kazuo.

    1994-01-01

    Review on progress of research and development on human modeling methods is made from the viewpoint of its importance on total man-machine system reliability surrounding nuclear power plant operation. Basic notions on three different approaches of human modeling (behavioristics, cognitives and sociologistics) are firstly introduced, followed by the explanation of fundamental scheme to understand human cognitives at man-machine interface and the mechanisms of human error and its classification. Then, general methodologies on human cognitive model by AI are explained with the brief summary of various R and D activities now prevailing in the human modeling communities around the world. A new method of dealing with group human reliability is also introduced which is based on sociologistic mathematical model. Lastly, problems on human model validation are discussed, followed by the introduction of new experimental method to estimate human cognitive state by psycho-physiological measurement, which is a new methodology plausible for human model validation. (author)

  2. Advances in software development for intelligent interfaces for alarm and emergency management consoles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moseley, M.R.; Olson, C.E.

    1986-01-01

    Recent advances in technology allow features like voice synthesis, voice and speech recognition, image understanding, and intelligent data base management to be incorporated in computer driven alarm and emergency management information systems. New software development environments make it possible to do rapid prototyping of custom applications. Three examples using these technologies are discussed. (1) Maximum use is made of high-speed graphics and voice synthesis to implement a state-of-the-art alarm processing and display system with features that make the operator-machine interface efficient and accurate. Although very functional, this system is not portable or flexible; the software would have to be substantially rewritten for other applications. (2) An application generator which has the capability of ''building'' a specific alarm processing and display application in a matter of a few hours, using the site definition developed in the security planning phase to produce the custom application. This package is based on a standardized choice of hardware, within which it is capable of building a system to order, automatically constructing graphics, data tables, alarm prioritization rules, and interfaces to peripherals. (3) A software tool, the User Interface Management System (UIMS), is described which permits rapid prototyping of human-machine interfaces for a variety of applications including emergency management, alarm display and process information display. The object-oriented software of the UIMS achieves rapid prototyping of a new interface by standardizing to a class library of software objects instead of hardware objects

  3. Human-computer interface glove using flexible piezoelectric sensors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cha, Youngsu; Seo, Jeonggyu; Kim, Jun-Sik; Park, Jung-Min

    2017-05-01

    In this note, we propose a human-computer interface glove based on flexible piezoelectric sensors. We select polyvinylidene fluoride as the piezoelectric material for the sensors because of advantages such as a steady piezoelectric characteristic and good flexibility. The sensors are installed in a fabric glove by means of pockets and Velcro bands. We detect changes in the angles of the finger joints from the outputs of the sensors, and use them for controlling a virtual hand that is utilized in virtual object manipulation. To assess the sensing ability of the piezoelectric sensors, we compare the processed angles from the sensor outputs with the real angles from a camera recoding. With good agreement between the processed and real angles, we successfully demonstrate the user interaction system with the virtual hand and interface glove based on the flexible piezoelectric sensors, for four hand motions: fist clenching, pinching, touching, and grasping.

  4. Human-Machine Systems concepts applied to Control Engineering Education

    OpenAIRE

    Marangé , Pascale; Gellot , François; Riera , Bernard

    2008-01-01

    International audience; In this paper, we interest us to Human-Machine Systems (HMS) concepts applied to Education. It is shown how the HMS framework enables to propose original solution in matter of education in the field of control engineering. We focus on practical courses on control of manufacturing systems. The proposed solution is based on an original use of real and large-scale systems instead of simulation. The main idea is to enable the student, whatever his/her level to control the ...

  5. A Performance Survey on Stack-based and Register-based Virtual Machines

    OpenAIRE

    Fang, Ruijie; Liu, Siqi

    2016-01-01

    Virtual machines have been widely adapted for high-level programming language implementations and for providing a degree of platform neutrality. As the overall use and adaptation of virtual machines grow, the overall performance of virtual machines has become a widely-discussed topic. In this paper, we present a survey on the performance differences of the two most widely adapted types of virtual machines - the stack-based virtual machine and the register-based virtual machine - using various...

  6. Man-machine systems research at the OECD Halden reactor project

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Owre, F.; Bjorlo, T.J.; Haugset, K.

    1994-01-01

    The OECD Halden Reactor Project is a jointly financed research programme under the auspices of the OECD - Nuclear Energy Agency with fifteen participating countries. One of the main research topics focuses on man-machine systems. Particular attention is paid to the operator's tasks in the reactor control room environment. The overall objective of the research in this field is to provide a basis for improving today's control rooms through the introduction of computer-based solutions for the effective and safe execution of surveillance and control functions in normal as well as off-normal plant situations. The programme comprises four main activities: the verification and validation of safety critical software systems; man-machine interaction research emphasizing improvements in man-machine interfaces on the basis of human factors studies; computerised operator support systems assisting the operator in fault detection/diagnosis and planning of control actions; and control room development providing a basis for retrofitting of existing control rooms and for the design of advanced concepts

  7. Through the Interface - a human activity approach to user interfaces

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bødker, Susanne

    In providing a theoretical framework for understanding human- computer interaction as well as design of user interfaces, this book combines elements of anthropology, psychology, cognitive science, software engineering, and computer science. The framework examines the everyday work practices of us...

  8. Brain machine interfaces combining microelectrode arrays with nanostructured optical biochemical sensors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hajj-Hassan, Mohamad; Gonzalez, Timothy; Ghafer-Zadeh, Ebrahim; Chodavarapu, Vamsy; Musallam, Sam; Andrews, Mark

    2009-02-01

    Neural microelectrodes are an important component of neural prosthetic systems which assist paralyzed patients by allowing them to operate computers or robots using their neural activity. These microelectrodes are also used in clinical settings to localize the locus of seizure initiation in epilepsy or to stimulate sub-cortical structures in patients with Parkinson's disease. In neural prosthetic systems, implanted microelectrodes record the electrical potential generated by specific thoughts and relay the signals to algorithms trained to interpret these thoughts. In this paper, we describe novel elongated multi-site neural electrodes that can record electrical signals and specific neural biomarkers and that can reach depths greater than 8mm in the sulcus of non-human primates (monkeys). We hypothesize that additional signals recorded by the multimodal probes will increase the information yield when compared to standard probes that record just electropotentials. We describe integration of optical biochemical sensors with neural microelectrodes. The sensors are made using sol-gel derived xerogel thin films that encapsulate specific biomarker responsive luminophores in their nanostructured pores. The desired neural biomarkers are O2, pH, K+, and Na+ ions. As a prototype, we demonstrate direct-write patterning to create oxygen-responsive xerogel waveguide structures on the neural microelectrodes. The recording of neural biomarkers along with electrical activity could help the development of intelligent and more userfriendly neural prosthesis/brain machine interfaces as well as aid in providing answers to complex brain diseases and disorders.

  9. Cortical and subcortical mechanisms of brain-machine interfaces.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marchesotti, Silvia; Martuzzi, Roberto; Schurger, Aaron; Blefari, Maria Laura; Del Millán, José R; Bleuler, Hannes; Blanke, Olaf

    2017-06-01

    Technical advances in the field of Brain-Machine Interfaces (BMIs) enable users to control a variety of external devices such as robotic arms, wheelchairs, virtual entities and communication systems through the decoding of brain signals in real time. Most BMI systems sample activity from restricted brain regions, typically the motor and premotor cortex, with limited spatial resolution. Despite the growing number of applications, the cortical and subcortical systems involved in BMI control are currently unknown at the whole-brain level. Here, we provide a comprehensive and detailed report of the areas active during on-line BMI control. We recorded functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data while participants controlled an EEG-based BMI inside the scanner. We identified the regions activated during BMI control and how they overlap with those involved in motor imagery (without any BMI control). In addition, we investigated which regions reflect the subjective sense of controlling a BMI, the sense of agency for BMI-actions. Our data revealed an extended cortical-subcortical network involved in operating a motor-imagery BMI. This includes not only sensorimotor regions but also the posterior parietal cortex, the insula and the lateral occipital cortex. Interestingly, the basal ganglia and the anterior cingulate cortex were involved in the subjective sense of controlling the BMI. These results inform basic neuroscience by showing that the mechanisms of BMI control extend beyond sensorimotor cortices. This knowledge may be useful for the development of BMIs that offer a more natural and embodied feeling of control for the user. Hum Brain Mapp 38:2971-2989, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  10. A truly human interface: Interacting face-to-face with someone whose words are determined by a computer program

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kevin eCorti

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available We use speech shadowing to create situations wherein people converse in person with a human whose words are determined by a conversational agent computer program. Speech shadowing involves a person (the shadower repeating vocal stimuli originating from a separate communication source in real-time. Humans shadowing for conversational agent sources (e.g., chat bots become hybrid agents (echoborgs capable of face-to-face interlocution. We report three studies that investigated people’s experiences interacting with echoborgs and the extent to which echoborgs pass as autonomous humans. First, participants in a Turing Test spoke with a chat bot via either a text interface or an echoborg. Human shadowing did not improve the chat bot’s chance of passing but did increase interrogators’ ratings of how human-like the chat bot seemed. In our second study, participants had to decide whether their interlocutor produced words generated by a chat bot or simply pretended to be one. Compared to those who engaged a text interface, participants who engaged an echoborg were more likely to perceive their interlocutor as pretending to be a chat bot. In our third study, participants were naïve to the fact that their interlocutor produced words generated by a chat bot. Unlike those who engaged a text interface, the vast majority of participants who engaged an echoborg neither sensed nor suspected a robotic interaction. These findings have implications for android science, the Turing Test paradigm, and human-computer interaction. The human body, as the delivery mechanism of communication, fundamentally alters the social psychological dynamics of interactions with machine intelligence.

  11. Development and evaluation of intelligent machine tools based on knowledge evolution in M2M environment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Dong Hoon; Song, Jun Yeob; Lee, Jong Hyun; Cha, Suk Keun

    2009-01-01

    In the near future, the foreseen improvement in machine tools will be in the form of a knowledge evolution-based intelligent device. The goal of this study is to develop intelligent machine tools having knowledge-evolution capability in Machine to Machine (M2M) wired and wireless environment. The knowledge evolution-based intelligent machine tools are expected to be capable of gathering knowledge autonomously, producing knowledge, understanding knowledge, applying reasoning to knowledge, making new decisions, dialoguing with other machines, etc. The concept of the knowledge-evolution intelligent machine originated from the process of machine control operation by the sense, dialogue and decision of a human expert. The structure of knowledge evolution in M2M and the scheme for a dialogue agent among agent-based modules such as a sensory agent, a dialogue agent and an expert system (decision support agent) are presented in this paper, and work-offset compensation from thermal change and recommendation of cutting condition are performed on-line for knowledge-evolution verification

  12. Quadcopter control in three-dimensional space using a noninvasive motor imagery-based brain-computer interface

    Science.gov (United States)

    LaFleur, Karl; Cassady, Kaitlin; Doud, Alexander; Shades, Kaleb; Rogin, Eitan; He, Bin

    2013-08-01

    Objective. At the balanced intersection of human and machine adaptation is found the optimally functioning brain-computer interface (BCI). In this study, we report a novel experiment of BCI controlling a robotic quadcopter in three-dimensional (3D) physical space using noninvasive scalp electroencephalogram (EEG) in human subjects. We then quantify the performance of this system using metrics suitable for asynchronous BCI. Lastly, we examine the impact that the operation of a real world device has on subjects' control in comparison to a 2D virtual cursor task. Approach. Five human subjects were trained to modulate their sensorimotor rhythms to control an AR Drone navigating a 3D physical space. Visual feedback was provided via a forward facing camera on the hull of the drone. Main results. Individual subjects were able to accurately acquire up to 90.5% of all valid targets presented while travelling at an average straight-line speed of 0.69 m s-1. Significance. Freely exploring and interacting with the world around us is a crucial element of autonomy that is lost in the context of neurodegenerative disease. Brain-computer interfaces are systems that aim to restore or enhance a user's ability to interact with the environment via a computer and through the use of only thought. We demonstrate for the first time the ability to control a flying robot in 3D physical space using noninvasive scalp recorded EEG in humans. Our work indicates the potential of noninvasive EEG-based BCI systems for accomplish complex control in 3D physical space. The present study may serve as a framework for the investigation of multidimensional noninvasive BCI control in a physical environment using telepresence robotics.

  13. Embedded System for Prosthetic Control Using Implanted Neuromuscular Interfaces Accessed Via an Osseointegrated Implant.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mastinu, Enzo; Doguet, Pascal; Botquin, Yohan; Hakansson, Bo; Ortiz-Catalan, Max

    2017-08-01

    Despite the technological progress in robotics achieved in the last decades, prosthetic limbs still lack functionality, reliability, and comfort. Recently, an implanted neuromusculoskeletal interface built upon osseointegration was developed and tested in humans, namely the Osseointegrated Human-Machine Gateway. Here, we present an embedded system to exploit the advantages of this technology. Our artificial limb controller allows for bioelectric signals acquisition, processing, decoding of motor intent, prosthetic control, and sensory feedback. It includes a neurostimulator to provide direct neural feedback based on sensory information. The system was validated using real-time tasks characterization, power consumption evaluation, and myoelectric pattern recognition performance. Functionality was proven in a first pilot patient from whom results of daily usage were obtained. The system was designed to be reliably used in activities of daily living, as well as a research platform to monitor prosthesis usage and training, machine-learning-based control algorithms, and neural stimulation paradigms.

  14. Human and machine perception communication, interaction, and integration

    CERN Document Server

    Cantoni, Virginio; Setti, Alessandra

    2005-01-01

    The theme of this book on human and machine perception is communication, interaction, and integration. For each basic topic there are invited lectures, corresponding to approaches in nature and machines, and a panel discussion. The lectures present the state of the art, outlining open questions and stressing synergies among the disciplines related to perception. The panel discussions are forums for open debate. The wide spectrum of topics allows comparison and synergy and can stimulate new approaches.

  15. Towards a Future Reallocation of Work between Humans and Machines – Taxonomy of Tasks and Interaction Types in the Context of Machine Learning

    OpenAIRE

    Traumer, Fabian; Oeste-Reiß, Sarah; Leimeister, Jan Marco

    2017-01-01

    In today’s race for competitive advantages, more and more companies implement innovations in artificial intelligence and machine learning (ML). Although these machines take over tasks that have been executed by humans, they will not make human workforce obsolete. To leverage the potentials of ML, collaboration between humans and machines is necessary. Before collaboration processes can be developed, a classification of tasks in the field of ML is needed. Therefore, we present a taxonomy for t...

  16. Data management and communication networks for man-machine interface system in Korea Advanced LIquid MEtal Reactor : Its functionality and design requirements

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cha, Kyung Ho; Park, Gun Ok; Suh, Sang Moon; Kim, Jang Yeol; Kwon, Kee Choon [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

    1999-12-31

    The DAta management and COmmunication NETworks(DACONET), which it is designed as a subsystem for Man-Machine Interface System of Korea Advanced LIquid MEtal Reactor (KALIMER MMIS) and advanced design concept is approached, is described. The DACONET has its roles of providing the real-time data transmission and communication paths between MMIS systems, providing the quality data for protection, monitoring and control of KALIMER and logging the static and dynamic behavioral data during KALIMER operation. The DACONET is characterized as the distributed real-time system architecture with high performance. Future direction, in which advanced technology is being continually applied to Man-Machine Interface System development of Nuclear Power Plants, will be considered for designing data management and communication networks of KALIMER MMIS. 9 refs., 1 fig. (Author)

  17. Data management and communication networks for man-machine interface system in Korea Advanced LIquid MEtal Reactor : Its functionality and design requirements

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cha, Kyung Ho; Park, Gun Ok; Suh, Sang Moon; Kim, Jang Yeol; Kwon, Kee Choon [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

    1998-12-31

    The DAta management and COmmunication NETworks(DACONET), which it is designed as a subsystem for Man-Machine Interface System of Korea Advanced LIquid MEtal Reactor (KALIMER MMIS) and advanced design concept is approached, is described. The DACONET has its roles of providing the real-time data transmission and communication paths between MMIS systems, providing the quality data for protection, monitoring and control of KALIMER and logging the static and dynamic behavioral data during KALIMER operation. The DACONET is characterized as the distributed real-time system architecture with high performance. Future direction, in which advanced technology is being continually applied to Man-Machine Interface System development of Nuclear Power Plants, will be considered for designing data management and communication networks of KALIMER MMIS. 9 refs., 1 fig. (Author)

  18. Human-system interfaces for the ABWR control room

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gutierrez, R.; O'Neil, T.J.

    1993-01-01

    The 1300-MW(electric) advanced boiling water reactor (ABWR) design has been developed by General Electric Co. (G.E.) and its technical associates, Hitachi Ltd. and Toshiba Corporation, under the sponsorship of the Tokyo Electric Power Company. Key features of the ABWR include simplification, improved safety and reliability, reduced occupational exposure and radwaste, improved maneuverability, and reduced construction, fuel, and operating costs. The ABWR incorporates the best proven features from BWR designs in Japan, Europe, and the United States, combined with the broad-scope application of leading-edge technology. The first application of the ABWR design will be at TEP-CO's Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power station units 6 and 7, which are scheduled to begin commercial operation in 1996 and 1997, respectively. The ABWR is also the lead plant in the U.S. standard plant design certification program. It is scheduled to receive final approval from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in early 1994. The development of the human system interaces (HSI) for the ABWR is an extension of the operating experience of existing man-machine interfaces currently being used at GE-designed plants

  19. Conceptual models in man-machine design verification

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rasmussen, J.

    1985-01-01

    The need for systematic methods for evaluation of design concepts for new man-machine systems has been rapidly increasing in consequence of the introduction of modern information technology. Direct empirical methods are difficult to apply when functions during rare conditions and support of operator decisions during emergencies are to be evaluated. In this paper, the problems of analytical evaluations based on conceptual models of the man-machine interaction are discussed, and the relations to system design and analytical risk assessment are considered. Finally, a conceptual framework for analytical evaluation is proposed, including several domains of description: 1. The problem space, in the form of a means-end hierarchy; 2. The structure of the decision process; 3. The mental strategies and heuristics used by operators; 4. The levels of cognitive control and the mechanisms related to human errors. Finally, the need for models representing operators' subjective criteria for choosing among available mental strategies and for accepting advice from intelligent interfaces is discussed

  20. A review of warship man-machine-environment system engineering

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    ZHANG Yumei

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Warship Man-Machine-Environment System Engineering (MMESE is an integral part of the overall design, and its design principles were proposed according to safety, efficiency, comfort and pleasure. The typical characteristics of MMESE are summarized. The operating environment is extremely terrible on long voyages. High level collaboration is required due to the complex task system and large manpower demand. Owing to the dense computer interface information, the mental cognitive burden on the crew is heavy. The MMESE technology system is divided into four parts:man-machine coordinated, man-environment coordinated, the evaluation of man-machine-environment characteristics and the ergonomic simulation. Based on the MMESE development venation in this paper, the overseas and domestic research statuses are expounded. Interactive optimization can be realized according to the following aspects:researching the basic human characteristics of the crew, applying this to the warship's overall design, and formulating relevant ergonomic standards and norms. Next, Human System Integration (HSI professional engineering was introduced comprehensively into the marines in order to achieve an optimal system. On this basis, we completed the future development trend analysis. All these studies and results have some reference meaning for guiding the integrated optimization of warships as a whole, downsizing the manpower and improving efficiency.

  1. Artificial emotional model based on finite state machine

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    MENG Qing-mei; WU Wei-guo

    2008-01-01

    According to the basic emotional theory, the artificial emotional model based on the finite state machine(FSM) was presented. In finite state machine model of emotion, the emotional space included the basic emotional space and the multiple emotional spaces. The emotion-switching diagram was defined and transition function was developed using Markov chain and linear interpolation algorithm. The simulation model was built using Stateflow toolbox and Simulink toolbox based on the Matlab platform.And the model included three subsystems: the input one, the emotion one and the behavior one. In the emotional subsystem, the responses of different personalities to the external stimuli were described by defining personal space. This model takes states from an emotional space and updates its state depending on its current state and a state of its input (also a state-emotion). The simulation model realizes the process of switching the emotion from the neutral state to other basic emotions. The simulation result is proved to correspond to emotion-switching law of human beings.

  2. Machine function based control code algebras

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bergstra, J.A.

    Machine functions have been introduced by Earley and Sturgis in [6] in order to provide a mathematical foundation of the use of the T-diagrams proposed by Bratman in [5]. Machine functions describe the operation of a machine at a very abstract level. A theory of hardware and software based on

  3. The web based user interface of RODOS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Raskob, W.; Mueller, A.; Munz, E.; Rafat, M.

    2003-01-01

    Full text: The interaction between the RODOS system and its users has three main objectives: (1) operation of the system in its automatic and interactive modes including the processing of meteorological and radiological on-line data, and the choice of module chains for performing the necessary calculations; (2) input of data defining the accident situation, such as source term information, intervention criteria and timing of emergency actions; (3) selection and presentation of results in the form of spatial and temporal distributions of activity concentrations, areas affected by emergency actions and countermeasures, and their radiological and economic consequences. Users of category A have direct access to the RODOS system via local or wide area networks through the client/server protocol Internet/X. Any internet connected X desktop machine, such as Unix workstations from different vendors, X- terminals, Linux PCs, and PCs with X-emulation can be used. A number of X-Windows based graphical user interfaces (GUIs) provide direct access to all functionalities of the RODOS system and allow for handling the various user interactions with the RODOS system described above. Among others, the user can trigger or interrupt the automatic processing mode, execute application programs simultaneously, modify and delete data, import data sets from databases, and change configuration files. As the user interacts directly with in-memory active processes, the system responses immediately after having performed the necessary calculations. For obtaining the requested results, the users must know, which chain of application software has to be selected, how to interact with their interfaces, which sort of initialization data have to be assigned, etc. This flexible interaction with RODOS implies that only experienced and well-trained users are able to operate the system and to obtain correct and sensible information. A new interface has been developed which is based an the commonly used

  4. Lessons Learned from Human Factor Technical Support for Nuclear Power Plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jung, Yeon Sub; Song, Tae Young

    2011-01-01

    NETEC is on the frontier to support Korean nuclear power plants. Requests of service are distributed through web based system. Human factor requests are occasionally posted. This paper analyzes interesting human factors requests/responses serviced, and summarizes the lesson learned. Subjects of the service include man machine interface, equipment label, procedure writing, procedure adherence, BISI, hand switch and alarm tile. Specifically the man machine interface is related to control command generated by acknowledge button, arrangement of switches. Procedure writing is about how to write contingency actions with proper numbering scheme. BISI is analyzed in view of automation level. Alarm tile is about how to handle the common alarm tile originated from local alarm boards. These topics seem to be legacies of past technology. Even though there are still human engineering discrepancies, these have been less evaluated because the topics need knowledge of other field domains

  5. Classifying injury narratives of large administrative databases for surveillance-A practical approach combining machine learning ensembles and human review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marucci-Wellman, Helen R; Corns, Helen L; Lehto, Mark R

    2017-01-01

    Injury narratives are now available real time and include useful information for injury surveillance and prevention. However, manual classification of the cause or events leading to injury found in large batches of narratives, such as workers compensation claims databases, can be prohibitive. In this study we compare the utility of four machine learning algorithms (Naïve Bayes, Single word and Bi-gram models, Support Vector Machine and Logistic Regression) for classifying narratives into Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Injury and Illness event leading to injury classifications for a large workers compensation database. These algorithms are known to do well classifying narrative text and are fairly easy to implement with off-the-shelf software packages such as Python. We propose human-machine learning ensemble approaches which maximize the power and accuracy of the algorithms for machine-assigned codes and allow for strategic filtering of rare, emerging or ambiguous narratives for manual review. We compare human-machine approaches based on filtering on the prediction strength of the classifier vs. agreement between algorithms. Regularized Logistic Regression (LR) was the best performing algorithm alone. Using this algorithm and filtering out the bottom 30% of predictions for manual review resulted in high accuracy (overall sensitivity/positive predictive value of 0.89) of the final machine-human coded dataset. The best pairings of algorithms included Naïve Bayes with Support Vector Machine whereby the triple ensemble NB SW =NB BI-GRAM =SVM had very high performance (0.93 overall sensitivity/positive predictive value and high accuracy (i.e. high sensitivity and positive predictive values)) across both large and small categories leaving 41% of the narratives for manual review. Integrating LR into this ensemble mix improved performance only slightly. For large administrative datasets we propose incorporation of methods based on human-machine pairings such as

  6. Formal Modeling and Reconfiguration of User Interfaces for Reduction of Errors in Failure Handling of Complex Systems

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Weyers, Benjamin; Burkolter, Dina; Luther, Wolfram; Kluge, Annette

    2012-01-01

    Controlling and observing complex systems is central to the study of human-machine interaction. In our understanding, there is much to be gained from integrating formal modeling and analysis, including the reconfiguration of user interfaces, with the development of user interfaces with high

  7. Advances in software development for intelligent interfaces for alarm and emergency management consoles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moseley, M.R.; Olson, C.E.

    1986-01-01

    Recent advances in technology allow features like voice synthesis, voice and speech recognition, image understanding, and intelligent data base management to be incorporated in computer driven alarm and emergency management information systems. New software development environments make it possible to do rapid prototyping of custom applications. Three examples using these technologies are discussed. 1) Maximum use is made of high-speed graphics and voice synthesis to implement a state-of-the-art alarm processing and display system with features that make the operator-machine interface efficient and accurate. 2) An application generator which has the capability of ''building'' a specific alarm processing and display application in a matter of a few hours, using the site definition developed in the security planning phase to produce the custom application. 3) A software tool, is described which permits rapid prototyping of human-machine interfaces for a variety of applications including emergency management, alarm display and process information display

  8. Development of an X Window based operator's interface for a core monitoring system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vegh, J.; Huszar, J.; Laz, J.

    1992-09-01

    The components, functioning and programming concepts of the man-machine interface applied in an upgraded version of the core monitoring system and reactor information system VERONA for WWER-440 type nuclear power reactors, installed at the Paks Nuclear Power Plant, are described. The application of the X Window standard Graphical User Interface facilitated modular interface design and made program development easier and faster. (author) 3 refs.; 13 figs

  9. A hybrid brain-machine interface based on EEG and EMG activity for the motor rehabilitation of stroke patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sarasola-Sanz, Andrea; Irastorza-Landa, Nerea; Lopez-Larraz, Eduardo; Bibian, Carlos; Helmhold, Florian; Broetz, Doris; Birbaumer, Niels; Ramos-Murguialday, Ander

    2017-07-01

    Including supplementary information from the brain or other body parts in the control of brain-machine interfaces (BMIs) has been recently proposed and investigated. Such enriched interfaces are referred to as hybrid BMIs (hBMIs) and have been proven to be more robust and accurate than regular BMIs for assistive and rehabilitative applications. Electromyographic (EMG) activity is one of the most widely utilized biosignals in hBMIs, as it provides a quite direct measurement of the motion intention of the user. Whereas most of the existing non-invasive EEG-EMG-hBMIs have only been subjected to offline testings or are limited to one degree of freedom (DoF), we present an EEG-EMG-hBMI that allows the simultaneous control of 7-DoFs of the upper limb with a robotic exoskeleton. Moreover, it establishes a biologically-inspired hierarchical control flow, requiring the active participation of central and peripheral structures of the nervous system. Contingent visual and proprioceptive feedback about the user's EEG and EMG activity is provided in the form of velocity modulation during functional task training. We believe that training with this closed-loop system may facilitate functional neuroplastic processes and eventually elicit a joint brain and muscle motor rehabilitation. Its usability is validated during a real-time operation session in a healthy participant and a chronic stroke patient, showing encouraging results for its application to a clinical rehabilitation scenario.

  10. [Human factors in medicine].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lazarovici, M; Trentzsch, H; Prückner, S

    2017-01-01

    The concept of human factors is commonly used in the context of patient safety and medical errors, all too often ambiguously. In actual fact, the term comprises a wide range of meanings from human-machine interfaces through human performance and limitations up to the point of working process design; however, human factors prevail as a substantial cause of error in complex systems. This article presents the full range of the term human factors from the (emergency) medical perspective. Based on the so-called Swiss cheese model by Reason, we explain the different types of error, what promotes their emergence and on which level of the model error prevention can be initiated.

  11. Asset Analysis Method for the Cyber Security of Man Machine Interface System

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kang, Sung Kon; Kim, Hun Hee; Shin, Yeong Cheol [Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2010-10-15

    As digital MMIS (Man Machine Interface System) is applied in Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), cyber security is becoming more and more important. Regulatory guide (KINS/GT-N27) requires that implementation plan for cyber security be prepared in NPP. Regulatory guide recommends the following 4 processes: 1) an asset analysis of MMIS, 2) a vulnerability analysis of MMIS, 3) establishment of countermeasures, and 4) establishment of operational guideline for cyber security. Conventional method for the asset analysis is mainly performed with a table form for each asset. Conventional method requires a lot of efforts due to the duplication of information. This paper presents an asset analysis method using object oriented approach for the NPP

  12. Asset Analysis Method for the Cyber Security of Man Machine Interface System

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kang, Sung Kon; Kim, Hun Hee; Shin, Yeong Cheol

    2010-01-01

    As digital MMIS (Man Machine Interface System) is applied in Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), cyber security is becoming more and more important. Regulatory guide (KINS/GT-N27) requires that implementation plan for cyber security be prepared in NPP. Regulatory guide recommends the following 4 processes: 1) an asset analysis of MMIS, 2) a vulnerability analysis of MMIS, 3) establishment of countermeasures, and 4) establishment of operational guideline for cyber security. Conventional method for the asset analysis is mainly performed with a table form for each asset. Conventional method requires a lot of efforts due to the duplication of information. This paper presents an asset analysis method using object oriented approach for the NPP

  13. The Human Factors and Ergonomics of P300-Based Brain-Computer Interfaces

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. Clark Powers

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Individuals with severe neuromuscular impairments face many challenges in communication and manipulation of the environment. Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs show promise in presenting real-world applications that can provide such individuals with the means to interact with the world using only brain waves. Although there has been a growing body of research in recent years, much relates only to technology, and not to technology in use—i.e., real-world assistive technology employed by users. This review examined the literature to highlight studies that implicate the human factors and ergonomics (HFE of P300-based BCIs. We assessed 21 studies on three topics to speak directly to improving the HFE of these systems: (1 alternative signal evocation methods within the oddball paradigm; (2 environmental interventions to improve user performance and satisfaction within the constraints of current BCI systems; and (3 measures and methods of measuring user acceptance. We found that HFE is central to the performance of P300-based BCI systems, although researchers do not often make explicit this connection. Incorporation of measures of user acceptance and rigorous usability evaluations, increased engagement of disabled users as test participants, and greater realism in testing will help progress the advancement of P300-based BCI systems in assistive applications.

  14. The graphics-based human interface to the DISYS diagnostic/control guidance system at EBR-2

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Edwards, R.M.; Chavez, C.; Kamarthi, S.; Dharap, S.; Lindsay, R.W.; Staffon, J.

    1990-01-01

    An initial graphics based interface to the real-time DISYS diagnostic system has been developed using the multi-tasking capabilities of the UNIX operating system and X-Windows 11 Xlib graphics library. This system is interfaced to live plant data at the Experimental Breeder Reactor (EBR-2) for the Argon Cooling System of fuel handling operations and the steam plant. The interface includes an intelligent process schematic which highlights problematic components and sensors based on the results of the diagnostic computations. If further explanation of a faulted component is required, the user can call up a display of the diagnostic computations presented in a tree-like diagram. Numerical data on the process schematic and optional diagnostic tree are updated as new real-time data becomes available. The initial X-Windows 11 based interface will be further enhanced using VI Corporation DATAVIEWS graphical data base software. 5 refs., 6 figs

  15. Upper limb functional electrical stimulation devices and their man-machine interfaces.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Venugopalan, L; Taylor, P N; Cobb, J E; Swain, I D

    2015-01-01

    Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) is a technique that uses electricity to activate the nerves of a muscle that is paralysed due to hemiplegia, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease or spinal cord injury (SCI). FES has been widely used to restore upper limb functions in people with hemiplegia and C5-C7 tetraplegia and has improved their ability to perform their activities of daily living (ADL). At the time of writing, a detailed literature review of the existing upper limb FES devices and their man-machine interfaces (MMI) showed that only the NESS H200 was commercially available. However, the rigid arm splint doesn't fit everyone and prevents the use of a tenodesis grip. Hence, a robust and versatile upper limb FES device that can be used by a wider group of people is required.

  16. EPICS-QT based graphical user interface for accelerator control

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Basu, A.; Singh, S.K.; Rosily, Sherry; Bhagwat, P.V.

    2016-01-01

    Particle accelerators and many industrial complex systems, require a robust and efficient control for its proper operation to achieve required beam quality, safety of its sub component and all working personnel. This control is executed via a graphical user interface through which an operator interacts with the accelerator to achieve the desired state of the machine and its output. Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) is a widely used control system framework in the field of accelerator control. It acts as a middle layer between field devices and graphic user interface used by the operator. Field devices can also be made EPICS compliant by using EPICS based software in that. On the other hand Qt is a C++ framework which is widely used for creating very professional looking and user friendly graphical component. In Low Energy High Intensity Proton Accelerator (LEHIPA), which is the first stage of the three stage Accelerator Driven System (ADS) program taken by Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), it is decided that EPICS will be used for controlling the accelerator and Qt will be used for developing the various Graphic User Interface (GUI) for operation and diagnostics. This paper discuss the work carried out to achieve this goal in LEHIPA

  17. Feedback for reinforcement learning based brain-machine interfaces using confidence metrics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prins, Noeline W.; Sanchez, Justin C.; Prasad, Abhishek

    2017-06-01

    Objective. For brain-machine interfaces (BMI) to be used in activities of daily living by paralyzed individuals, the BMI should be as autonomous as possible. One of the challenges is how the feedback is extracted and utilized in the BMI. Our long-term goal is to create autonomous BMIs that can utilize an evaluative feedback from the brain to update the decoding algorithm and use it intelligently in order to adapt the decoder. In this study, we show how to extract the necessary evaluative feedback from a biologically realistic (synthetic) source, use both the quantity and the quality of the feedback, and how that feedback information can be incorporated into a reinforcement learning (RL) controller architecture to maximize its performance. Approach. Motivated by the perception-action-reward cycle (PARC) in the brain which links reward for cognitive decision making and goal-directed behavior, we used a reward-based RL architecture named Actor-Critic RL as the model. Instead of using an error signal towards building an autonomous BMI, we envision to use a reward signal from the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) which plays a key role in the linking of reward to motor behaviors. To deal with the complexity and non-stationarity of biological reward signals, we used a confidence metric which was used to indicate the degree of feedback accuracy. This confidence was added to the Actor’s weight update equation in the RL controller architecture. If the confidence was high (>0.2), the BMI decoder used this feedback to update its parameters. However, when the confidence was low, the BMI decoder ignored the feedback and did not update its parameters. The range between high confidence and low confidence was termed as the ‘ambiguous’ region. When the feedback was within this region, the BMI decoder updated its weight at a lower rate than when fully confident, which was decided by the confidence. We used two biologically realistic models to generate synthetic data for MI (Izhikevich

  18. Collaborative human-machine nuclear non-proliferation analysis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Greitzer, F.L.; Badalamente, R.V.; Stewart, T.S.

    1993-10-01

    The purpose of this paper is to report on the results of a project investigating support concepts for the information treatment needs of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA, also referred to as the Agency) and its attempts to strengthen international safeguards. The aim of the research was to define user/computer interface concepts and intelligent support features that will enhance the analyst`s access to voluminous and diverse information, the ability to recognize and evaluate uncertain data, and the capability to make decisions and recommendations. The objective was to explore techniques for enhancing safeguards analysis through application of (1) more effective user-computer interface designs and (2) advanced concepts involving human/system collaboration. The approach was to identify opportunities for human/system collaboration that would capitalize on human strengths and still accommodate human limitations. This paper documents the findings and describes a concept prototype, Proliferation Analysis Support System (PASS), developed for demonstration purposes. The research complements current and future efforts to enhance the information systems used by the IAEA, but has application elsewhere, as well.

  19. Development of a Human Performance Evaluation Support System for Human Factors Validation of MCR MMI Design in APR-1400

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ha, Jun Su; Seong, Poong Hyun

    2005-01-01

    As CRT-based display and advanced information technology were applied to advanced reactors such as APR-1400 (Advanced Power Reactor-1400), human operators' tasks became more cognitive works. As a results, Human Factors Engineering (HFE) became more important in designing the MCR (Main Control Room) MMI (Man-Machine Interface) of an advanced reactor. According to the Human Factors Engineering Program Review Model, human factors validation of MCR MMI design should be performed through performance-based tests to determine whether it acceptably supports safe operation of the plant. In order to support the evaluation of the performance, a HUman Performance Evaluation Support System (HUPESS) is in development

  20. Advances in the development of a cognitive user interface

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jokisch Oliver

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available In this contribution, we want to summarize recent development steps of the embedded cognitive user interface UCUI, which enables a user-adaptive scenario in human-machine or even human-robot interactions by considering sophisticated cognitive and semantic modelling. The interface prototype is developed by different German institutes and companies with their steering teams at Fraunhofer IKTS and Brandenburg University of Technology. The interface prototype is able to communicate with users via speech and gesture recognition, speech synthesis and a touch display. The device includes an autarkic semantic processing and beyond a cognitive behavior control, which supports an intuitive interaction to control different kinds of electronic devices, e. g. in a smart home environment or in interactive respectively collaborative robotics. Contrary to available speech assistance systems such as Amazon Echo or Google Home, the introduced cognitive user interface UCUI ensures the user privacy by processing all necessary information without any network access of the interface device.

  1. Human-Centric Interfaces for Ambient Intelligence

    CERN Document Server

    Aghajan, Hamid; Delgado, Ramon Lopez-Cozar

    2009-01-01

    To create truly effective human-centric ambient intelligence systems both engineering and computing methods are needed. This is the first book to bridge data processing and intelligent reasoning methods for the creation of human-centered ambient intelligence systems. Interdisciplinary in nature, the book covers topics such as multi-modal interfaces, human-computer interaction, smart environments and pervasive computing, addressing principles, paradigms, methods and applications. This book will be an ideal reference for university researchers, R&D engineers, computer engineers, and graduate s

  2. Brain versus Machine Control.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jose M Carmena

    2004-12-01

    Full Text Available Dr. Octopus, the villain of the movie "Spiderman 2", is a fusion of man and machine. Neuroscientist Jose Carmena examines the facts behind this fictional account of a brain- machine interface

  3. A primer on brain-machine interfaces, concepts, and technology: a key element in the future of functional neurorestoration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Brian; Liu, Charles Y; Apuzzo, Michael L J

    2013-01-01

    Conventionally, the practice of neurosurgery has been characterized by the removal of pathology, congenital or acquired. The emerging complement to the removal of pathology is surgery for the specific purpose of restoration of function. Advents in neuroscience, technology, and the understanding of neural circuitry are creating opportunities to intervene in disease processes in a reparative manner, thereby advancing toward the long-sought-after concept of neurorestoration. Approaching the issue of neurorestoration from a biomedical engineering perspective is the rapidly growing arena of implantable devices. Implantable devices are becoming more common in medicine and are making significant advancements to improve a patient's functional outcome. Devices such as deep brain stimulators, vagus nerve stimulators, and spinal cord stimulators are now becoming more commonplace in neurosurgery as we utilize our understanding of the nervous system to interpret neural activity and restore function. One of the most exciting prospects in neurosurgery is the technologically driven field of brain-machine interface, also known as brain-computer interface, or neuroprosthetics. The successful development of this technology will have far-reaching implications for patients suffering from a great number of diseases, including but not limited to spinal cord injury, paralysis, stroke, or loss of limb. This article provides an overview of the issues related to neurorestoration using implantable devices with a specific focus on brain-machine interface technology. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  4. Brain–muscle interface

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    2011-05-16

    May 16, 2011 ... Clipboard: Brain–muscle interface: The next-generation BMI. Radhika Rajan Neeraj Jain ... Keywords. Assistive devices; brain–machine interface; motor cortex; paralysis; spinal cord injury ... Journal of Biosciences | News ...

  5. The Java Legacy Interface

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Korsholm, Stephan

    2007-01-01

    The Java Legacy Interface is designed to use Java for encapsulating native legacy code on small embedded platforms. We discuss why existing technologies for encapsulating legacy code (JNI) is not sufficient for an important range of small embedded platforms, and we show how the Java Legacy...... Interface offers this previously missing functionality. We describe an implementation of the Java Legacy Interface for a particular virtual machine, and how we have used this virtual machine to integrate Java with an existing, commercial, soft real-time, C/C++ legacy platform....

  6. Discrete Kalman Filter based Sensor Fusion for Robust Accessibility Interfaces

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ghersi, I; Miralles, M T; Mariño, M

    2016-01-01

    Human-machine interfaces have evolved, benefiting from the growing access to devices with superior, embedded signal-processing capabilities, as well as through new sensors that allow the estimation of movements and gestures, resulting in increasingly intuitive interfaces. In this context, sensor fusion for the estimation of the spatial orientation of body segments allows to achieve more robust solutions, overcoming specific disadvantages derived from the use of isolated sensors, such as the sensitivity of magnetic-field sensors to external influences, when used in uncontrolled environments. In this work, a method for the combination of image-processing data and angular-velocity registers from a 3D MEMS gyroscope, through a Discrete-time Kalman Filter, is proposed and deployed as an alternate user interface for mobile devices, in which an on-screen pointer is controlled with head movements. Results concerning general performance of the method are presented, as well as a comparative analysis, under a dedicated test application, with results from a previous version of this system, in which the relative-orientation information was acquired directly from MEMS sensors (3D magnetometer-accelerometer). These results show an improved response for this new version of the pointer, both in terms of precision and response time, while keeping many of the benefits that were highlighted for its predecessor, giving place to a complementary method for signal acquisition that can be used as an alternative-input device, as well as for accessibility solutions. (paper)

  7. Detecting Abnormal Word Utterances in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders: Machine-Learning-Based Voice Analysis Versus Speech Therapists.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nakai, Yasushi; Takiguchi, Tetsuya; Matsui, Gakuyo; Yamaoka, Noriko; Takada, Satoshi

    2017-10-01

    Abnormal prosody is often evident in the voice intonations of individuals with autism spectrum disorders. We compared a machine-learning-based voice analysis with human hearing judgments made by 10 speech therapists for classifying children with autism spectrum disorders ( n = 30) and typical development ( n = 51). Using stimuli limited to single-word utterances, machine-learning-based voice analysis was superior to speech therapist judgments. There was a significantly higher true-positive than false-negative rate for machine-learning-based voice analysis but not for speech therapists. Results are discussed in terms of some artificiality of clinician judgments based on single-word utterances, and the objectivity machine-learning-based voice analysis adds to judging abnormal prosody.

  8. Evaluation method of human-system interface for nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tanji, Junichi; Kawai, Jun; Masui, Takao; Ezaki, Ikuko

    2000-01-01

    We have developed HSI evaluation method based on a model of human cognitive processes in order to provide the viewpoint of the evaluation on the operability of interface. The model describes systematically the human error categories of GEMS by Reason. Based on the model together with reference to the other published information such as NUREG-0700Rev.1, the evaluation items for HSI have embodied in the electronic handbook HIBISCUS. The applicability of HIBISCUS have been assessed by evaluating experimental results using a simulator equipped with control panel using CRTs and touch operations. From the results, the usefulness of the handbook has been confirmed. (author)

  9. Evaluation method of human-system interface for nuclear power plants

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tanji, Junichi [Nuclear Power Engineering Corp. (NUPEC), Tokyo (Japan); Kawai, Jun; Masui, Takao; Ezaki, Ikuko [Mitsubishi Research Inst., Tokyo (Japan)

    2000-10-01

    We have developed HSI evaluation method based on a model of human cognitive processes in order to provide the viewpoint of the evaluation on the operability of interface. The model describes systematically the human error categories of GEMS by Reason. Based on the model together with reference to the other published information such as NUREG-0700Rev.1, the evaluation items for HSI have embodied in the electronic handbook HIBISCUS. The applicability of HIBISCUS have been assessed by evaluating experimental results using a simulator equipped with control panel using CRTs and touch operations. From the results, the usefulness of the handbook has been confirmed. (author)

  10. A performance indicator of the effectiveness of human-machine interfaces for nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moray, N.; Jones, B.J.; Rasmussen, J.; Lee, J.D.; Vicente, K.J.; Brock, R.; Djemil, T.

    1993-01-01

    Effective interfaces must call up operators' deep understanding of plant operation if operators are to deal effectively with normal operation and diagnosis of transients. The present research examines the ability of a memory recall task to indicate the ability of an interface to couple plant state to operator knowledge. Novices, people with intermediate experience, and experienced nuclear power plant operators viewed three kinds of displays. They watched nine simulated transients and tried to recall the values of variables, or the states through which the plant passed, and to detect and diagnose the nature of the transients. The displays were simulated analog instruments, simulated analog with pressure-temperature graphics, and an animated representation of the Rankine cycle. The recall tasks did not show promise as indirect performance indicators of the quality of the interfaces, but the diagnosis test detected differences in the quality of the displays and the levels of expertise

  11. A Conceptual Framework for Predicting Error in Complex Human-Machine Environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Freed, Michael; Remington, Roger; Null, Cynthia H. (Technical Monitor)

    1998-01-01

    We present a Goals, Operators, Methods, and Selection Rules-Model Human Processor (GOMS-MHP) style model-based approach to the problem of predicting human habit capture errors. Habit captures occur when the model fails to allocate limited cognitive resources to retrieve task-relevant information from memory. Lacking the unretrieved information, decision mechanisms act in accordance with implicit default assumptions, resulting in error when relied upon assumptions prove incorrect. The model helps interface designers identify situations in which such failures are especially likely.

  12. Improvement of human operator vibroprotection system in the utility machine

    Science.gov (United States)

    Korchagin, P. A.; Teterina, I. A.; Rahuba, L. F.

    2018-01-01

    The article is devoted to an urgent problem of improving efficiency of road-building utility machines in terms of improving human operator vibroprotection system by determining acceptable values of the rigidity coefficients and resistance coefficients of operator’s cab suspension system elements and those of operator’s seat. Negative effects of vibration result in labour productivity decrease and occupational diseases. Besides, structure vibrations have a damaging impact on the machine units and mechanisms, which leads to reducing an overall service life of the machine. Results of experimental and theoretical research of operator vibroprotection system in the road-building utility machine are presented. An algorithm for the program to calculate dynamic impacts on the operator in terms of different structural and performance parameters of the machine and considering combination of external pertrubation influences was proposed.

  13. The Trust Project - Symbiotic Human Machine Teams: Social Cueing for Trust and Reliance

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-06-30

    AFRL-RH-WP-TR-2016-0096 THE TRUST PROJECT - SYMBIOTIC HUMAN-MACHINE TEAMS: SOCIAL CUEING FOR TRUST & RELIANCE Susan Rivers, Monika Lohani, Marissa...30 JUN 2012 – 30 JUN 2016 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE THE TRUST PROJECT - SYMBIOTIC HUMAN-MACHINE TEAMS: SOCIAL CUEING FOR TRUST & RELIANCE 5a. CONTRACT

  14. Interface technology based on human cognition and understanding for the operation and maintenance of advanced human cooperative plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Numano, Masayoshi; Niwa, Yasuyuki; Itoh, Hiroko; Miyazaki, Keiko; Fukuto, Junji; Okazaki, Tadatsugi; Matsukura, Hiroshi; Tanaka, Kunihiko; Matsuoka, Takeshi; Liu, Qiao; Mitomo, Nobuo

    2006-01-01

    'Development of Intelligent Systems Technology for Advanced Human Cooperative Plants' was implemented as 'Nuclear Energy Fundamentals Crossover Research' by 3 institutes (The Institute of Physical and Chemical Research; RIKEN, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology; AIST and National Maritime Research Institute; NMRI). Aiming at appropriate interaction between human and agents in Digital Maintenance Field which spreads widely in time and space, NMRI developed technologies on contraction of plant information, generalization and intuition of the information through visual presentation. Intuitive presentation gave on-site information for identifying the source of abnormalities to human operators. And a human-machine cooperation infrastructure for plant maintenance was proposed and developed, where an overview display was used to show position and state information of all the agents in the plant and each agent view was used to show the corresponding agent's information in detail. A part of this technology was implemented in a demonstration program. Two agents were developed to support human operators' plant maintenance activities in this program. This demonstration showed the effectiveness of human-agent cooperation for early plant abnormality detection. (author)

  15. Organic interfaces

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Poelman, W.A.; Tempelman, E.

    2014-01-01

    This paper deals with the consequences for product designers resulting from the replacement of traditional interfaces by responsive materials. Part 1 presents a theoretical framework regarding a new paradigm for man-machine interfacing. Part 2 provides an analysis of the opportunities offered by new

  16. Man-machine design integration

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Carrera, J.P. [Westinghouse Electric Corp., Monroeville, PA (United States). Nuclear Technology Div.; Haentjens, J. [Westinghouse Electric Corp., Brussels (Belgium). Nuclear Technology Div.

    1995-12-31

    The presentation overviews the bases for Man-Machine Interface (MMI) designs that are part of three other presentations during the same conference: Advanced Alarm Management System, Functional Displays and System for Emergency Procedure Execution Monitoring. The MMD group history, team and goals are summarized to give some context to the core of the MMD philosophy and integration. (10 refs., 5 figs.).

  17. Machinability of nickel based alloys using electrical discharge machining process

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khan, M. Adam; Gokul, A. K.; Bharani Dharan, M. P.; Jeevakarthikeyan, R. V. S.; Uthayakumar, M.; Thirumalai Kumaran, S.; Duraiselvam, M.

    2018-04-01

    The high temperature materials such as nickel based alloys and austenitic steel are frequently used for manufacturing critical aero engine turbine components. Literature on conventional and unconventional machining of steel materials is abundant over the past three decades. However the machining studies on superalloy is still a challenging task due to its inherent property and quality. Thus this material is difficult to be cut in conventional processes. Study on unconventional machining process for nickel alloys is focused in this proposed research. Inconel718 and Monel 400 are the two different candidate materials used for electrical discharge machining (EDM) process. Investigation is to prepare a blind hole using copper electrode of 6mm diameter. Electrical parameters are varied to produce plasma spark for diffusion process and machining time is made constant to calculate the experimental results of both the material. Influence of process parameters on tool wear mechanism and material removal are considered from the proposed experimental design. While machining the tool has prone to discharge more materials due to production of high energy plasma spark and eddy current effect. The surface morphology of the machined surface were observed with high resolution FE SEM. Fused electrode found to be a spherical structure over the machined surface as clumps. Surface roughness were also measured with surface profile using profilometer. It is confirmed that there is no deviation and precise roundness of drilling is maintained.

  18. Modeling human-machine interactions for operations room layouts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hendy, Keith C.; Edwards, Jack L.; Beevis, David

    2000-11-01

    The LOCATE layout analysis tool was used to analyze three preliminary configurations for the Integrated Command Environment (ICE) of a future USN platform. LOCATE develops a cost function reflecting the quality of all human-human and human-machine communications within a workspace. This proof- of-concept study showed little difference between the efficacy of the preliminary designs selected for comparison. This was thought to be due to the limitations of the study, which included the assumption of similar size for each layout and a lack of accurate measurement data for various objects in the designs, due largely to their notional nature. Based on these results, the USN offered an opportunity to conduct a LOCATE analysis using more appropriate assumptions. A standard crew was assumed, and subject matter experts agreed on the communications patterns for the analysis. Eight layouts were evaluated with the concepts of coordination and command factored into the analysis. Clear differences between the layouts emerged. The most promising design was refined further by the USN, and a working mock-up built for human-in-the-loop evaluation. LOCATE was applied to this configuration for comparison with the earlier analyses.

  19. The mission execution crew assistant : Improving human-machine team resilience for long duration missions

    OpenAIRE

    Neerincx, M.A.; Lindenberg, J.; Smets, N.J.J.M.; Bos, A.; Breebaart, L.; Grant, T.; Olmedo-Soler, A.; Brauer, U.; Wolff, M.

    2008-01-01

    Manned long-duration missions to the Moon and Mars set high operational, human factors and technical demands for a distributed support system, which enhances human-machine teams' capabilities to cope autonomously with unexpected, complex and potentially hazardous situations. Based on a situated Cognitive Engineering (sCE) method, we specified a theoretical and empirical founded Requirements Baseline (RB) for such a system (called Mission Execution Crew Assistant; MECA), and its rational consi...

  20. A highly sensitive, low-cost, wearable pressure sensor based on conductive hydrogel spheres

    KAUST Repository

    Tai, Yanlong; Mulle, Matthieu; Ventura, Isaac Aguilar; Lubineau, Gilles

    2015-01-01

    Wearable pressure sensing solutions have promising future for practical applications in health monitoring and human/machine interfaces. Here, a highly sensitive, low-cost, wearable pressure sensor based on conductive single-walled carbon nanotube