Human-In-The-Loop Evaluation of Human-Machine Interface for Power Plant Operators
Seunghyun Tina Lee, So Young Kim, David J Gilmore
GE Research, Atlanta, GA and San Ramon, CA, USA
2017
As industrial plants (e.g. gas-fired power stations) become more and more digital the human-machine interface (HMI) is in danger of being left behind. These studies evaluate modern digital designs for power plant HMI.
Continued advancements in computer technologies have enabled software engineers to collect more data, to use more sophisticated visual graphics and to automate more tasks / functions, resulting in increased complexity for plant operators. The HMI is the operator’s interface for managing the plant and its safety-critical systems (such as turbines, aircraft, etc. [2, 3]). HMI plays a critical role for safe operations of these kinds of systems.
For example, the case of the Three Mile Island accident showed how a failure in providing clear situational information through the HMI contributed to one of the worst incidents in the industry. Therefore, appropriate design guideline for developing HMI for safety-critical systems is an important aspect of building these systems, and should be executed through a rigorous and thorough process.