Information technologies based questionnaire tool in human-automation systems

Abstract

In this paper we present an Information Technologies (IT) based questionnaire tool in order to support evaluation activities related to industrial automation. We assess the questionnaire tool by giving special attention to teaching activities at different universities and industrial cooperation, all of them within the industrial automation field. In an initial assessment, the use of an evaluation questionnaire tool within an academic platform allows members from different universities to collaborate and to share knowledge. By means of an example, the Barcelona Tech University in Spain provides support for teaching activities in automation to the ESPE University in Quito, Ecuador. A second case study example is presented in order to show how to detect sources of complexity in human supervisory control room tasks in wastewater treatment plants. The first results show that the interface is effective, easy to use and understand and can help engineering students in a training program to play the role of control room operators and the elicitation of sources of complexity can be useful to improve the interaction between humans and safety-critical systems in the industrial domain.