Human factors and ergonomics

Increasing the level of automation in air traffic management is seen as a measure to increase the performance of the service to satisfy the predicted future demand. This is expected to result in new roles for the human operator: he will mainly monitor highly automated systems and seldom intervene. Therefore, air traffic controllers (ATCos) would often work in a supervisory or control mode rather than in a direct operating mode. However, it has been demonstrated how human operators in such a role are affected by human performance issues, known as Out-Of-The-Loop (OOTL) phenomenon, consisting in lack of attention, loss of situational awareness and de-skilling. A countermeasure to this phenomenon has been identified in the adaptive automation (AA), i.e., a system able to allocate the operative tasks to the machine or to the operator depending on their needs. In this context, psychophysiological measures have been highlighted as powerful tool to provide a reliable, unobtrusive and real-time assessment of the ATCo's mental state to be used as control logic for AA-based systems. In this paper, it is presented the so-called “Vigilance and Attention Controller”, a system based on electroencephalography (EEG) and eye-tracking (ET) techniques, aimed to assess in real time the vigilance level of an ATCo dealing with a highly automated human–machine interface and to use this measure to adapt the level of automation of the interface itself. The system has been tested on 14 professional ATCos performing two highly realistic scenarios, one with the system disabled and one with the system enabled. The results confirmed that (i) long high automated tasks induce vigilance decreasing and OOTL-related phenomena; (ii) EEG measures are sensitive to these kinds of mental impairments; and (iii) AA was able to counteract this negative effect by keeping the ATCo more involved within the operative task. The results were confirmed by EEG and ET measures as well as by performance and subjective ones, providing a clear example of potential applications and related benefits of AA.

Keywords: adaptive automation , air traffic control , electroencephalography , eye-tracking , human–machine interface , Out-Of-The-Loop , passive brain–computer interface , vigilance

In the recent past a growing attention to the passenger is emerging overall in the transport domain. Hence, maximising the quality of travelling from the human's point of view is a new challenge especially in those fields, such as aeronautics, in which technical efficiency, capacity and sustainability have traditionally driven the design process of systems and subsystems. In this context it is crucial to implement an efficient human centred design process in order to foresee the capability of a specific cabin interiors design of meeting the user's expectations, including the needs related to comfort and well being. By using virtual reality technologies as a vehicle/platform, it allows the users/passengers to experience the interior environment of the cabin long before the actual development and manufacturing of the full size demonstrator. Due to the complex nature of aerospace programmes, typically taking ‘many' years to develop and productionise, technologies which help reduce programme risk and potential delays are hugely beneficial to all partners involved. In this paper we present the results of a virtual reality based evaluation campaign specifically conceived for the collection of potential users' feedback in the design of innovative and breakthrough solutions for the business jet industry. The main issues have regarded the identification of the expectation for such an elitist population and the creation of a Virtual Environment to explore the entire cabin as a holistic approach and innovative passenger experience. The work has been performed in the framework the Horizon 2020 project CASTLE (Cabin Systems Design Toward Passenger Well-being).

Keywords: Aircraft design , Cabin interiors , Comfort , Human centred design , Virtual reality

Variations in alpha rhythm have a significant role in perception and attention. Recently, alpha decrease has been associated with externally directed attention, especially in the visual domain, whereas alpha increase has been related to internal processing such as mental arithmetic. However, the role of alpha oscillations and how the different components of a task (processing of external stimuli, internal manipulation/representation, and task demand) interact to affect alpha power are still unclear. Here, we investigate how alpha power is differently modulated by attentional tasks depending both on task difficulty (less/more demanding task) and direction of attention (internal/external). To this aim, we designed two experiments that differently manipulated these aspects. Experiment 1, outside Virtual Reality (VR), involved two tasks both requiring internal and external attentional components (intake of visual items for their internal manipulation) but with different internal task demands (arithmetic vs. reading). Experiment 2 took advantage of the VR (mimicking an aircraft cabin interior) to manipulate attention direction: It included a condition of VR immersion only, characterized by visual external attention, and a condition of a purely mental arithmetic task during VR immersion, requiring neglect of sensory stimuli. Results show that: (1) In line with previous studies, visual external attention caused a significant alpha decrease, especially in parieto-occipital regions; (2) Alpha decrease was significantly larger during the more demanding arithmetic task, when the task was driven by external visual stimuli; (3) Alpha dramatically increased during the purely mental task in VR immersion, whereby the external stimuli had no relation with the task. Our results suggest that alpha power is crucial to isolate a subject from the environment, and move attention from external to internal cues. Moreover, they emphasize that the emerging use of VR associated with EEG may have important implications to study brain rhythms and support the design of artificial systems.

Automation has been introduced more and more into the role of air traffic control (ATC). As with many other areas of human activity, automation has the objective of reducing the complexity of the task so that performance is optimised and safer. However, automation can also have negative effects on cognitive processing and the performance of the controllers. In this paper, we present the progress made at AUTOPACE, a European project in which research is carried out to discover what these negative effects are and to propose measures to mitigate them. The fundamental proposal of the project is to analyse, predict, and mitigate these negative effects by assessing the complexity of ATC in relation to the mental workload experienced by the controller. Hence, a highly complex situation will be one with a high mental workload and a low complex situation will be one in which the mental workload is low.

Keywords: Air-traffic controllers , Automation , Mental workload

Current market requirements push designers towards the enhancement of their activities. One possibility for doing this consists in analyzing design activities from different points of view, aiming at identifying and implementing possible improvements. The literature already offers descriptive methods and tools to perform this analysis exhaustively and effectively; nevertheless, the increasing variety of starting points and goals as well as the exploitation of user-related concerns like emotions, meanings, etc., sometimes make these methods and tools barely suitable for this analysis. This research aims at developing the X for Design (XfD) framework to model design activities that deal with different starting points and goals as well as with user experience concerns, in order to enhance them by highlighting where to add something new and/or what to modify/delete of the existing. To achieve this, the analysis of existing design activities and design methods allows highlighting some requirements to overcome the weaknesses of the descriptive methods and tools currently available. Then, these requirements lead the development of the XfD framework, based on three well-known descriptive methods and tools. Subsequently, the adoption of the XfD to model and enhance the design activities of two real companies comes as first validation of the research results. This validation highlights both quantitative and qualitative improvements. The XfD could help researchers in deepening their knowledge about the role of emotions and human behaviors in design; at the same time, designers could adopt the framework to enhance their activities in order to match current market requirements at best.

Keywords: Design activities , Human behavior in design , Modeling methods and tools , User experience , X for design

Several definitions of User eXperience (UX) are present in the literature, representing the references for different UX evaluation methods and tools. Among these methods and tools, the irMMs-based method and the meCUE questionnaire show different peculiarities and seem good candidates to speculate on their integration, aiming at improving applicability, completeness and effectiveness of UX evaluation activities. The goal of this research is indeed to integrate the irMMs-based method with the meCUE questionnaire in order to enhance the former by exploiting the stronger points of the latter. To achieve this, we analyze the lacks of the irMMs-based method and verify the meCUE questionnaire capabilities in overcoming these lacks. Once verified, we proceed with the integration by modifying the evaluation activities of the irMMs-based method. Finally, we perform a first validation of the enhanced release by comparing it to the old one in the field. Researchers can exploit the same procedure to integrate other methods and tools in order to improve them; on the other hand, industrial practitioners can use the enhanced release for their UX evaluations since it is ready to be applicable even by non-developers.

Keywords: irMMs-based method , meCUE questionnaire , UX evaluation

The literature offers methods and tools for user experience (UX) evaluation. Among them, the irMMs-based method exploits mental models related to specific situations of interaction. The literature also proposes frameworks and models to describe product development activities. One of these, the X for Design framework (XfD), allows modeling different activities and suggests modifications in order to improve them. This research aims at verifying the capabilities of the XfD in improving the irMMs-based method. Once improved thanks to the XfD, the irMMs-based method is adopted together with the original release of it and with the well-known Think Aloud usability evaluation method in evaluating the UX of a CAD software package. The comparison of the results starts demonstrating the capabilities of the XfD in improving UX evaluation activities. The research outcomes can be of interest for researchers who can exploit the XfD suggestions to deepen their knowledge about human cognitive processes and for industrial practitioners who can apply the suggestions proposed by the XfD to their own evaluation activities to make them more effective.

Keywords: irMMs-based method , mental models , think aloud method , user experience evaluation , X for design

This paper introduces a new system capable of adaptively managing multimedia contents (e.g. music, video clips, etc.) and lighting scenarios based on the detected user's emotional state. The system captures the emotion from the user's face expression mapping it into a 2D valence-arousal space where the multimedia content is mapped and matches them with lighting color. Results of preliminary tests suggest that the proposed system is able to detect the user's emotional state and manage proper music and light colors in a symbiotic way.

MoBeTrack (Mobile Behaviour Tracking) is a toolkit for automated collection of data necessary to support User Experience (UX) assessment of mobile applications. In contrast to existing frameworks, it is able to collect user demographic information (i.e., age and gender), trace any user interaction and recognize user's emotions during the use of an application. An SDK for iOS allows to easily embedding the toolkit in every mobile application in a flexible and scalable way.

Background: Population aging is inducing governments to redesign their healthcare models. One policy measure aimed at reducing healthcare expenditures and improving services is to encourage people to age-in-place. Scientific research has been trying to find ICT-enabled solutions to the growing problem of elderly home care. However, such research is often technology-oriented and neglects the end-user perspective. It does not consider the real needs of older people and all stakeholders involved in their healthcare. Method: A user-centered design approach was adopted with the involvement of older people, experts dealing with the aging population, and the whole stakeholders' chain. Through surveys, focus groups, and brainstorming sessions, it was possible to determine the main features of the product service platform. Results: Starting from a large-scale survey of elderly people living in Italy, this paper presents the requirements and the architecture of a product service platform aimed at improving the independence and elderly quality of life. This work proposes an elderly-centered platform that works as an aggregation point of an articulated social health system, provides multiple tailored services, and optimizes the use of local resources. Conclusions: The involvement of the end-user and all the stakeholders allowed for the consideration of different perspectives and the creation of a value network that aggregates existing services, resources, and information with new opportunities to achieve common benefits. This work provides guidelines on how to develop this type of platform by exploiting the potential of each stakeholder without creating new barriers. Technology, caregivers, and society are combined synergistically to provide tailored services able to satisfy specific users' needs.

Keywords: Aging in place , Community-based eldercare , Healthcare information technology , Product service platform , Smart environments

The Internet of Things market is rapidly increasing and offers a wide variety of Smart Products (SPs) apparently similar but with different potentialities that the average user fails to perceive. In order to reduce purchase risks, consumers rely on online product reviews, which do not often reflect the effective quality of the products. For this aim, this paper proposes a systematic method to objectively evaluate SPs in a comprehensive way to support the consumer in choosing the product that most satisfies his/her needs. It has been implemented on three different SPs categories: body scales, blood pressure monitors, and activity trackers.

Keywords: customer satisfaction , Internet of Things , products reviews , smart products ratings , systematic evaluation method

The present research paper would propose a novel social healthcare model for Italian older people, having carried out an in-deep analysis of the current scenario. In fact, studying older people over 75 who live in the inner areas of the Marche region has allowed acquiring the knowledge of their main needs and characteristics. This paper aims to study such the sample considering that nowadays the society trend is characterized by an increasing number of older people in comparison with previous decades. Then, the improvement of the current social healthcare model becomes an important challenge, trying to support older people in being more autonomous and less isolated, escaping from the potential related depression. According to the survey results, the services that a novel social healthcare model should provide are suggested.

Recently, human-centered design has become one of the most promising approaches for improving the entire production process design. During the design phase, among the main important aspects to investigate, ergonomic performance of the workplace (WP) plays a key role. It is well known that design errors can lead to significant delays in the design and engineering of a production process, especially when it is related to a complex system such as the assembly line of an automotive industry. Prediction of the ergonomic performance, which is often coarsely considered during the design phase, can represent a fundamental step in preventing ergonomic issues since the early design phase of a production process, avoiding also negative consequences on line balancing. Based on a concurrent engineering (CE) approach, the aim of this paper is to present a framework that uses digital twins of stations in order to minimise the time necessary to develop and design a new assembly line. The application of this procedure will allow avoiding the possibility of realising a line that reveals ergonomic problems and correcting design errors during the design phase and not just during the production phase. In this way, it is possible to achieve great advantages in terms of cost avoidance for the correction of the design errors and in terms of time to market, which will be significantly reduced. A digital twin of a real station of a Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) assembly line is presented to validate the numerical procedure and the design approach proposed in this paper. Finally, numerical results, regarding the evaluation of an ergonomic index, were compared with experimental ones achieved by analysing data collected during an experimental session.

Keywords: Digital twin , Ergonomics , Human-centered design , Managerial methodological framework , Simulation

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the three-year cumulative risk of work-related upper limb disorders (WRULDs) in a cohort of automotive industry workers and to provide a first test of the ability of the European Assembly Worksheet (EAWS) methodology to predict WRULDs. METHODS: 292 workers were investigated by reviewing workers' medical records during the period from 2012-2015 to determine their exposure to biomechanical overload according to EAWS risk scores (0-25, low risk, Green zone; 26-50, medium risk, Yellow zone; >50, High risk; Red zone). RESULTS: The risks were 0.83%, 5.71%, and 11.88% for the Control (unexposed), Green and Yellow Groups, respectively. Only the comparison between the Yellow/Control Groups was significant (p = 0.0014). In total, we observed 17 cases of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) (14 symptomatic and 3 cases detected by physical examination). CONCLUSIONS: The EAWS is a useful tool for the preliminary risk assessments of biomechanical overload among automotive industry workers. The finding of mainly non-specific disorders highly suggests that health surveillance should aim to identify not only full-blown diseases but also symptomatic cases.

Keywords: biomechanical overload , EAWS (European Assembly Worksheet) , Musculoskeletal disorders

According to the international literature postures, exerted forces, manual handling and repetitive actions with upper limbs must be considered in order to estimate the workers' exposure to biomechanical overload risk, but also a preventive ergonomic approach in the design phase is possible. Within the Industry 4.0, the digitalisation of manufacturing processes generate benefits in terms of production costs and time. Regarding the ergonomics, it is possible to set up a predictive model for the evaluation of biomechanical overload risk. This paper proposes an appraisal of a workplace design and ergonomics validation procedure based on simulation: data from assembly tasks simulation of Digital Human Models (DHM) can be used to assess the ergonomic indexes (OWAS, NIOSH, OCRA, EAWS, etc.). So, it is possible to preventively solve ergonomic risks during the design phase. A test case, regarding a real workplace of an assembly line of an important automotive Company, is also presented.

Keywords: human-centred design , industrial ergonomics , simulation , Workplace design

Since the early development for health purposes in 1950s, motion tracking systems have been strongly developed for several applications. Nowadays, using Micro Electro-Mechanics Systems (MEMS) technologies, these systems have become compact and light, being popular for several applications. Looking at the manufacturing industry, such as the automotive one, ergonomic postural analyses are a key step in the workplaces design and motion tracking systems represent fundamental tools to provide data about postures of workers while carrying out working tasks, in order to assess the critical issues according to ISO 11226 standard. The aim of this work is to present an experimental wearable inertial motion tracking system, developed at the Dept. of Engineering of the University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli” in collaboration with Linup S.r.l., composed by several low-cost inertial measurement units (IMU). The system allows to estimate the orientation of selected human body segments and to analyze the postures assumed during the working tasks. To increase the flexibility of use, the system is highly modular: it's composed by 4 independent modules in full-body configuration, each one made of 3 or 4 inertial units. In this paper, the overall system is presented, supported by several test cases, carried out in Fiat Chrysler Automobile (FCA) assembly lines, to test the system reliability in industrial environments. Furthermore, an automatic posture analysis code is presented to evaluate the postural critical issue of the workplaces.

Keywords: Industrial environment , Inertial measurement unit , Wearable devices , Working postures

Among the technologies included in Industry 4.0, the fourth industrial revolution, Digital Manufacturing (DM) represents a new approach to evaluate the performance of production processes in a virtual environment. DM can be seen as the industrial declination of Virtual Reality (VR) that, by using an integrated computer-based system, allows creating simulation, 3D visualization and provides different tools to define the product and the manufacturing process simultaneously. Virtualization and simulation of production processes generate benefits for companies in terms of time and costs, optimizing the assembly line and providing parameters for studying human-machine interaction. Regarding this last topic, the aim of this paper is to propose an innovative procedure to support the workplaces design, based on simulation techniques that allow setting a virtual scenario in which a Digital Human Model (DHM) is able to carry on assembly tasks. Data from simulations can be analyzed and used to assess ergonomic indexes in a preventive and proactive approach. As other automotive manufacturers, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) applies EAWS (European Assessment Work Sheet), a first level screening, to assess the ergonomic biomechanical overload of workplaces in the design phase, according to international standards (ISO 11226 and ISO 11228-1, -2, -3). The ergonomics risk assessment, since the design phase, allows identifying critical issues and to define and put in practice corrective actions in the earlier phase, being more successful and less expensive. In order to support the procedure proposed in this research, a case study is described, based on the EAWS index evaluation of a workstation in a FCA plant assembly shop. The simulation has been realized by using PLM software Tecnomatix Process Simulate by Siemens® and the EAWS analysis has been performed by using EAWSdigital by MTM®. The procedure can be considered innovative to support human-centered design of production process in developing new products.

Keywords: Digital human models , Digital manufacturing , EAWS , Simulation

Biomechanical overload represents one of the main risks in the industrial environment and the main possible source of musculoskeletal disorders and diseases. The aim of the this study is to introduce new technologies for quantitative risk assessment of biomechanical overload, by integrating surface electromyography (sEMG) with an innovative motion-capture system based on inertial measurement units (IMU). The case study was carried out in collaboration with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Italy S.p.A. and deals with the analysis of the “central tunnel cabinet assembly” activity, performed by two workers of assembly lines during a working task, which lasts about one minute. The electromyography signals were acquired bilaterally, in three different body regions on the right and on the left side of the Erector Spinae, during standard working activities; the progression of trunk postures (flexion-extension, lateral flexion and twisting) was tracked by using an inertial motion-capture system made of wearable inertial sensors, to evaluate the alignment of the major body segments, using a developed algorithm. Data analysis showed kinematic and muscular activity patterns consistent with the expected ones. In particular, data show that the proposed technologies can be integrated and simultaneously used during workers' real performing activities. Data quality also demonstrates that both types of sensors, EMG electrodes and IMU, not influenced each other, neither by electromagnetic noise usually present in an industrial environment. The results of this study show feasibility and usefulness of the integration of kinematic and electromyography technologies for assessing the biomechanical overload in production lines.

Keywords: Biomechanical overload , Inertial sensors , Surface electromyography

Biomechanical overload is one of the main risk factors for musculoskeletal disorders among manufacturing workers and so far, it has been evaluated with observational methods. The aim of this research was to introduce a procedure for quantitative biomechanical overload risk assessment in which surface electromyography integrates with a motion capture system. The paper deals with actual test cases performed in an automotive company, using surface electromyography and a homemade inertial motion capture system. The quality of the data produced by it demonstrates that these devices can be integrated, worn in actual working conditions and are not influenced by electromagnetic interference.

Keywords: Biomechanical load , IMU , Industrial ergonomics , sEMG , Wearable devices

Augmented reality is considered one of the enabling technologies of the fourth industrial revolution, within the Industry 4.0 program and beyond. Indeed, augmented reality solutions can increase the working quality and the productivity and allow a better use of the human resources. This technology can help the operator in the industrial applications during the crucial phases of the processes. Since the quality assessment of the surfaces is recognized to be a key phase in the polishing process, in this paper we propose a novel method that exploits augmented reality to support the operators during this phase. The metrology data measured by a surface measurement system are directly projected on the polished component through an augmented reality headset worn by the operators and used to assess the quality of the worked surfaces. Rather than imagine how a certain parameter change can affect the result achieved, the information is directly there on the component's surface. Users can see from the data where refinements are required and make better and faster decisions, which is compelling for its potential beyond industrial polishing. The proposed method is implemented and validated on an industrial cell, where the robot automatically perform the polishing task and move the head of the surface measurement system along the surface to measure the metrology parameters. Thanks to the proposed approach, the end-user and the operator can directly see on the component if the quality reached satisfies the specifications or if some parts of the surface require further refinements through additional polishing steps.

Keywords: Augmented reality , Industrial robotic solutions , Robotic polishing