A framework for describing interaction between human operators and autonomous, automated, and manual control systems

Abstract

This paper addresses how to describe critical episodes of interaction between human operators and autonomous, automated, and manual control systems. The first part of the paper poses three questions: (1) what levels of cognitive control are important to include in a descriptive framework for joint human-autonomy in process control; (2) how should one describe temporal developments in joint socio-technical systems; and (3) how does one analyse communication and control at the system joints. The paper proceeds by proposing a new framework for description and analysis, the Joint Control Framework (JCF), with a simple notation, the Score (JCF-S). It allows descriptions of the three previously mentioned aspects through three analytical activities: process mapping (PM), analysis of Levels of Autonomy in Cognitive Control (LACC), and temporal descriptions of human–machine interaction (T-HMI) through the Score notation. This facilitates analyses across cases and domains. The framework is discussed based on an analysis of two episodes; one work episode (from an air traffic control tower simulator); and one work procedure (from an unmanned traffic management system design concept).