The Human Should Be Seen as the Centre of a System Rather than a Mere Peripheral
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The role of human in the mechanical system and all types of automatic systems used nowadays remains the same as it was in all kinds of primitive mechanisms used years and centuries ago: his role is essential. We can not make the computer the work without ourselves, all the machines that work now don’t possess anything worth to be called an intelligence, and the human is the only one who can barely manage them. Even in the age of high technological advance still the robots and automates can not replace the human and can not be called excellent systems of making the decisions, even if their tasks are very primitive.
The role of human in the mechanical system and all types of automatic systems used nowadays remains the same as it was in all kinds of primitive mechanisms used years and centuries ago: his role is essential. We can not make the computer the work without ourselves, all the machines that work now don’t possess anything worth to be called an intelligence, and the human is the only one who can barely manage them. Even in the age of high technological advance still the robots and automates can not replace the human and can not be called excellent systems of making the decisions, even if their tasks are very primitive.
So if to speak about any sort of technical system, that puts the human into any kind of the dependence its design, stable and reliable work are of the main value, because the human’s safety, health and life are priceless. Any sort of aviation related technical system no matter if it’s a plane or navigation equipment on the ground are those where the consideration of human factor is of the main value and attention, because the outcomes of mistakes made in the developing of it, may later pour into the unremovable tragedy. The term human factor doesn’t have an exact meaning and is explained in different ways by specialists, having one in common the central perspective of a human.
Most of people agree that human factors study is about reducing of the possibilities of human errors and increasing of human performance in the operating system, others refer to it as “maintenance resource management” while still there are specialists that refer human factors study to ergonomics or environmental labor conditions. Truthfully judging all these explanations is suitable and reflects the core of the study. If to quote the United States Department of Transport and Federal Aviation Administration joint document, ‘Human Factors in Aviation Maintenance and Inspection - Strategic Program Plan’: ‘Human Factors’ refers to the study of human capabilities and limitations in the workplace. Human factors include, but are not limited to, such attributes as human physiology, psychology, work place design, environmental conditions, human-machine interface, and more. Human factors researchers study system performance. That is, they study the interaction of humans, the equipment they use, the written and verbal procedures and rules they follow and the environment and conditions of any system.”
The development of the human factor engineering began before the WW2 nearly at the same time in the countries that were the leaders in aviation industry. Because it was already the time when there was enough knowledge collected and analyzed both about the theory of aviation and design of flying means, scientists faced another problem, and it was the human factor. The complication of the equipment on board the aircraft required addition knowledge and skills to be managed, and equipment once made for flight improvement could appear to bring just harm and be the cause of the accident and tragedy, because of the human factor. It’s generally understood that even well-trained and qualified pilots are not insured from making the mistake in flight, the same problem is about on-land aviation dispatchers.
The fist improved made with the acceptation of human factor influence as the most essential one on aviation was the recognition that jet’s cockpit needed more controls and interface, so that the pilot had more clear idea about the conditions of flight and so that he had more opportunities to change something and more freedom and confidence in taking the decisions. As the technology developed and the space for improvements grew there appeared design engineers and industry related psychologists who worked on both sides of the problem of introduction of new technologies in to practice so that reliance and safety would be united.
The first problem that designers had to solve was not one of engineering kind, but one psychological that appears in critical cases when a person feels the whole dependence upon the technology and machine. This research required the study of human’s psychics, psychology and related disciplines, in order to understand the human’s behavior in critical situations and reflect all this knowledge and research in technological design, making the systems more reliable, easy and able being used in situations when a pilot feels the great psychological tense and stress. These situations are very common in routine practice so when such situation happens there is usually not that much time to make a right decision and complicity of the equipment just only confuses the pilot, so the simplicity of the equipment is of a high importance.
Nowadays experience and research shows that the role of a human in aviation is double-spaced, meaning that the person is not just one who manages the whole process of flight, but marking him as the main reason of all the errors and accidents happening onboard of a plain. To be more exact the human factor is the reason of 75% of all the civil aviation accidents, it’s also generally agreed that humans are the best fail-safe element of the system. The major work of all modern aviation industry is directed on the inclusion of the human factors in all the spheres of aviation engineering. Taking into consideration of the human factor in complicated systems should be the first task of any technical research and project, because the corrections made later can increase the net value and efficiency of the future project, another thing that is very important that the designers should consult the pilots as the primary users of their equipment and take in to their consideration all their recommendations and remarks. Aviation human engineers should not only find the most optimal and effective decisions but they should also analyze their safety and reliance once being used.
The development of human engineering should be also reflect in legislature and technical control of all the new projects on their reliance and safety, so that those projects that don’t answer the existing standards of safety won’t be accepted for future realization. The technical control should include the following testing services as human-factor experts, user-interface designers, pilots and airlines to test the equipment, system engineers, avionics experts, training experts, safety and certification experts. Because only a detailed expertise can draw the most realist picture of the future destiny and behavior of the new project.
If before the world war two the destiny of the airplanes was just in the hands of aviation engineers and constructors, then nowadays it’s the concern and work of many specialist that refer to the different branches of science. It’s not enough nowadays to develop and test the equipment for aviation and moreover the whole aviation system as an aircraft, testing and checking its efficiency and safety takes more time. It requires the development of the new testing methods not only to test its technical characteristics but it’s usage to be comfortable and convenient as well as easy-to-use. The last named characteristics are of the great importance, there is a saying “everything genuine is simple”, and it more than enough suits the case in aviation. Because the pilot’s job requires a big psychological preparation and still is very risky, the simplicity of usage of equipment’s usage is of a great importance, especially in situations that require great psychological tense and when any error done can become critical.
The most innovative technologies that are used in human engineering are the usage of math and computer modeling of the flight and aviation processes. Flight simulators that are widely used for pilot training and testing of the new airplane models are making a great favor in the studies of aviation technologies and help to find the most inexpensive and effective solutions and ideas to the designers.
Modeling different extraordinary situations on the base of computer designers are able to evaluate the behavior of the human and his actions if this situation was a taking place in reality. National airspace laboratory in Germany, as well as specialists of other countries nowadays, has developed a PC flight simulation that quickly adopts to the customers requirements and demands. The simulation includes high resolution LCd pannels a sidestick, a throttle, a multi-purpose control and display unit, a simulated overhead panel, flight mode and display control panels, and various cursor control devices., Naturally the displays can be freely defined using NADDES. In addition to performance measurement, a full range of human factors measurements is available, including eye tracking and video recordings. Recent projects for customers include research into novel concepts for system control, airborne separation assurance, and the usability of large flat panel displays. (Human-centred flightdeck design). www.nlr.nl/public/facilities/flight.html
New computer technologies make the flight simulation more realistic and close to real conditions than ever before. The methods that are used now in both modeling of flight conditions and modeling of the jets open new possibilities in the studies of reducing the existing risks and making the whole process of flight more automated, that makes it not so dependent upon the pilot, and at the same time it reduces the possibility of mistakes.
The acceptance of the additional risks because of human factors changed the psychological preparation of the pilots, that was practiced before. Now it’s one of the important branches of study in aviation studies, the behavior and reactions of a human in different situations as well as his preparation for accepting these aggressive conditions and new ways for reducing the impact of stress situations onboard. This opened the new methods and techniques for psychological preparation and medical examination of pilots.
As we see the development of aviation reflected not only in technological advance and diversity of flying means used nowadays but in the attitude towards the human role and the place of the human in the aviation as well. The development of flying means caused the complicity and deep knowledge of equipment that was not usual for the pioneers of flight. At the same time the importance of aviation and its role in the life of the society, demanded further research to make the flight safe, more reliable and comfortable. And from this angle the role of the human factor in aviation engineering increased as never before and is directed on the improvement and reduction of risks and human cased mistakes that led to the serious problems. It opened the horizons for new kind of study ergonomics, avionics and human factor engineering, because the safety, life and health of the human are of the most value.
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