International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 23-26, 2000 / Town & Country Hotel and Conference Center, San Diego, California / Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) are becoming a significant asset to the military. This has given rise to the development of the Vehicle Control and Simulation System (VCSS), a low-cost ground support and control system deployable to any UAV testing site, with the capability to support ground crew and pilot training, real-time telemetry simulation, distribution, transmission and reception, mission planning, and Global Positioning System (GPS) reception. This paper describes the development of the VCSS detailing its capabilities, demonstrating its use in the field, and showing its novel use of internet technology for vehicle control telemetry distribution.

In the cutting age of industrial 4.0, automation has developed rapidly in all aspects. The emergence of the modern industrial control room has provided a new horizon to the large operation. However, the problem facing the operators is too many screens that they need to monitor at the same time which could result in fatal mistakes such as missing important alerts or failing to act on important information. With that being said, this thesis explores the possibilities of developing a visual aid system to help guide operators’ attention. With the knowledge gained from a literature review and previous efforts from ABB, a visual aid system has been developed with implementations such as unreadable screen and blinking cue guiding the operators’ attention. An experiment to evaluate the solution has also been designed and conducted with 29 participants. Both quantitative data and qualitative data have been collected and analyzed. The results suggest a strong benefit in using such a visual aid to help guide operators’ attention.

Multi-touch technology and digital tabletops have been used in different fields. They provide a natural way of interaction with computers through gestures. In this report, we present a digital desk for power plant control rooms aimed at visualizing the power grid status. The thesis reports about the development of this desk that comprised field studies, use cases and requirements identification, low fidelity prototyping, and software development. A final evaluation of the design indicated that digital tabletops can be valuable for control room operators since they can enhance learning and communication among the collaborating operators. The work was done at ABB Corporate Research in Sweden.

The progress of digital technologies within the television industry has led to moreadvanced equipment, both for private and professional use. One specific area wherethis development has been noticed is in control rooms used to conduct live or tapedtelevision broadcasts. To conduct "traditional" live broadcasted programs, a variety ofoperators in the control room works and each operator is responsible for one specificequipment, such as a sound engineers and vision engineer.The digitization of technical equipment has also meant that all equipment used duringa newscast can be controlled from other devices, for example an external computer.This concept is known as centralization. The centralization has made possible thatonly one or two operators can be in charge of conducting an entire broadcast. The aimof this investigation has been to investigate how the production has been affected bycentralization, not only from a technical point of view but also how all those involvedto create a newscast has been affected.The apparent result has been that the amount of staff in the control room has beenreduced and this has led to further consequences for the remaining staff in production.The centralization has resulted in a less costly production for the production companyin the long run, because of the decreasing in staff. It has also resulted in additionalwork task for all staff involved in creating and broadcasting the news.The extended technical task for the operators in a centralized control room has meantthat the priority of focusing on the visual parts of the broadcast have decreased andtherefore, the visual aspects have been neglected. This factor was confirmed both bythe television viewers and editorial staff during different focus groups.Wider technical knowledge as well as greater dedication towards the overallresponsibility to carry out a broadcast is required from the operators operating in acentralized control room. The editorial staffs extending tasks in the form of keepingtrack of time and writing different headlines hasn’t directly affected the work tasks inthe sense of news gathering and filtering, only that additional responsibility has beenadded to them.The general mistake that occurs when the broadcasting is conducted in centralizedcontrol rooms, for all involving in the production, are preparation mistakes. It can forexample be incorrect programming from the operators or misspellings conducted bythe editorial staff, which in a traditional control rooms isn’t as common. However,centralized control rooms have reduced the mistakes during an actual broadcast,contrary to traditional control rooms. This is because the centralization andcomputerization generally has removed vast mistakes caused out the human factor.

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 25-28, 1999 / Riviera Hotel and Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada / This paper describes the recently developed F-22 real-time telemetry data processing system. The F-22 Combined Test Force (CTF) and the Range Division worked together to develop a real-time telemetry processing system able to support the F-22’s fast paced flight test program. This paper provides an overview of the Ridley Mission Control Center (RMCC) modernization effort for F-22. The paper also describes how the F-22 uses the Advanced Data Acquisition and Processing Systems (ADAPS) Real-Time/Post Flight Processing (RT/PFP) system, the Integrated Analysis and Display System (IADS), and other mission control room system’s for F-22 mission control support.

Large opencast coal mines require a complex infrastructure to fulfill production demand and quality values. The distinct specifications required by each customer are achieved by blending adjustments. There is limited control in variability. With only partial information available, operation controllers blend coal by empirical approximation, trying to keep quality between acceptable ranges in order to avoid penalizations, shipment rejections or even contract suspensions. When a decision support system (DSS) centralized in a control room is used for blending control, crew operators visualize enhanced displays of the different sources of information, obtaining a holistic perspective of operations. Using a simulator to reproduce the blending sequence, crew operators can experiment with diverse what-if scenarios and develop blending strategies for an entire working shift, in which they also incorporate their own expertise and the knowledge obtained after interpreting the simulation results. The research focuses on the empirical analysis of the effectiveness of the DSS by studying the performance of crew users in different operating scenarios produced with a simulator. The development of a methodology for measuring this effectiveness and its impact in the quantification of controlling the variability of blending represents a significant contribution in the area of quality improvement for coal production. The effectiveness of the DSS for controlling the blending and load out processes has been numerically measured after experimenting diverse simulated scenarios, proving that the difference between estimated and actual quality delivered is narrower when using a DSS, in comparison with the BTU variability obtained from historical data. The strategies that produced better results in terms of control of coal quality variability, maximization of infrastructure utilization, time spent in making decisions and the minimization of risk for penalizations and rejections, were scored proportionally to the benefits obtained.

Detta examensarbete är en förstudie där väl lyssningsanpassade rum har undersökts både objektivt och subjektivt med syftet att kunna identifiera och tolka allmänna akustiska fenomen som uppstår, och upplevs, samt upplysa läsaren om dessa. Rapporten behandlar ljudfysik så som akustik och våglära, ljudteknikerns roll, psykoakustik, kontrollrum och teknisk utrustning. De mätningar och lyssningstest som utförts har alla utgått ifrån den tänka lyssningspositionen som sedan ställts mot specifika krav och rekommendationer från AMS (Audio Measurement Standards) och EBU (European Brodcasting Union). Lyssningstesten har gjorts efter EBU-standard. Även intervjustudier har genomförts med erfarna ljudtekniker. I Slutsats och Diskussion jämförs objektiva mätdata med lyssningstest, där likheter och slutsatser om lyssningen dras. / This thesis is a preliminary study in which high quality listening environments have been investigated both objectively and subjectively with the purpose to identify and interpret general acoustic phenomenon that occurs, and how they are percieved, as well to enlighten the reader about these. The report deals with sound physics such as acoustics, an audio engineer's role, psychoacoustics, control rooms and technical equipment. The measurements and listening tests performed have all been done from the intended listening position which were then set against specific requirements and recommendations from AMS (Audio Measurement Standards) and EBU (European Broadcasting Union). Listening test have been made according to EBU standards. Also interviews were conducted with experienced audio engineers. In Conclusion and Discussion objectively measured data is compared with the listening tests, where similarities and conclusions about listening are drawn.

Este trabalho aborda a avaliação da percepção do conforto térmico em uma sala de controle, tendo como objetivo identificar quais os fatores que influenciam na sensação térmica dos operadores e se esta sensação difere estatisticamente entre os quatro turnos de trabalho. Foram medidas as variáveis ambientais (temperatura do ar, temperatura média radiante, umidade do ar e velocidade do ar), levantadas as variáveis pessoais (vestimenta e taxa metabólica) e aplicados questionários para coletar as sensações térmicas dos operadores a cada 1 hora. A taxa metabólica foi estimada em função da atividade, conforme os valores tabelados pela ASHRAE (2001), mas tal estimação pode apresentar imprecisões devido às diferenças individuais e às condições fisiológicas do ser humano, que são influenciadas pelo ritmo circadiano. O isolamento térmico médio das vestimentas foi de 0,5 a 0,8clo, sendo que os valores mais elevados ocorreram no turno da madrugada. Devido ao controle ambiental térmico da sala, a temperatura média do ar ao longo do dia permaneceu dentro de limites muito próximos. A sensação térmica predominantemente relatada pelos operadores, foi neutra, isto é, nem frio nem calor. Apenas em alguns períodos, principalmente no turno da madrugada, foi relatado desconforto devido ao frio. Não houve diferença significativa entre os resultados de conforto para os diferentes turnos de trabalho, mas o assunto merece estudos mais aprofundados. Os valores de PMV apresentaram baixa correlação estatística com as sensações relatadas pelos operadores, provavelmente em função dos valores da taxa metabólica e do isolamento térmico das vestimentas serem tabelados e não se ajustarem ao ambiente de trabalho. Devido a esta baixa correlação, a Anova não paramétrica de Kruskal-Wallis foi utilizada permitindo identificar que a temperatura do ar, a temperatura média radiante, a umidade do ar e a vestimenta utilizada influenciaram a sensação térmica dos operadores. Tendo em vista que o PMV não predisse a sensação térmica dos usuários, conclui-se que ele não é um bom parâmetro para uso em projetos de ambiente construído. / This present work approachs the evaluation of thermal comfort perception inside a control room, having the specific goal to identify which factors are important to the worker’s thermal sensation and if this sensation differs statistically among the four shifts work. Each environmental parameter (air temperature, mean radiant temperature, relative humidity and air velocity) were measured. The personal variables (clothing insulation and metabolic rate) were evaluated and questionnaires were applied to collect worker’s thermal sensation each hour. The metabolic rate was estimated through the activity, according to the ASHRAE table (2001). This estimative might not be precise due to individual differences and to physiological conditions of the human being, which are influenced by the circadian rhythm. The clothing insulation was 0,5 to 0,8 clo, and the highest values occurred in the early hours of the morning. Owing to the environmental control of the room, the mean air temperature through the day did not have significant changes. The thermal sensation predominantly reported by the workers was neutral, that is, neither cold nor warm. Only in a few periods, especially in the early hours of the morning, was related discomfort because of the cold. There is not a significative difference among the comfort results for the different shifts work, but the topic deserves deeper studies. The PMV values no small statistic correlation with the sensations related by the workers, probably due to the values of the metabolic rate and to the clothing insulation be tabled and were not to adjustable to the work environment. As a result of this weak correlation, the Kruskal-Wallis non parametric Anova was used to identify that air temperature, mean radiant temperature, air relative humidity and clothing insulation influenced the worker’s thermal sensation. Considering that the PMV did not predict the worker’s thermal sensation, the data suggest that the PMV is not a good parameter to be used in projects of buildings.

O objetivo principal deste trabalho é apresentar um protocolo para avaliação de compatibilidade entre a gestão de procedimentos e a complexidade do sistema sócio-técnico em que esses são aplicados. Tal protocolo consiste das seguintes etapas: (a) delimitação do sistema sócio-técnico a ser estudado; (b) caracterização do sistema sócio-técnico; (c) caracterização da complexidade do sistema em estudo; (d) aplicação de dois tipos de questionários aos membros do sistema investigado; um deles destinado a avaliar a percepção em relação a um conjunto de princípios acerca de como os procedimentos deveriam ser gerenciados em um sistema complexo; outro destinado a avaliar a percepção acerca da extensão pela qual os princípios realmente são usados; (e) uma reunião de retorno dos resultados da avaliação aos membros do sistema sócio-técnico; (f) elaboração de recomendações para melhorar a gestão de procedimentos. A aplicação do protocolo é ilustrada por meio de um estudo de caso na sala de controle de uma refinaria de petróleo. / The main objective of this dissertation is to introduce a protocol for assessing the compatibility between the procedures management and the complexity of a socio-technical system in which these are applied to. This protocol consist of the following steps: (a) definition of the socio-technical system to be studied, (b) characterization of socio-technical system, (c) characterizing of the system under study complexity, (d) applying two questionnaires of different kinds to the members of the system investigated, one of them to assess the perceptions in relation to a set of principles about how the procedures should be managed in a complex system, and another designed to assess the perception of the extent to which the principles are actually used, (e) carrying out a return meeting of the assessment results to the members of socio-technical system, (f) developing of recommendations to improve management procedures. The application of the protocol is illustrated through a case study in an oil refinery control room.

Este trabalho aborda a avaliação da percepção do conforto térmico em uma sala de controle, tendo como objetivo identificar quais os fatores que influenciam na sensação térmica dos operadores e se esta sensação difere estatisticamente entre os quatro turnos de trabalho. Foram medidas as variáveis ambientais (temperatura do ar, temperatura média radiante, umidade do ar e velocidade do ar), levantadas as variáveis pessoais (vestimenta e taxa metabólica) e aplicados questionários para coletar as sensações térmicas dos operadores a cada 1 hora. A taxa metabólica foi estimada em função da atividade, conforme os valores tabelados pela ASHRAE (2001), mas tal estimação pode apresentar imprecisões devido às diferenças individuais e às condições fisiológicas do ser humano, que são influenciadas pelo ritmo circadiano. O isolamento térmico médio das vestimentas foi de 0,5 a 0,8clo, sendo que os valores mais elevados ocorreram no turno da madrugada. Devido ao controle ambiental térmico da sala, a temperatura média do ar ao longo do dia permaneceu dentro de limites muito próximos. A sensação térmica predominantemente relatada pelos operadores, foi neutra, isto é, nem frio nem calor. Apenas em alguns períodos, principalmente no turno da madrugada, foi relatado desconforto devido ao frio. Não houve diferença significativa entre os resultados de conforto para os diferentes turnos de trabalho, mas o assunto merece estudos mais aprofundados. Os valores de PMV apresentaram baixa correlação estatística com as sensações relatadas pelos operadores, provavelmente em função dos valores da taxa metabólica e do isolamento térmico das vestimentas serem tabelados e não se ajustarem ao ambiente de trabalho. Devido a esta baixa correlação, a Anova não paramétrica de Kruskal-Wallis foi utilizada permitindo identificar que a temperatura do ar, a temperatura média radiante, a umidade do ar e a vestimenta utilizada influenciaram a sensação térmica dos operadores. Tendo em vista que o PMV não predisse a sensação térmica dos usuários, conclui-se que ele não é um bom parâmetro para uso em projetos de ambiente construído. / This present work approachs the evaluation of thermal comfort perception inside a control room, having the specific goal to identify which factors are important to the worker’s thermal sensation and if this sensation differs statistically among the four shifts work. Each environmental parameter (air temperature, mean radiant temperature, relative humidity and air velocity) were measured. The personal variables (clothing insulation and metabolic rate) were evaluated and questionnaires were applied to collect worker’s thermal sensation each hour. The metabolic rate was estimated through the activity, according to the ASHRAE table (2001). This estimative might not be precise due to individual differences and to physiological conditions of the human being, which are influenced by the circadian rhythm. The clothing insulation was 0,5 to 0,8 clo, and the highest values occurred in the early hours of the morning. Owing to the environmental control of the room, the mean air temperature through the day did not have significant changes. The thermal sensation predominantly reported by the workers was neutral, that is, neither cold nor warm. Only in a few periods, especially in the early hours of the morning, was related discomfort because of the cold. There is not a significative difference among the comfort results for the different shifts work, but the topic deserves deeper studies. The PMV values no small statistic correlation with the sensations related by the workers, probably due to the values of the metabolic rate and to the clothing insulation be tabled and were not to adjustable to the work environment. As a result of this weak correlation, the Kruskal-Wallis non parametric Anova was used to identify that air temperature, mean radiant temperature, air relative humidity and clothing insulation influenced the worker’s thermal sensation. Considering that the PMV did not predict the worker’s thermal sensation, the data suggest that the PMV is not a good parameter to be used in projects of buildings.