Context-Based Operator Assistance for Control Systems
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Solution Overview
Problem
Control systems face challenges in retaining operator experience due to employee turnover and the need for assistance in complex or urgent situations, particularly for inexperienced operators who may struggle with compliance and decision-making under irregular or high-stress conditions.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that record operator best practices based on experienced operators' actions and provide context-based guidance to inexperienced operators by assessing control system and operator states, using predefined rules to determine complexity and trigger appropriate assistance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If standard operating procedures are provided to all operators, then compliance should improve, but inexperienced operators still perform worse than experienced operators in complex or urgent situations
Solution Approach 1:
The system provides differentiated guidance based on operator expertise level and situation complexity. Inexperienced operators receive more detailed step-by-step guidance for complex situations, while experienced operators receive streamlined alerts. The guidance content adapts locally to the specific operator's needs rather than applying uniform procedures to all.
Solution Approach 2:
An intelligent software intermediary analyzes the control system state, operator profile, and situation complexity to dynamically generate appropriate guidance. This intermediary translates standard operating procedures into context-specific recommendations tailored to the operator's experience level and the current situation's complexity.
2Ease of operation
If experienced operators are relied upon for complex operations, then performance improves, but employee turnover and retirement cause loss of valuable experience
Solution Approach 1:
The system captures and stores guidance patterns from experienced operators' responses to various control situations. This creates a digital repository of expert knowledge that can be copied and applied to future similar situations, preserving experience even when experienced operators leave the organization.
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously learns from operator interactions with the guidance system. When experienced operators correct or refine system recommendations, this feedback is used to improve future guidance generation, progressively enhancing the system's embodied knowledge base.
3Reliability
If guidance is provided to inexperienced operators in all situations, then compliance improves, but system complexity and information overload increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies partial guidance only when and where needed - specifically for inexperienced operators in complex or urgent situations. Rather than providing comprehensive guidance in all circumstances, it selectively activates assistance based on assessed need, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining compliance where critical.
Solution Approach 2:
The guidance system dynamically adjusts its behavior based on real-time assessment of operator expertise and situation complexity. The level and type of guidance provided changes dynamically rather than remaining static, allowing the system to simplify its output when full guidance is unnecessary while providing detailed assistance when needed.
4Reliability
If monitoring of operator compliance is implemented, then performance can be tracked, but the complexity of monitoring and analysis increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs self-assessment by automatically analyzing control system state changes to determine when guidance is needed. Rather than requiring complex external monitoring of operator inputs, the system monitors objective system state changes that indicate compliance issues, simplifying the monitoring architecture.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention comprises methods, systems and computer programs for providing context based assistance to a control system operator. The invention comprises (i) detecting a first instance of a control system event, (ii) determining event complexity corresponding to the first instance of the control system event, and (iii) responsive to event complexity exceeding a predefined complexity threshold: (a) retrieving a set of operator inputs received at a control system in response to a detected second instance of the control system event, wherein the second instance of the control system event was detected prior in time to the detected first instance of the control system event, and (b) communicating to the control system operator, information identifying a set of operator inputs for responding to the detected first instance of the control event, wherein the identified operator inputs are a sub-set of the retrieved set of operator inputs.