Operation Flow Generation Integrating Manual and Automated Steps
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Solution Overview
Problem
Automating irregular operations in facilities that require complex manual interventions is challenging due to the difficulty in replicating the skills of skilled operators, leading to inefficiencies and incomplete automation.
Innovation Solution
An operation flow generation apparatus that acquires logs of both manual and automated operations, determines their correspondence, and generates an operation flow that integrates both types of steps, allowing for distinguishable display and adjustment of granularity, thereby facilitating the automation of complex tasks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If automated operation procedures are implemented to replace manual operations, then productivity and efficiency are improved, but the ability to handle irregular operations requiring skilled operator judgment deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system copies the actual manual operation sequences performed by skilled operators and stores them as standardized operation flows. This allows automated operations to replicate expert human judgment and handling of irregular situations without requiring physical presence of operators
Solution Approach 2:
The system collects actual operation logs from both manual and automated operations, analyzes the correspondence between them, and uses this feedback to continuously improve the automated operation procedures. This enables the system to learn from real-world performance and adapt to irregular operations over time
2Loss of information
If detailed logs of manual operations are collected and analyzed, then understanding of operational procedures is improved, but device complexity and data processing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts only the essential correspondence relationships between manual and automated operation steps, separating the critical operational knowledge from the voluminous raw log data. This reduces data processing complexity while retaining the most important operational insights
Solution Approach 2:
The operation logs are segmented into discrete steps that can be individually analyzed and matched between manual and automated procedures. This segmentation makes the data more manageable and enables targeted analysis of specific operational phases without processing the entire log set as a monolithic block
3Loss of information
If operation flows integrate both manual and automated steps, then completeness of procedure documentation is improved, but difficulty of operation and analysis increases
Solution Approach 1:
Different sections of the operation flow are assigned different qualities or characteristics based on whether they represent manual or automated steps. This differentiation allows the system to maintain complete documentation while enabling selective analysis and optimization of specific portions of the procedure without being overwhelmed by the entire flow
Data Source
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AI summary
It is difficult to automate work such as irregular operations requiring complicated operation by a skilled operator. Provided is an operation flow generation apparatus including a manual operation acquiring section that acquires a log of at least one manual operation performed on at least one apparatus, in relation to performance of an automated operation procedure including at least one automated operation of the at least one apparatus; a correspondence determining section that determines a correspondence between each of the at least one manual operation and each of the at least one automated operation; and an operation flow generating section that generates an operation flow including an automated operation step expressing at least one automated operation performed by the automated operation procedure and a manual operation step expressing the at least one manual operation, based on the correspondence.