Supporting Concepts of Operator Control in the Design of Functionally Distributed Systems

This paper begins with the observation that the function allocation problem is not a binary allocation problem (machine or human) but involves a distribution of the function between system and human. A task is left to the human operator and strategies or styles must be adopted in the interactive system so that the human’s role is supported most effectively. We focus on a particularly important issue in the design of the interface with the automation namely a consequence of deciding who does what, the issue of control. We give examples of the control problem and show how two requirements frameworks may be used to help designers. One, the interaction framework, can be used to describe the architecture of the system in terms of the way the functions are supported by agents and goals. The other provides an agent centred viewpoint in which the information resources that are required to carry out actions are made explicit.