Function Analysis for Human-Machine Teaming for Semi-Automated Trains

Yang Sun; Guy André Boy; Marc Sango; Anne Barros

doi:10.65351/hsi24.015

Abstract

Increasing levels of automation is a solution for more efficient and better capacity for railway transportation. For the French railway company SNCF, the first step to enable this transition from manual driving to automate trains is to introduce automated train operation (ATO) to the existing train system. ATO provides a more precise train operation and speed control during the journey. By controlling the train at the operational speed calculated, ATO contributes to minimizing the energy consumption for train driving. In our work, we intend to integrate humans into system design at this early design phase to gain more flexibility and security of the system. This paper presents the ATO functional architecture from its specifications and functional analysis to clarify the task distributions between ATO and train drivers. This analysis identifies the safety-critical functions and tasks in the semi-automated train system. We emphasized these safety-critical functions and tasks while comparing human-in-the-loop simulation (HITLS) activities and the prescribed tasks. These comparisons enable the identification of the safety-related design gaps in the ATO system.

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Citation

BibTeX citation:

@inproceedings{sun2024,
  author = {Sun, Yang and André Boy, Guy and Sango, Marc and Barros,
    Anne},
  editor = {Masson, Dimitri},
  publisher = {INCOSE},
  title = {Function {Analysis} for {Human-Machine} {Teaming} for
    {Semi-Automated} {Trains}},
  booktitle = {Proceedings International Conference on Human Systems
    Integration},
  volume = {3},
  date = {2024-08-29},
  url = {https://hsi-wg.github.io/conferences/HSI2024/proceedings/function-analysis-for-human-machine-teaming-for-semi-automated-trains.html},
  doi = {10.65351/hsi24.015},
  langid = {en},
  abstract = {Increasing levels of automation is a solution for more
    efficient and better capacity for railway transportation. For the
    French railway company SNCF, the first step to enable this
    transition from manual driving to automate trains is to introduce
    automated train operation (ATO) to the existing train system. ATO
    provides a more precise train operation and speed control during the
    journey. By controlling the train at the operational speed
    calculated, ATO contributes to minimizing the energy consumption for
    train driving. In our work, we intend to integrate humans into
    system design at this early design phase to gain more flexibility
    and security of the system. This paper presents the ATO functional
    architecture from its specifications and functional analysis to
    clarify the task distributions between ATO and train drivers. This
    analysis identifies the safety-critical functions and tasks in the
    semi-automated train system. We emphasized these safety-critical
    functions and tasks while comparing human-in-the-loop simulation
    (HITLS) activities and the prescribed tasks. These comparisons
    enable the identification of the safety-related design gaps in the
    ATO system.}
}

For attribution, please cite this work as:

Sun, Yang, Guy André Boy, Marc Sango, and Anne Barros. 2024. “Function Analysis for Human-Machine Teaming for Semi-Automated Trains.” In Proceedings International Conference on Human Systems Integration, edited by Dimitri Masson. Vol. 3. INCOSE. https://doi.org/10.65351/hsi24.015.