Ergonomic guidelines for control room software used with automated vertical guidance of shearers. Final report on CEC Contract 7249/11/007

Technological changes have brought about a considerable growth in automated systems in coal mining. Amongst these has been the advent of the auto-steering (vertical guidance) of shearers. Such systems have improved working conditions on the face for both men and machinery resulting in greater safety and improved efficiency.As an adjunct to this, known in its production version as MIDAS (Machine Information Display and Automation System), a surface monitoring function has been developed which extends the information display element to the surface. The MIDAS system continuously transmits steering data and information from other sensors to the surface permitting the remote monitoring of the status and progress of the machine on the coal face.The human element of any man-machine system is capable of responding to a wide variety of demands. However, this adaptability frequently masks the ergonomic inadequacies of technically-sufficient systems. To ensure the efficient and effective operation of a man-machine system such as that formed by the MIDAS surface information displays and their intended users it is necessary to pay attention to a wide range of ergonomics issues. This project was concerned with providing ergonomic guidelines for the design of software for this surface monitoring facility. In particular, it addressed factors such as the interactive dialogue and the design of the displays used by the system. Following an examination of the existing MIDAS surface display system to determine those elements of software design which were relevant to the system and its planned development, the literature on ergonomic factors associated with computer systems was surveyed in order to derive general guidelines. These were formulated to assist in and encourage the use of ergonomic principles in the design and development of computer-based information systems.These guidelines provided general aid in shaping the software systems and a number of issues raised by them were successfully implemented in software revisions. However, the guidance provided was at a level where it could be applied to many different software systems virtually independently of the planned users of any such system. In order to tailor the needs of the system more effectively, it was necessary to determine the specific needs of the users. This was achieved through a series of structured interviews with a variety of HQ, Area and Colliery staff. The survey identified a number of principle tasks for which the MIDAS system was used in a consistent manner, including monitoring current shearer performance and face management. However, there was a much less consistent utilisation of the system for other tasks such as fault diagnosis and engineering monitoring.This information was then used in conjunction with the design guidelines to identify problems and to produce specific ergonomic recommendations for their solution