00677609

Component

http://onlinepubs.trb.org...trr/1994/1464/1464-002.pdf

https://scholar.google.co...idan&publication_year=1994

Recent development in computer technology and in cab signal systems has made automatic train speed control technically feasible. However, completely automatic control on high-speed passenger trains may not be easily accepted for various political, safety, or economical reasons. Therefore, humans remain in the cabs of high-speed trains. The question is, then, which tasks in train operations should be entrusted to the human and which to the computer. In view of the weakness and strength of humans and computers, we seek some kind of human-machine cooperation that combines the strength of the two agents in the cab and overcomes their weaknesses. An optimal solution of speed and thrust-braking profiles can be developed under the assumption that the speed limits across the trip from one point (which could be a station or any known point) to the next are known a priori and that the track and the train characteristics are known. An integrated speed control display based on this optimal solution presents the human driver with the optimal speed and thrust-braking profiles and other information relevant to speed control. Four different options of train speed control based on the proposed display are: (a) simple manual control, (b) manual control with the display as an aid, (c) manual control with the display as an aid plus the automatic control option, and (d) fully automatic control with emergency-override options. Considerations that bear upon the choice among the alternatives include basic system features, experimental results, view of human role in automation, introduction of new tasks for the human driver accompanying the automation, public anxiety, and liability in case of an accident.

This paper appears in Transportation Research Record No. 1464, Human Engineering in Transportation Systems, User Information Systems, and Highway Safety Issues. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved

01394331

English

p. 12-15

1994

Transportation Research Record

0309060699

Figures (2) ; References (3)

Alternatives analysis; Automatic speed control; Computers; High speed rail; Human beings; Information display systems; Manual control; Speed control; Task analysis

Options

Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Planning and Forecasting; Railroads

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