Effects of task automation on the mental workload and situation awareness of operators of agricultural semi-autonomous vehicles

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dc.contributor.authorBashiri, Behzad
dc.contributor.examiningcommitteeMorrison, Jason (Biosystems Engineering) ElMekkawy, Tarek (Mechanical Engineering) Jamieson, Greg (Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto)en_US
dc.contributor.supervisorMann, Danny (Biosystems Engineering)en_US
dc.date.accessioned2015-07-30T20:18:50Z
dc.date.available2015-07-30T20:18:50Z
dc.date.issued2014en_US
dc.date.issued2013en_US
dc.date.issued2015en_US
dc.degree.disciplineBiosystems Engineeringen_US
dc.degree.levelDoctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)en_US
dc.description.abstractThe effects of in-vehicle automation and driving assistant systems on the mental workload and situation awareness of drivers have been the interest of many studies; some of the implications of automation in such man-machine systems have been identified. Due to the introduction of advanced automated systems in agricultural machinery, farmers are currently working with semi-autonomous vehicles. A human factors perspective on the design of these systems will ensure safe and efficient operation of such man-machine systems. In this study, a systematic approach was utilized to address human factors issues associated with operating a semi-autonomous agricultural vehicle, and to provide design recommendations. The study was carried out in three stages. First, a task analysis was used to identify tasks associated with operating an agricultural vehicle and to select appropriate experimental variables. Next, a preliminary experiment was performed to validate the test procedure and measurement techniques. Finally, the main experiment was administered. Experiments were conducted using the Tractor Driving Simulator located in the Agricultural Ergonomics Laboratory at the University of Manitoba. Thirty young experienced tractor drivers participated in this study. The experiment investigated the effects of i) vehicle steering task automation (VSTA) and ii) implement control and monitoring task automation (ICMTA) on mental workload and situation awareness of drivers. It was found that ICMTA significantly affected situation awareness (and its underlying components) of the operator. The situation awareness of drivers increased as the automation support level increased, but the highest level of automation, where the participants were out of the task loop, resulted in low situation awareness, similar to the condition with no automation support. VSTA only reduced the attentional demand of the situation, one of the three components of the situation awareness, which had negative effect on overall situation awareness. Based on the results from a subjective mental workload measure, moderate levels of mental workload were reported when the participants were involved in the implement control and monitoring task loop. The highest level of ICMTA reduced the average mental workload by 18%. Reaction time of drivers and number of errors committed by drivers both decreased as the automation level increased.en_US
dc.description.noteOctober 2015en_US
dc.identifier.citationBashiri, B., D.D. Mann. 2014. Automation and the situation awareness of drivers in agricultural semi-autonomous vehicles. Biosystems Engineering, 124: 8-15.en_US
dc.identifier.citationBashiri, B., D.D. Mann. 2014. Heart rate variability in response to task automation in agricultural semi-autonomous vehicles. The Ergonomics Open Journal, 7: 6-12.en_US
dc.identifier.citationBashiri, B., D.D. Mann. 2013. Drivers’ Mental Workload in Agricultural Semi-Autonomous Vehicles, In Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, 57: 1795-1799.en_US
dc.identifier.citationBashiri, B., D.D. Mann. 2015. Impact of automation on drivers’ performance in agricultural semi-autonomous vehicles. Journal of Agricultural Safety and Health, 21(2): 129-139.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1993/30648
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.publisherElsevieren_US
dc.publisherBentham Openen_US
dc.publisherSAGE Publicationsen_US
dc.publisherASABEen_US
dc.rightsopen accessen_US
dc.subjectMental Workloaden_US
dc.subjectSituation Awarenessen_US
dc.subjectAgricultural Vehiclesen_US
dc.subjectDriving Performanceen_US
dc.subjectDriving Activity Load Indexen_US
dc.subjectAutomation Designen_US
dc.subjectHeart Rate Variabilityen_US
dc.titleEffects of task automation on the mental workload and situation awareness of operators of agricultural semi-autonomous vehiclesen_US
dc.typedoctoral thesisen_US
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