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On the Spot Training Electronic job performance system provides factory workers with help as they need it.
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A factory maintenance worker must repair a complex machine, yet he's forgotten what he learned about it in training a year ago. If only he could easily access reference material as he worked on the factory floor, or show the problem to a repair expert at one of the company's other facilities.
photo by Stanley Leary
Chris Thompson and his
colleagues at the Georgia Tech Research Institute have developed a
prototype electronic performance support system that combines job
performance support software, wireless communication and a wearable
computer that operates hands free.
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That scenario is not far-fetched — and now, neither is the
solution. Researchers at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) have
developed a prototype electronic performance support system (EPSS) that
combines job performance support software, wireless communication and a
wearable computer that operates hands free. Designed for use in any
industrial setting, the system is called Factory Automation Support
Technology (FAST). So far, researchers have created two applications of
FAST for use in the poultry industry and are working on a third.
"FAST is intended to support mobile employees as they perform a
job, rather than train them before," says Chris Thompson, a GTRI senior
research engineer.
Development of FAST was a two-part process for the research team
led by Thompson in the Electro-Optics, Environment and Materials
Laboratory. They had to create an information database for each
application and then create a delivery system — the part of development
where they have placed the most emphasis, Thompson says.
FAST depends on a prototype wearable computer GTRI researchers
built, though they have also used a commercially available wearable
computer, which they modified to fit their design needs. The basic FAST
hardware, which is undergoing a fourth generation of design, includes:
(1) a credit card-sized computer worn on a belt, allowing for
portability and transmission of data in real time to other computer
systems; (2) a visor worn like safety glasses to display computer
information to the user via a miniaturized CRT; (3) earphones for
listening to auditory information provided by the computer; (4) a
microphone to allow voice-activated, hands-free operation of the
computer; and (5) flexible 8-hour battery packs worn on the belt.
Optional equipment includes a small, movable camera mounted on
the visor so the user can point it at a broken piece of equipment and
send the video almost instantly to an expert in another location; a
small, round, hand-held version of the camera, which users can poke in
and around equipment; and a one-hand keyboard.
"We faced two challenges in designing the hardware system,"
Thompson says. "We had to make the wearable computer as small as
possible to be comfortable for users. And robust voice recognition
required a lot of processing power, which in turn necessitates a large
battery. We are still working on these issues. The fourth generation of
the system will greatly increase our processing power, while the
flexible battery belt will allow an operator to work an entire shift
without recharging."
On the software side of FAST, the design team encountered
problems with their voice recognition software because of high ambient
noise in factories. So they limited the vocabulary needed to give
commands to the system and employed noise-canceling microphones.
Creating information databases for the poultry plant applications
of FAST also challenged researchers. "The goal of a performance support
system is to provide employees with the right information, in the right
quantity and detail, at the right time," Thompson says. "Ideally,
performance support systems allow less proficient employees to perform
as more experienced employees by providing them with appropriate
knowledge."
GTRI's fourth-generation wearable computer includes the following components:
Computer with:
On the human side of FAST, student researcher Jennifer Ockerman
found that users sometimes overly trust an electronic system and ignore
common sense. In a study with private pilots performing a pre-flight
checklist, users of the wearable computer overlooked obvious problems.
"We must pay careful attention to the design of EPSS systems,
encouraging users to use both personal knowledge, as well as that
captured by the EPSS," says Ockerman, a doctoral degree student in the
School of Industrial and Systems Engineering.
Typical information databases include: reference information
about a job task or closely related set of tasks; just-in-time,
task-specific training; expert advice about a job task; advice on how to
use the performance support system effectively; application help
functions; and automated tools for task performance.
FAST applications, which have been briefly field tested, help
poultry plant personnel collect quality assurance data. The application
now under development will collect data for U.S. Department of
Agriculture regulatory compliance requirements. The projects are a
partnership between GTRI, the state of Georgia and the Georgia poultry
industry.
"In our field tests, employees have been very excited by the FAST
system," Thompson says. "There's a 'cool' factor to it.... Management
personnel are interested and supportive, but it's not a priority to
them. It's hard to put a price tag on the cost savings from better
process information. But the new application involves regulatory tasks
they are mandated to do. There will be a clear long-term cost advantage
in doing these tasks electronically."
The regulatory compliance application is being field tested this
spring at Claxton Poultry, a small company in Claxton, Ga. The cost
savings to smaller companies will have an even greater impact, Thompson
says.
The researchers look forward to eventually deploying FAST and
believe it will become more feasible as new technology emerges and the
$5,000 to $10,000 per system cost declines, they say.
Thompson's design team included GTRI researchers Tim Smith and
Tom McKlin and student Ockerman. Their work is funded through the
Georgia Tech Agricultural Technology Research Program.
- Credit-card-sized motherboard
- 200 Mhz Pentium w/MMX and 72 MB RAM
- 2-8GB 2.5" hard drive
- SVGA video controller
- USB port
- 2 PCMCIA expansion slots
- Wireless LAN, audio/video
- Voice recognition software
- PC operating system, i.e., Win98, NT, Linux
- Video send/receive software (optional)
Monochrome 640/480 resolution head-mounted display
Noise canceling microphone
Earphone
Flexible battery pack
Head-mounted camera (optional)
Hand-held pointing device (optional)
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For the full text news release, see www.gtri.gatech.edu/res-news/FAST.html. For more information, point your browser to http://wearables.gatech.edu or contact Chris Thompson, Electro-Optics, Environment and Materials Laboratory, Georgia Tech Research Institute, Atlanta, GA 30332-0823. (Telephone: 404/894-6143) (E-mail: chris.thompson@gtri.gatech.edu)
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