Integrating human factors in the model based development of cyber-physical production systems

In order to optimize production processes and to avoid errors, it is not only necessary to automate processes, but also to integrate workers with their individual personality and skill profiles. For this purpose, human factors should be considered in the entire design process. The integrated view of mental human models, the cognitive demand of the working environment and the automation design is essential. Human-System Integration (HSI) constitutes a promising approach. Current model-based approaches offer possibilities to analyze and optimize tasks within an overall system, but they still lack integration. This leads to the research question: How can human factors be integrated into a system model of a socio-technical, Cyber-Physical Production System? The paper at hand contributes an approach of human factor integration into the procedure of Model-Based Systems Engineering for Cyber-Physical Production Systems (CPPS). The approach combines a system model of a CPPS with HSI concepts. In accordance to the benefits of MBSE, SysML is selected to integrate human factors in the development process of a CPPS. The approach is divided into five steps, which includes the extension of the SysML meta model. This allows the optimization of skill-based human-machine interaction. Defined HSI-Profiles enable system developers to integrate employee requirements at early stages within the development process. The approach is demonstrated by the maintenance of a 3D-Printer as a case example. This research enables system developers to depict individual workers with the help of the developed concepts and systematically integrate them into the development process of a CPPS.