photographist

“I wrote a thesis in the field of automation, the purpose of which was to detect human command errors and inhibit them for the system. Automated systems are everywhere: in industry, in transport, in energy production, in the medical field, etc. In my laboratory, we work with companies which seek our knowledge to make progress together on their problem and to suggest methods they would not normally use. In my research and in my teaching, I always try to show my students, male and female, that it is an interesting and accessible field. In parallel to my work, I like going into primary schools to present automation to children with a robot and to change preconceived ideas. Children are able to come up with some fairly astonishing proposals and it's just magical being able to share these moments with them.

The original objective of automation was to replace humans with automated systems for laborious, tiring and/or dangerous tasks. The increasing automation of systems showed that it was not always possible to remove the human from the loop. For example, when making delicate decisions, it is sometimes impossible to completely automate the choice. In fact, the human, with their overview of the installation, their expertise, their know-how and their ability to adjust to unplanned events, is able to make the right choice. The current objective of automation is to find the best combination of human expertise and the capabilities of automation in the fields of command and security. The following three elements must be designed in synergy from the conception phase of an automated system: the machine, the command and the human.”

Pascale Marangé
Teacher and researcher - Centre de Recherche en Automatique de Nancy

next