COMMENT July/August 2022
Automation Visit us at PPMA 2022
Smarter solutions for industrial efficiency
automationmagazine.co.uk July/August 2022 Stand number F60 Stand number B01 Stand number E03 Stand number F03 Automation Stand number B14 Stand number C52 Stand number B72 Stand number F111 Stand number G74 IN THIS ISSUE Smart Factories & Industry 4.0 Also in this issue:
Robotics Sensors
Machine Vision Automated Warehousing 06 32 44 50 Stand number H84
In defence of Human Error
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Human error” is a much-maligned phrase – fast trotted out whenever anything goes wrong. In fact, there are dedicated technologies, systems and processes that are specifically designed to guard against human error.
Yet, there is plenty of room for error among processes, systems and technologies, too – no human necessary.
For example: A friend bought himself a new car. Nothing too flashy, but as with all modern vehicles, fully bedecked with electronics – sensors, processors, ECUs, comms networks, GPS, 3D surround vision, and an array of snazzy interfaces and functionalities.
Barely a few hundred miles into its first journey, the car started to stall – mid-drive and regardless of speed. No pressing of pedals or buttons would make it move, freaking out my friend in the process, since the car, new or not, was not fit for driving, hence dangerous. Over the course of several months, he took it to the manufacturer’s garage no fewer than five times – and each time the technicians could not find anything wrong with it.
Hooked up to diagnostic tools, T&M equipment and all manner of monitors, nothing could identify the fault or where it resided. And, yet, soon after it left the garage, the car would do exactly the same thing within days. Completely by coincidence, a mate of his, who happens to work at a different car maker, was in the car with him when the same fault occurred. He suggested that it might have something to do with a brake-pedal sensor, a fault that, after polling all other electronic systems within the vehicle, would instruct the car what to do. And in this case, it happened to be: “Stop driving”. Just like that: “Stop everything and die!”, regardless of its position on the road – busy roundabout, high- speed motorway, pedestrian crossing, anywhere. Now this is definitely not a human error, and if a human was to make such a mistake they could quickly avert a tragedy.
Sadly, there are many systems that make similar mistakes, so maybe we should cut humans a bit of slack when it comes to errors.
Svetlana Josifovska, Editor
Editor Svetlana Josifovska Tel: 01732 883392
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