Task allocation and automation in design and operation of man-machine systems

The Structure of Intellect Capability-Requirement (SOI C-R) method has been found to be well suited to the evaluation of automation philosophies and new technologies. The SOI C-R method approach to function allocation and automation implementation is to fully describe the requirements of a task in a numeric representation and to represent the capabilities of task performance operators within the same numeric modeling space. The specific task requirements and capabilities of possible task operators can be compared numerically and an objective determination as to the best solution can be made. The first application of the SOI C-R method was the development of a domain suitability analysis tool for expert systems. This tool is the first comprehensive evaluation tool for determining whether a task should be allocated to expert systems. Also discussed is projected future research in this field