Operator Behavior Modeling: Unexpected Situations Management

This paper is about how human operators deal with unexpected situations. Operator behavior is modeled using Finite State Machine formalism, and an extension is proposed to represent unexpected situations management. The basis of this approach is to assume that the operator will use his experience to handle unexpected events, which means that the new action pattern is an adaptation of the existing patterns. This model can be used then to detect human errors or the occurrence of the unexpected situations. An illustration is proposed: tramway departure situations are modeled and the corresponding action patterns are deduced.