Man Machine System

Man Machine System

The fundamental concept in human engineering is the system. A system is composed of humans, machines and other things that work together (or interact) to accomplish some goal which these same components could not product independently. The man-machine system is a combination of one or more human beings and one or more physical components interacting to bring about, from given inputs, some desired output. Man-machine system consists of any type of physical object, device, equipment, facility and activities performed by man. One way to characterize man machine system is the degree of manual verses machine control. The three board categories of system are:

Manual system:

A manual system consists of hand tools and other aids which are coupled by a human operator who controls the operation, Operators use their own physical energy as the power source.

Mechanical system:

These system’s are semiautomatic, consist of well integrated physical part such as powered machine tools. They are generally designed to carry out their functions with little variation. Power is typically provided by a machine and operators function is mainly of control by the use of controlling devices.

Automated system:

When the system is fully automated, it performs all opertiona1 functions without human intervention. Automated system require human ..to install, programmed, reprogramming and maintain the system.

Man machine system

Closed loop system. A simple man machine system man will receive certain information from the machine either from dials, displays, etc., designed for that purpose or by observation of machine itself. He will process this information and make decisions on what action to take and manipulate controls or attend machine in some other way so as to affect its behavior in the required manner. Environmental factors will have an influence on the working of the system. The efficiency with which the man functions depends on environmental factors, on his own characteristics such as age, motivation, training and experience as well as the efficiency with which the machine provides the information feedback and accepts control measures.