Ralf Philipsen

Droning on About Drones—Acceptance of and Perceived Barriers to Drones in Civil Usage Contexts

The word “drone” is commonly associated with the military. However, the same term is also used for multicopters that can be and are used by civilians for a multitude of purposes. Nowadays, drones are tested for commercial delivery of goods or building inspections. A survey of 200 people, laypersons and active users, on their acceptance and perceived barriers for drone use was conducted. In the present work, user requirements for civil drones in different usage scenarios with regard to appearance, routing, and autonomy could be identified. User diversity strongly influences both acceptance and perceived barriers. It was found that laypeople rather feared the violation of their privacy whereas active drone pilots saw more of a risk in possible accidents. Drones deployed for emergency scenarios should be clearly recognizable by their outward appearance. Also, participants had clear expectations regarding the routes drones should and should not be allowed to use.

Defective Still Deflective – How Correctness of Decision Support Systems Influences User’s Performance in Production Environments

The increasing dynamic and complexity of todays global supply chains and the growing amount and complexity of information challenge decision makers in manufacturing companies. Decision Support Systems (DSS) can be a viable solution to address these challenges and increase the overall decision efficiency and effectivity. However, a thought-through design and implementation of these systems is crucial for their efficacy.

The Role of Human Factors in Production Networks and Quality Management

Quality management in production networks is often neglected. To raise awareness for this subject, we developed an educational game in which players are responsible for managing orders and investments in quality assurance of a manufacturing company. To understand individual performance differences and playing strategy, we conducted a web-based study with 127 participants. Individual performance differences were discovered. Players who closely observe the company data and frequently modify order levels and quality investments perform significantly better. Furthermore, we found that the game model works and that the awareness towards quality assurance increases through the interaction with the game. Hence, the game is a suitable educational tool for teaching decision making in quality management.

From V2X to Control2Trust

Beyond the increasing quality of car technology in the last decade, road and fast-paced city traffic in metropolises still impose high accident rates. Mostly, drivers’ inattentiveness, tiredness or just bad driving abilities are responsible for safety risks. Novel developments such as the combination of invehicle systems and vehicle sensors in the environment could lower these risks. While on the one hand the V2X-technologies bare a huge potential for safety and efficiency, on the other hand, the missing trust and concerns about privacy could represent major obstacles for a successful implementation. Hence, historically, trust in new technology is a major issue, which need to be integrated into the technological development. The perceived trust and control in the field of V2X-technology, with a focal point on automated driving, is the main research focus. Using a quantitative approach, users were examined regarding their perception of V2X-technologies. Results reveal an obvious reluctance towards V2X-technologies, independent of user diversity. Data disclosure of personal data is mostly denied homogeneously. Findings hint at a considerable need for a sensitive and individually tailored information and communication strategy regarding V2X-technology.

Safety First? - V2X – Percived Benefits, Barriers and Trade-offs of Automated Driving

Today, we are on the edge of increasing population and urbanization with an increasing portion of older people. These far-reaching societal developments necessitate novel mobility infrastructure concepts, in which a diverse population and a higher population density are considered. Safety in traffic situations is one of the most important and needs to be taken into account. A highly potent approach is to combine in-vehicle systems and vehicle sensors. Whereby the public perception and user acceptance of V2X-technology in general is insufficiently explored. Using a two-tier approach, in which both qualitative and quantitative data are combined, this research gains insights into human perceptions of V2X-technology, plausible trade-offs and basic fears. Results show safety as an important factor which should be included in further future

How Correct and Defect Decision Support Systems Influence Trust, Compliance, and Performance in Supply Chain and Quality Management

Supply Chains and production networks are complex sociotechnical cyber-physical systems whose performance is determined by system, interface, and human factors. While the influence of system factors (e.g., variances in delivery times and amount, queuing strategies) is well understood, the influence of interface and human factors on supply chain performance is currently insufficiently explored. In this article, we analyze how performance is determined by the correctness of Decision Support Systems and specifically, how correct and defect systems influence subjective and objective performance, subjective and objective compliance with the system, as well as trust in the system. We present a behavioral study with 50 participants and a business simulation game with a market driven supply chain. Results show that performance (−21%), compliance (−35%), and trust (−25%) is shaped by the correctness of the system. However, this effect is only substantial in later stages of the game and occluded at the beginning. Also, people’s subjective evaluations and the objective measures from the simulation are in congruence. The article concludes with open research questions regarding trust and compliance in Decision Support Systems as well as actionable knowledge on how Decision Support Systems can mitigate supply chain disruptions.

A Game-Based Approach to Raise Quality Awareness in Ramp-Up Processes

Todays production systems are complex sociotechnical systems. Both technical challenges, as well as the integration of human employees with their diverse abilities, wants, and needs, must be considered. Due to a growing number of product variants, shorter lead times, and global supply chains, planning production systems is becoming increasingly difficult, both on the technical and human levels. The highly volatile and uncertain character of production systems is intensified by the growing complexity and need for results in shorter decision times for ramp-up management. To handle the increasing complexity, human decision makers must be adequately trained for the ramp-up period. Therefore, the influential factors and their magnitude from both the technical and the human perspective must be identified and understood. This knowledge can help to manage the complexity of ramp-up processes, reduce the disturbances within the processes, and strengthen their overall resilience against failures. To adequately understand the human and technical factors that relate to ramp-up processes, its necessary to have an experimental framework. This framework should support the identification and quantification of sociotechnical factors, enabling practitioners and researchers to model suitable interventions. In this article, the authors propose, develop, and evaluate a business simulation game that serves as such an empirical framework. The game is furthermore suitable to train managers before the ramp-up process. The achieved performance in the business simulation game may be used to evaluate a persons suitability for the task and to identify individual training potential.

User Diverse Privacy Requirements for V2X-Technology - Quantitative Research on Context-based Privacy Aspects

The paper will show, how different types of users are evaluating privacy and data security differently according to contextual differentiating traffic situations. The focus is hereby on an analysis of user types to see, if general attributes towards data capture can be identified. User requirements are investigated in age, gender, experience with driver assistance systems and technical affinity. Several significant effects like the influence of prior experience increasing the willingness to share data in an traffic optimizing scenario could be revealed. But results show also an undeniable reluctance towards sharing private data with other traffic participants or companies. Traffic management such as police or the infrastructure itself are however entrusted with various personal information and data.

Watch Out! - User-Centered Feedback Design for a V2X-Smartphone App.

Mobility is a fast developing, technological and simultaneously human field of research. V2X-technology is one major contributor that will influence the behavior, efficiency and safety of traffic participants. To include all participating members of traffic, we developed a V2X-smartphone application to empower vulnerable road user to be part of the technological integration. With a two-tiered research approach, we focused on both, the iconography and the feedback design of that application. One key finding of the presented work is a clear recommendation of combined features (color, size and geometrical form) for rear-end collision scenarios. The article concludes with practical recommendations that facilitate visualization-varieties from a users’ perspective.

Well Worth a Detour?—Users’ Preferences Regarding the Attributes of Fast-Charging Infrastructure for Electromobility

The spread of electric vehicles can be a partial solution for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, which are a major challenge of modern industrial nations. However, the limited ranges and the fragmentary charging infrastructure are currently impediments to adoption. To develop a need-based fast-charging network users’ requirements on preferred charging locations have to be factored in. Therefore, the present study aimed at quantifying users’ preferences regarding the fast-charging infrastructure and identifying possible trade-offs by using conjoint-analysis. Both current and potential battery electric vehicle users were addressed through an online questionnaire (N = 283). It was revealed that the waiting time for an available charging station, the necessary detour and the charging costs are the most important attributes for the selection of charging locations, whereas possible on-site activities to bridge the charging time were less important. While the attributes’ importance was largely independent from trip length, participants’ BEV experience contributed significantly to found variance.