Ergonomic aspects of automation in navigation bridges

New ergonomic questions arise from the tendency toward increasing automation in maritime operations. Direct control of engines and rudder from the bridge promises improved ship control, provided that the operator can really exploit the technical improvements. To make such direct control most efficient, good ergonomic design is essential. A series of designs of navigation bridges is used to illustrate typical problems and situations. The building of full scale mock-ups of complete bridges is essential in order to handle the design as an integrated problem and to simulate the work situation. Such static mock-ups have been shown to be extremely useful in the discussion between builder, future user and adviser. An extension to dynamic simulation is necessary in order to study the actual work conditions in a new design.