公开(公告)号：CA2089787A1

公开(公告)日：1993-10-18

申请号：CA2089787

申请日：1993-02-18

Applicant: IBM

Inventor： BOIES STEPHEN J ,  COMERFORD LIAM D ,  GOULD JOHN D ,  SPRARAGEN SUSAN L ,  UKELSON JACOB P

IPC: G05B23/02 ,  G06F3/033 ,  G06F3/14 ,  G08B13/196 ,  G08B15/00 ,  G06F15/46

Abstract: A user interface includes a process model unit (34) for predicting one or more allowable next states, from a current state of a process, and a display processing unit (26) for deriving, for each of the allowable next states, a representation of the allowable next state. The display processing unit has an output coupled to a display screen (30) for displaying each of the representations (30b-30g) in conjunction with a representation (30a) of a current state of the process. The user interface further includes an actuator control unit (22) that is coupled to an input mechanism whereby a user selects one of the displayed representations of one of the allowable next states. The motor control unit controls the process to cause it to enter a new current state that corresponds to the selected derived representation. In one embodiment, the display screen has a touchscreen capability whereby the user selects one of the representations by physically touching the display screen within an area associated with a selected one of the derived allowable states.