Human–machine system is a system

System

System is a set of interacting or interdependent components forming an integrated whole....

 in which the functions of a human operator (or a group of operators) and a machine are integrated. This term can also be used to emphasize the view of such a system as a single entity that interacts with external environment.

A manual system consists of hand tools and other aids which are coupled by a human operator who controls the operation. Operators of such systems use their own physical energy as the power source. The system could range from a person with a hammer to a person with a super-strength giving exoskeleton

Exoskeleton

An exoskeleton is the external skeleton that supports and protects an animal's body, in contrast to the internal skeleton of, for example, a human. In popular usage, some of the larger kinds of exoskeletons are known as "shells". Examples of exoskeleton animals include insects such as grasshoppers...

.

Human machine system engineering is different from the more general and well known fields like human–computer interaction

Human–computer interaction

Human–computer Interaction is the study, planning, and design of the interaction between people and computers. It is often regarded as the intersection of computer science, behavioral sciences, design and several other fields of study...

 and sociotechnical engineering in that it focuses on complex, dynamic control systems that often are partially automated (such as flying an airplane). it also studies human problem-solving in naturalistic settings or in high-fidelity simulation environments. http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Human-machine+systems

Human–machine choreography

The area of human–machine choreography is yet to be extensively explored. How body-structure can be extended through machine mechanisms points to how the body can perform beyond its biological form and functions as well as beyond the local space it inhabits. How human movement is transduced into machine motion and then can be both expressed and extended into virtual performance on the web promises new possibilities in both conceptual approach and aesthetic application. For example, incorporating virtual camera views of the performing human–machine system enriches the choreography and intensifies the artistic result. http://crossings.tcd.ie/issues/1.2/Stelarc/

The Muscle Machine

The Muscle Machine is a hybrid human–robot walking machine. Designed by artist James Stelarc (who has also created other such systems), it is an exoskeleton with six robotic legs that are controlled by the leg and hand movements of its pilot.

Mechanism

The rubber muscles contract when inflated and extend when exhausted. This results in a more reliable and robust engineering design. The body stands on the ground within the chassis of the machine, which incorporates a lower body exoskeleton connecting it to the robot. Encoders on the hip joints provides the data that will allow the human controller to move and direct the machine as well as vary the speed at which it will travel. The action of the human operator lifting a leg lifts the three alternate machine legs and swings them forward. By turning its torso, the body makes the machine walk in the direction it is facing. Thus the interface and interaction is more direct, allowing an intuitive human-machine choreography. The walking system, with attached accelerometer sensors generates data that is converted to sounds that augment the acoustical pneumatics and machine mechanism operation. Once the machine is in motion, it is no longer applicable to ask whether the human or machine is in control as they become fully integrated and move as one. The six-legged robot both extends the body and transforms its bipedal gait into a 6-legged insect-like movement. The appearance and movement of the machine legs are both limb-like and wing-like motion. http://www.stelarc.va.com.au/documents/zombiesandcyborgs.pdf

In popular culture

Human-machine systems have been portrayed in the media on many accounts. Cyborgs, seen in movies such as The Terminator

The Terminator

The Terminator is a 1984 science fiction action film directed by James Cameron, co-written by Cameron and William Wisher Jr., and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Biehn, and Linda Hamilton. The film was produced by Hemdale Film Corporation and distributed by Orion Pictures, and filmed in Los...

 and Robocop

RoboCop

RoboCop is a 1987 American science fiction-action film directed by Paul Verhoeven. Set in a crime-ridden Detroit, Michigan in the near future, RoboCop centers on a police officer who is brutally murdered and subsequently re-created as a super-human cyborg known as "RoboCop"...

, are fantastical depictions of what human-machine systems may, one day, look like. http://sociologyindex.com/cyborgs.htm

External links

• Technical Committee on Human-Machine Systems of the International Federation of Automatic Control
  International Federation of Automatic Control
  The International Federation of Automatic Control , founded in September 1957, is a multinational federation of , each one representing the engineering and scientific societies concerned with automatic control in its own country.The aim of the Federation is to promote the science and technology of...
  
  (IFAC)
• Center of Human-Machine-Systems, Technische Universität Berlin
• Locomotor: A Hybrid Human-Machine System