Classification of Technical Challenges to Human-System Integration in Cyber-Physical Systems
A structured map of where human–system integration breaks down in cyber-physical systems—representation, communication, and interfacing—and what to tackle first.
· Cybarete
As production systems become more connected and autonomous, “integrating the human” stops being a UI problem and becomes a systems problem: what the system knows about the human, how it communicates, and how work is actually coordinated at runtime.
This chapter proposes a classification framework for Human-System Integration (HSI) in Human Cyber-Physical Systems (HCPSs). The framework organizes challenges and design work around three pillars:
- Representation: what models of humans/work/context exist (or are missing)?
- Communication: how information is exchanged, timed, and verified.
- Interfacing: how a human can act on the system (and how the system can safely act around the human).
Using this structure, the chapter surfaces common technical gaps that repeatedly block effective HSI.
Key takeaways
- HSI failures cluster around representation, communication, and interfacing—not just “human error”.
- A classification gives teams a shared vocabulary to scope work and prioritize integration investments.
- HCPS integration needs explicit design of information flows and interaction boundaries.
Links
- SpringerLink (DOI): https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-99108-1_13