BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 1. The higher the level
of autonomy, the lower the cognitive burden on the person
responsible for managing the processes, Danilo Cesar da Silva, Vice
President of Account Management at ABB Energy Industries, said,
Trend reports.


Danilo Cesar da Silva made the statement during a panel session
at the 31st International Caspian Oil and Gas Exhibition, currently
taking place in Baku.


According to him, today the world is surrounded by a multitude
of different technological solutions — from smart warehouses and
modern aircraft to autonomous driving systems. At the same time,
the key question remains whether these systems are truly autonomous
or merely automated.


“Why should we move toward autonomy? It is clear that our
industry is seeing an increase in the complexity of energy systems.
Additionally, there is a generational shift among specialists,
which requires a change in work approaches. Finally, all market
participants are under pressure to increase profitability,” he
noted.


Danilo Cesar da Silva emphasized that autonomous technologies
should not be viewed as a replacement for existing digital
solutions.


“I don't mean to say that autonomy will replace cloud
technologies, but it does allow us to push the boundaries of what
it means to achieve peak efficiency in production assets,” the
company representative said.


He cited the example of autonomous transportation, where there
is already a clear classification of autonomy levels, ranging from
Level 0 to fully autonomous driving.







“There are six levels of autonomy in the automotive industry.
However, our industry lacks a structured approach to defining
exactly what autonomy means,” he noted.


According to him, ABB has adapted this approach for industry,
defining the level of autonomy based on the degree of human
involvement in performing tasks.


“In other words, the level of autonomy can be measured by the
extent to which a person’s hands, eyes, and mind are involved in
performing a task. At level zero, most processes are performed
manually and depend entirely on humans. As the level of autonomy
increases, human involvement gradually decreases,” Danilo Cesar da
Silva explained.


He noted that at the second level of autonomy, the operator’s
hands may no longer be involved in performing certain operations;
at the third level, the need for constant visual monitoring may
periodically decrease; and at the fourth level, human involvement
becomes even more limited. The fifth level implies full
autonomy.


According to a representative of ABB Energy Industries,
automated systems form the foundation for the transition to higher
levels of autonomy.


“The higher the level of autonomy, the more digital solutions
are applied on top of the automated foundation. As a result, as
autonomy increases, the cognitive load on the person responsible
for process control decreases,” he emphasized.