Hand-held Electronic Procedure Environment

Abstract

As part of a CANDU Owners Group project, AECL has developed a hand-held electronic data collection and procedure environment. Integral to this environment is the "Computerized Procedure Engine". The development of the CPE allows operators, maintainers, and technical support staff to execute virtually any type of station procedure on a general-purpose PC-compatible hand-held computer. There are several advantages to using the computerized procedures: less paper use and handling, reduction in human error, reduction in rework in the field, an increase in procedural compliance, and immediate availability of data to download to databases and plant information systems. The paper describes: the advantages of using computerized procedures, why early forms of computerized procedures were inadequate, the features that the "Computerized Procedure Engine" offers to the user, the streamlined life cycle of a computerized procedure, and field experience. The paper concludes that computerized procedures are ready for pilot applications at stations.