Automated Control System Design (ASU)

Origin. Soviet ASU (Avtomatizirovannaya Sistema Upravleniya) methodology developed across multiple institutes (1960s-1980s); standardized in GOST frameworks.

Mechanism. An automated control system combines human decision-makers with automated data collection, processing, and presentation. The system does not replace human judgment but augments it: routine decisions are automated, exception handling is escalated, and decision-relevant information is aggregated and displayed. The human remains in the loop for novel situations and policy decisions.

Procedure. Analyze the control process: what decisions are made, by whom, with what information, at what frequency. Classify decisions: routine (automate), structured (support with computed recommendations), unstructured (provide information, leave decision to human). Design the information system to collect, validate, aggregate, and present data. Design alerts for exceptions. Design the human-machine interface for the decisions that remain with humans. Implement incrementally, starting with information provision before automation.

Applies to. Operations management, process control, enterprise systems, any domain where human oversight is required but cognitive load must be managed.

Limitations. Automation of decisions that should remain human; support systems that become decision systems through operator passivity. Also: the system crystallizes the current process; if the process is flawed, automation scales the flaw. The Soviet experience showed that ASU systems often automated bureaucratic procedures that should have been redesigned, not automated.