5
Human Factors in UAV
5.1 Introduction
Several human factors in human–unmanned vehicle interaction are considered here through a synthesis of existing research evidence in the military domain. The human factor issues covered include the potential for the application of multimodal displays in the control and monitoring of unmanned vehicles (UVs) and the implementation of automation in UVs. Although unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are the focus of this book, this chapter reviews research evidence involving the supervisory control of unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs), as the results are relevant to the control of UAVs. This chapter also aims to highlight how the effectiveness of support strategies and technologies on human–UV interaction and performance is mediated by the capabilities of the human operator.
Allowing operators to remotely control complex systems has a number of obvious benefits, particularly in terms of operator safety and mission effectiveness for UVs. For UVs, remote interaction is not simply a defining feature of the technology but also a critical aspect of operations. In a military setting, UAVs can provide ‘eyes-on’ capability to enhance commander situation awareness in environments which might be risky or uncertain. For example, in a ‘hasty search’ the commander might wish to deploy UAVs to provide an ‘over-the-hill’ view of the terrain ...
