Adaptive Automation for Intermittently Distracted UAV Pilots
Guri, Dominic.
2019
-
New automation
concepts are sought to support human pilots of remotely operated Unmanned Aerial
Vehicles (UAVs) conducting observation missions where a pilot is subject to intermittent
distractions, a term which we use to mean a frequent need to transition attention
between controlling the UAV and accomplishing other mission-critical tasks, such as
communicating or assimilating information ... read morefrom a secondary display. Our main
contribution is to introduce a new human-oriented switching law designed for UAV
steering human-oriented adaptive automation, with the intent of completing the
observation task as quickly as possible during periods of intermittent distraction. This
thesis presents two major contributions: (1) a new human-oriented switching law designed
to smooth exchange of responsibility between the pilot and a deceleration-based backup
automation, and (2) a control modality that allows the user to control the path or
trajectory that a tracking controller can use to steer the UAV, so that the pilot can
disengage from real-time control and attend to other tasks. Computer simulations are
implemented to test the efficacy of the switching law and the backup automation as well
as the new control modality. These simulations demonstrate that performance, as measured
by task completion time, depends on context and can be tuned to improved performance.
Both contributions are potentially useful in that they could be applied to support a
pilot in controlling multiple UAVs.
Thesis (M.S.)--Tufts University, 2019.
Submitted to the Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.
Advisor: Jason Rife.
Committee: William Messner, and Christoph Borgers.
Keywords: Mechanical engineering, and Robotics.read less - ID:
- 47429p02j
- To Cite:
- TARC Citation Guide EndNote
