Human Control of Teams of Unmanned/Robotic Vehicles: Exploring the Limits of the Possible

Abstract

Robotic vehicles under human control are currently being used for exploration and surveillance in variety of environments that are inaccessible or dangerous for humans. The operation of such vehicles is currently labor intensive, however, with multiple operators typically required for each vehicle employed. This panel reports on progress being made in the control of teams of robotic vehicles by much smaller teams of human operators through the combination of sophisticated automated control algorithms and human supervision. The goal is mixed initiative control—flexible and dynamic shifting of responsibility between humans and automation as required over the course of a mission. The panel will discuss cognitive engineering approaches to the design of a mixed initiative system for multi-vehicle robotic control including development and experimental testing of prototype interface designs, workload modeling, and optimal team design. The strengths, limitations, and potential complementarity of these approaches will be discussed.