Innovative Systems for Human Supervisory Control of Unmanned Vehicles

Abstract

The development of Unmanned Vehicles (UVs) with increasing autonomy has enabled a transition from teleoperation to Human Supervisory Control (HSC). In this demonstration, participants can test three innovative operator interfaces for HSC of UVs. The first system allows users to control a Micro Air Vehicle (MAV) via a hand-held device, such as an iPhone^®, through high-level waypoint commands and fine-grained nudge controls. The second system enables a single operator to collaborate with an automated planner to control multiple heterogeneous UVs from a laptop-sized display for searching for, tracking and engaging moving ground targets. The third system is designed to aid in planning on naval aircraft carrier decks, serving as a decision support tool for a supervisor overseeing and scheduling the activity of people, vehicles and unmanned vehicles working in this complex and uncertain environment.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Ackerman

(2011, April 11, 2011). Navy Wants Its Drone to Land on a Carrier With a Mouse Click Retrieved July 19, 2011, 2011, from http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/04/navy-wants-mouse-click-flying-for-its-carrier-based-drone/

Banerjee

A. G.

Ono

Roy

Williams

(2011). Regression-basedLP Solver for Chance Constrained Finite Horizon Optimal Control with Nonconvex Constraints. Paper presented at the American Control Conference, San Francisco, CA, submitted, under review.

Choi

H.-L.

Brunet

How

J. P.

(2009). Consensus-Based Decentralized Auctions for Robust Task Allocation. IEEE Transactions on Robotics, 25(4), 912–926.

Choi

H.-L.

Whitten

A. K.

How

J. P.

(2010). Decentralized Task Allocation for Heterogeneous Teams with Cooperation Constraints. Paper presented at the American Control Conference (ACC), Baltimore, MD.

Cummings

M. L.

Clare

A. S.

Hart

C. S.

(2010). The Role of Human-Automation Consensus in Multiple Unmanned Vehicle Scheduling. Human Factors, 52(1), 17-27.

Fisher

(2008). Replan Understanding for Heterogenous Unmanned Vehicle Teams. Masters of Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA.

Gibson

J. J.

(1979). The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.

Haddal

C. C.

Gertler

(2010). Homeland Security: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Border Surveillance. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Research Service.

How

J. P.

Fraser

Kulling

K. C.

Bertuccelli

L. F.

Toupet

Brunet

. . . Roy

(2009). Increasing Autonomy of UAVs. IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine, 16(2), 43-51.

10.

Jackson

K. F.

Quimby

P. W.

Cummings

M. L.

(2011). MAV-VUE Outdoor Usability Analysis After-action Report (pp. 27). Cambridge, MA: MIT Humans and Automation Lab.

11.

Lewis

Wang

Hughes

(2007). USARsim: Simulation for the study of human-robot interaction. Journal of Cognitive Engineering and Decision Making, 1(1), 98-120.

12.

McKinney

(2011). Unmanned Combat Air System Carrier Demonstration (UCAS-D). Los Angeles, CA: Northrop Grumman Corporation.

13.

Naval Studies Board. (2005). Autonomous Vehicles in Support of Naval Operations. Washington D.C.: National Research Council.

14.

Pitman

(2010). Collaborative Micro Aerial Vehicle Exploration of Outdoor Environments. Master of Engineering in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA.

15.

Rochlin

G. I.

La Porte

T. R.

Roberts

K. H.

(1987). The Self-Designing High-Reliability Organization: Aircraft Carrier Flight Operations at Sea. Naval War College Review(42), 76-90.

16.

Ryan

J. C.

Banerjee

A. G.

Cummings

M. L.

Roy

(2011). Performance Comparison of Expert User Heuristics and ILP Performance in Planning Aircraft Carrier Operations (in review). Journal of Heuristics, 17(5), 1-25.

17.

Ryan

J. C.

Cummings

M. L.

Roy

Banerjee

Schulte

A. S.

(2011). Designing an Interactive Local and Global Decision Support System for Aircraft Carrier Deck Scheduling. Paper presented at the AIAA Infotech@Aerospace 2011, St. Louis, MO, USA.

18.

Sheridan

T. B.

(1992). Telerobotics, Automation and Human Supervisory Control. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

19.

U.S. Air Force. (2009). United States Air Force Unmanned Aircraft Systems Flight Plan 2009-2047. Washington, D.C.: United States Air Force.